Giftedness and Misdiagnosis

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Does anyone have experience with being misdiagnosed or nearly misdiagnosed (either given an inappropriate diagnosis or refused a proper diagnosis) with autism or mental illness due to exhibiting characteristics of giftedness?

By "giftedness," I mean a significant number of the following traits:

Cognition
original, unusual ideas, creativity, connects seemingly unrelated ideas.
superior abilities to reason, generalize or problem solve, high intelligence
vivid and rich imagination
extensive vocabulary, verbal ability, fascinated by words,
learns new things rapidly.
excellent long term memory.
avid reader.
complex and deep thoughts, abstract thinker,
runs mind on multiple tracks at the same time, fast thinker

Perception/emotion
highly sensitive
excellent/unusual sense of humour.
very perceptive, good sense of observation.
passionate, intense feelings.

introverted
aware of things that others are not, perceive world differently
tolerance for ambiguity & complexity
can see many sides, considers problems from a number of viewpoints.
childlike sense of wonder.
openness to experience

Motivation/values
perfectionistic, sets high standards for self and others.
very curious, desire to know
very independent, autonomous, less motivated by rewards and praise
seeker of ultimate truths, looks for patterns, meaning in life
enjoys challenge, penchant for risk-taking.
outrage at injustice or moral breaches, good sense of justice
wide range of interests, overwhelmed by many interests and abilities.
strong moral convictions, integrity, honesty.
high drive
visionary, realizes visions, sense of destiny or mission
loves ideas and ardent discussion.
sincerity
Activity
great deal of energy.
long attention span, sustains concentration on topics of interest, persistent
cannot stop thinking, work myself to exhaustion
needs periods of contemplation, solitude
spontaneity

Social relations
questions rules or authority, asks embarrassing questions, non-conforming
feels different, out of step with others, sense of alienation and loneliness.
very compassionate.
empathy: feels along with others, helps them understand themselves

For example, a psychologist tells you that you can't possibly be autistic because you have a lot of interests, or schoolwork is too easy for you and you get bored and fidget and people think you have ADHD.

I was told for years that I couldn't be autistic because I had empathy and that I could pick up on things about people that other people didn't. I can understand other people at times, but I can't understand social interactions.

EDIT: I should mention that I am classified as gifted and learning disabled.

I've been diagnosed with bipolar and Asperger's.

When I was 10 I went through testing at school and they determined I was "gifted", though it may be defined differently that yours. I can't remember what the tests were, except for a vague memory of sitting in a room with an adult and being given a test on paper while the adult verbally read the questions, with multiple choice answers. It was probably an IQ test.

I'm starting to believe the Asperger's diagnosis is a misdiagnosis. Every doctor I've seen since the diagnosis thinks so. I was diagnosed as an adult. I think ADHD was missed in me as a child because of the "gifted" label.

It took me years before I was allowed out of a Special Ed classroom. Once I was diagnosed, I was fully labelled and considered disabled. Eventually they let me try a normal classroom. It took me until the senior year of high school to be allowed to join in higher level classes. When I finally did manage to get into some higher level courses, it was very bittersweet. The assignments were more fun, and I didn't get yelled at for reading ahead, and discussions and questions were encouraged, and it was just so much better all around. But I had wasted so many years in special ad and regular classes by that point.

I'm still trying to get officially diagnosed. I've been highly recommended by a psychologist to be tested for autism, but my parents keep writing it off as "giftedness" because I'm in high performance.

Of course, it's an invisible disability meaning that it takes well trained, intelligent, highly perceptive, unbiased, active observers to identify something as complicated as ASD.
So it's no surprise that ignorant, limited, distracted, pigeon-holing, self-focused observers should often "get it way wrong."
After all these kinds of people often get most everything "way wrong."

The reason why there's an axiom, "Don't judge a book by the cover," is because so very many people do.

I'm attractive, likeable, and properly enunciate a large vocabulary.
Therefore there can be nothing wrong with me.

I have some characteristics of giftedness, but I don't test as gifted.

I was in a centre for my autism at school so Idk really, in ways I ended up limiting myself and becoming to reliant on staff support to proper stand on my own feet when It come to many situations. Iv never been labelled as gifted even though people constantly point out my IT skills and i have had some people say that IT is my gifted area.

Yeah, I was labeled gifted. My mom used it to rationalize never getting me evaluated despite my being so obviously autistic that a nurse-practitioner picked up on it after a twenty minute interview and clued me in on it once I got to be old enough to get my own medical care. Didn't help that Mom didn't believe in doctors.

Anyways, I'm pretty good with academics, so I often do pass as merely gifted, but at other times when my weaknesses are showing I get that singsongy tone that people use with children and people with an intellectual disability. I kind of get both sides of it, I guess. People don't know where to put me. One second they'll be saying how smart I am; the next they'll be slooowly and carefully explaining to me that I neeeed to uuuse my plaaaanner... Yeah, thanks, Einstein, I figured that out when I missed four appointments, two classes, and a work shift. Now tell my brain I need to use my planner, because it isn't listening. *sigh*

I'm probably venting a bit. It's kind of annoying to be stuck in whichever category seems to be convenient to them at the time. Can't I just be myself?

I don't think that gifted children are like ASD children unless someone is applying ASD criteria too broadly, then gifted child can have mild social deficits or sensory sensitivities and be misdiagnosed with ASD.

As a teenager I first reckoned myself to be gifted because of a documentary on tv. It was about giftedness in children and how they could read etc at a very young age (learned myself to read at the age of 2). Of course I recognised myself in the rest of all those desirable traits

I do believe I have AS though. I scored gifted in terms of IQ but I think the value of such tests are vastly overrated. I think it might be tempting for many to shove their issues onto giftedness rather than AS as of course it offers more hope and is better for the ego. Maybe sometimes they're right. But it's often a combination of the 2 and one should be cautious in leaving 1 out when identifying the root of certain struggles.

I'm yet to be diagnosed, but yes, I have giftedness in both Academia and Art. My IQ range is average, though. But when it comes to art, I can improvise and compose pieces of music and self-teach which I have since I was about 12. Unfortunately a lot of my childhood trauma gets in the way of being even able to pursue the things I love but when I was younger and far less thoughtful and more free (as children are), I was academically ahead of myself, and art wise good as well. At 7 I was put forward for some sort of Scholarship in the private school I attended. I've always been told I've been gifted. The frustrating problem with it is being able to channel all this energy and enthusiasm I have due to things like depression but its getting there. And it feels wonderful to follow through what I feel naturally attuned to.

At the moment I'm studying International Relations at University. I think my ability to unpick theory and analyze is getting somewhere. It's quite enjoyable. It's like walking through a maze of knowledge and finding new ways through it. I find intellectualism stimulating in that way and I also think intellectualism is equally as artistic as conventional art in the sense that you need to be creative and open.

I sometimes wonder if that's why Aspergers never entered the discussion when I was a teenager: because I was viewed as gifted when it reality I am just above average. My brother IS a certifiable genius and a MENSA member and I wonder if I wasn't viewed using that same filter. Either way, my parents aren't admitting anything to me.