Was I 2E? Or was I given a false "gifted" label in school?

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Mod. edit: The following was added by request of the OP:

Please don't give me unsolicited advice if you do reply. I know that I need to seek help for my obsessions, but I'm not looking for more replies.
Thanks.

IQ scores is not limited to just inherent biological wiring or the 'natural talent', but the performance scores of the tests, which also factor in their education and upbringing.


Many upbringings usually lowers IQ levels; long term exposure to poisonous chemicals, malnutrition, accidents, neglect, deprivation, mental illness, etc.

Why not rising IQ levels, too?

Those who are 'immune' to those negative factors doesn't matter.
It doesn't make them the 'true gifted' people and anyone else who are well 'accommodated' and grew well from there are 'not'.


Your upbringing related to cognitive development sounds so good that you're measured as gifted.

But also instead of 'normalizing' you at the educational levels with your peers, you got your own progress and it happened that it's somewhat ahead of them.

This is even more true whether you're 2e or garden variety spiky profile.

And whether or not you're labeled gifted, as long as you're 'high functioning' enough, you'd still run over the thoughts and feelings of guilt of needing help and the presumption you can figure it all out yourself.

If it's your idea of giftedness meant be great at all areas; well...
"Omnigiftedness" is actually rare. Nor is the only definition of gifted.


Lastly, if you're "actually" gifted or not?

That's determined by your full scale IQ scores; even if you're average in one area and exceptional in another.
Even if you suck at life with severe executive dysfunction and mental illness 'holding you back'.


Personally, it shouldn't matter much.

If the label still serves you, go for it.
If it's detrimental to you, make it irrelevant, put a distance from your identity and move forward; get help you need, "gifted" or not.

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Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.

Being gifted puts a target on your back.

I think this has helped me be a good golfer, as the constant challenges means I'm well prepared to take on the difficult game of golf!

Perhaps the best thing to do is find friends who will accept that you are different.

Trying to hide being gifted is much the same as hiding autism or hiding the fact that you are gay or transgender.
Doing so may lead to too much stress and eventual burnout.

It helps to be kind to those who don't know. Everyone makes mistakes and appreciates it when someone remains kind.
Bullies, on the other hand, need to be put in their place. They will take kindness as a weakness.
They will back off if you hit them hard.

It may help to make a list of activities of daily life you need to do.
Try to do one a day so the list doesn't get too long!
I just postponed jury duty for six months as I had travel plans. What a hassle trying to figure that out!
But I did it!

Don't forget that IQ tests are subjective, as are most other "ranking" tests we are given. Comparisons are based on specific performances, and compared to peers, many people today protest that IQ tests are also inaccurate and biased in cultural and social ways, etc. They are not the one specific way to test how we gather and process information. "gifted" as a term or classification is subjective too, depending on who is doing comparisons for what purpose. We all grow and change and the many ways we perform tasks can change as we mature and gain experience , or our focus of learning changes, the information we are exposed to and choose to absorb may become specialized or we may gain other skills that are of use and that never get tested or measured. Every one of us has strengths and weaknesses, and there will always be somebody who has a strength or weakness we don't have. The "gifted" labels you got as a kid may not have any meaning today at all. I agree that sort of label builds up expectations and people think maybe we "should be" something we are not. It is difficult to live up to that sort of thing as a child, let alone as an adult. Your question probably has many answers and the answers, too, will be subjective. I hope you are not placing too much importance on the beliefs, labels, and ideas others try to impose on others as measures of your personal worth or value. Its OK to just be you and live your best life, trying to find the best self accommodations, the best self care, and the best ways to move forward as you continue to grow and change. Its all a "work in progress", and everything will continue to change.

As a parent of 2E children and a 2E myself your story seems to support the 2E designation.

The mixed evidence you presented is exactly what I would expect for a 2E. Especially the IQ sub test scores spread.


The term “gifted” is NOT a technical term. “Gifted” is a term used (in the U.S.A) by educators to comply with the law and give every child an education. By law every child has a right to an education and public school need a practical way to comply with this general high level goal. Identifying students who would not be served by the standard curriculum became a need. So a number system that helps educators and administrators to make these decisions was created. The Intelligence Quotient was originally a quotient, or fraction to compare numeric measures of intelligence with the average correlated to each students age. If you scored like an average student two years older than your physical age you had a high IQ and if you scored like an average student two years younger than your physical age you had a low IQ. This assumed you were of school age and that older students had more intelligence than younger students on average. Later the tests were adjusted to also work for adults but the age thing was then dropped and replaced with percentile across the population. The general rule that IQ scores increased with age stops working after a certain age, a 10 year old really does have a higher IQ score than a 8 year old on average, however a 50 year old doesn’t really have a higher IQ score than a 48 year old on average.

Gifted programs in public schools use different cut-offs for percentile IQ by state and sometimes by school district. 80th percentile is common. Some places might use 90th others 85th. You can verify this yourself with some googling.

Mensa uses 98th percentile for membership. They have a list of tests thar they accept on their web site and the numeric score that indicates 98th percentile for that test.

Consequently you can be genuinely “gifted” but still miss the Mensa cut off, even using the same IQ test score.

If you took a Mensa test and were just below the cutoff and still want to join Mensa or just know you could you can probably study and take practice test, get tested again and get in.

The term “genius” is also not in current use in mental health professionals. Terms like “superior” and “very superior” are used.

More details on terminology and test scores here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_classification

https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/identification.htm

https://www.us.mensa.org/join/testscore ... st-scores/

American Mensa accepts scores from approximately 200 different standardized intelligence tests*. Often potential members have taken acceptable tests at other times in their lives and don’t realize they may already qualify for membership.

You guys responded so much better than reddit and actually took time to understand what I was saying and help me the best you could. Thank you all, this place seems way better.

If you read my test scores, I am firmly in the category of "genius". My IQ scores range from 145 and up depending on which test, which day. 1560 SAT. National Merit Scholar on the PSAT followed by scholarship. Duke University study, I could go on.

So, let me stop right here and tell you an important truth.

Intelligence cannot be reliably determined by a standardized test. Testing can suggest intelligence with reasonable reliability, but if you are fundamentally a different person from just about everyone else, that makes it more likely that your testing results are less reliable.

When I am accused of being a genius, a fairly frequent event, I reply the same way every time.

"Yes, I am a genius, just like my lifelong mentor and role model, Mr. Wile-E-Coyote. You give me an ACME catalog, I give you predictable results."

They think I am joking, but really, I'm not.

I'm 53 years old. I'm smart. That debate has been over for a long time. I support my family by solving problems no one else can ...

... and it's tough to hold down a job.

I couldn't make myself do homework. Acquiring the discipline to graduate college was a Herculean effort, but like most things in my life, it was all or nothing, so I graduated Cum Laude. If it hadn't been with honors, I would have failed instead and gone to work in construction like my "genius" father.

Don't spend any clock cycles worrying whether you are or are not gifted. It doesn't matter. Look at what you can do. Look at what you can make yourself do day after day after year after decade after divorce after heart surgery ...

... and with all your might seek a way to make a contribution, preferably one that comes with a salary.

To state all of this more succinctly, find a skill, not a score.

Good luck.

An obsession with metrics may bring you undone.

I suggest you focus on what makes you happy.

As for strengths and weaknesses, we all have them.
Excel at the things you're good at.
Work on the things at which you're mediocre.
Get help with those at which you suck. (This is the REALLY hard one for me, as I have difficulty asking.)

Ignore the labels, refuse to be pigeonholed and "To thine own self be true"