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    Joined: Oct 2011
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    DD's brain functions most like mine, mine is most like my mom's, and hers most like her dad's. So it would seem that if there's any pattern here, it's fathers-to-daughters, and mothers-to-sons.

    Except, my mom has 5 siblings of mixed genders, and all of them exhibit some traits of giftedness, though all in completely different ways. I suspect that the apparent pattern has more to do with inheritance of a peculiar set of personality traits in addition to the intellectual component.

    So yeah, my anecdotal observations support the "it's complicated" hypothesis.

    We have one of those medical professional exclamations on tape, too. It was in the delivery room. DD wasn't even out yet.

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    I read (I haven't the foggiest notion where, so don't ask me for a source) that a loto of the genetic information that influences intelligence is located on the X chromosome so boys inherit most of their cognitive traits from their mothers side, whereas girls may inherit equally from their mother and father.

    In DS8's case, we happen to know that he has inherited my fathers X chromosome, because he is color blind like him, and his cognitive traits remind me very much of my father - a fairly equal distribution between verbal and nonverbal strengths, with interest and passion skewed strongly (even more strongly actually, probably gets that from his father) towards the sciences.

    Due to his odd testing history, we have three wildly varying scores for him, from average to EG, but I'd say he is definitely HG+, like I'd think my father must be. DH and I grew up in a time and place where testing for a healthy child was unthinkable, so we can only guess as to what our various scores might be (or might have been, before three pregnancies and three high needs kids and the resultant sleep deprivation fried my brains).

    I know that I skew strongly towards the verbal and musical intelligence, with DD being somewhat like me, but with a totally different personality, and DH skews strongly towards the nonverbal side, unlike DD, but her personality is definitely inherited from his side of the family. (I must have been so compliant as a kid it was unreal, whereas my kids, and most definitily DD, are NOT). I'd guess wed probably both score MG altogether, with HG+ scores in our areas of strength and rather lower scores in the others.

    Finding out what DS2 can and cannot do will be really interesting - he has a major physical disability and Is speech delayed, but performs far ahead on nonverbal tasks. In his case, we believe he is not color blind so it's my mothers X chromosome he has inherited.

    Someone correct me if I have messed up the genetics here - as I have mentioned, I am NOT the scientist in the family.

    Last edited by Tigerle; 01/24/15 03:26 PM.
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    DH tested as HG+ (PG by most standards), I was placed in the gifted stream but don't know my LOG, my father was tested as EG in the military, and my mother is untested but doubtless some form of gifted. My mum's college friends lament that while they would be studying for exams, my mum never studied. She was routinely out partying or at the movies the night before exams, and she would top all her courses. Her roommate would ask my mum hard study questions in her (my mum's) sleep, and she would answer correctly.

    DH's parents are untested, but likely both gifted based on the scale and scope of professional attainment.

    I like to think DS has inherited the best of each of us. He is a formidable little dude.


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    I have been wondering about this a lot lately. I consider myself bright but have always felt bad because when tested at an early age (7?) I scored too low to be included in the gifted pull-out activities at my public school. My school recommended testing because I scored in the 99th percentile in all categories on the state achievement tests. My parents reluctantly agreed because they always made fun of parents who felt their kids were gifted. I grew up in a poor, working class family in a community where there were very few college educated people. My parents had high school educations and had come from really rough backgrounds. My mother barely spoke English (but didn't try speaking to me in her native language). My parents loved me but they were abusive. They never read books to me. We didn't have money for many toys and I mostly played outside or watched television. When I asked questions my parents usually either answered, "because" or "stop asking so many questions." I never attended preschool and was an only child so I didn't spend much time with other children before kindergarten. My mom stayed at home but she didn't really believe in playing with me or reading to me.

    When I entered school, I quickly learned to read and became an obsessive reader. I remain one today. In elementary school I read through entire sections of the library- every single book. The librarians changed their lending policies so I could be furnished with adequate books. I really feel like books saved my life. I continued to be at the top of my class and to score in the 99th percentile on achievement tests through graduation but was never again tested for giftedness. I ended up leaving my small town to attend college in New York and later attended law school. I was the first person in my entire family (in this country) to get a college degree and have accomplished a lot considering my background but I have always felt not quite smart enough because of that one IQ test. I have no idea how I scored- my mom said the psychologist said I was bright but not quite gifted. She has no idea what my score was.

    When a psychologist recommended testing our son last year, I hesitated because of my own experience. I finally agreed because we were applying to a school that required an IQ test. Our son is gifted and his younger sibling is maybe even more gifted (but not tested yet). I often attribute their brilliance to my husband, who is HG. In the last year I've done a lot of reading about gifted traits, however, and it has made me wonder. I have so many of the traits and so much of what I read has helped me to make some sense of my childhood . I wonder if I was a late bloomer or if my background in some way affected my score, even though it shouldn't? I read about how tests can vary and wonder if I just had a bad day. Or I wonder if being in school helped me to grow smarter after a terrible beginning. Or maybe I'm just one of those people who are bright enough to succeed but not gifted and I happen to have two gifted sons. It really doesn't matter because I don't care what my IQ is but reading about giftedness in order to understand my sons better has made me think about this issue again and it matters only because it may be a fine opportunity for me to put lingering feelings of inadequacy to bed.

    I should add that we now live in a house overflowing with books and toys. I spend hours every day reading to my kids and doing science experiments and art and hiking with them. It feels so good to give them the experiences I missed as a child!

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    Lepa - do you think you would have achieved as highly as you have done had you received a gifted score? Irrespective of the number you're clearly clever and motivated, do you think you would have worked as hard as you did if you'd a "gifted" label?

    I didn't find out my score until recently and while it was in the HG range, for me, it was better not knowing. I was happy at school and while some parts were far too easy, others weren't. I did have a bit of fuss made over me and was offered some extension work which I enjoyed. Had I known my score I might have relaxed a bit more but I was determined to get into medical school and thought I'd have to work really hard to be accepted.

    At medical school pretty much everyone there has topped their high school, or come close, and the general consensus amongst my cohort was that the work wasn't too hard but the volume was huge. For me, the volume would have been overwhelming had I not already established decent study habits. True, there were some amazingly brilliant people who seemed to coast with minimal effort but they were rare. In fact, the woman who ended up topping our year at the end of the degree wasn't neceassarily the cleverest but she was definitely the most organised. Overall I was probably above average throughout those years, although I shone a bit more in my specialist exams.

    Anyway, I think intrinsic motivation is a better indicator of academic success than just a number. Furthermore, "not quite gifted", could well have been gifted on another day and with another tester.


    Last edited by coffee; 01/25/15 01:58 AM.
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    Originally Posted by Tigerle
    we can only guess as to what our various scores might be (or might have been, before three pregnancies and three high needs kids and the resultant sleep deprivation fried my brains).

    Thanks for this, Tigerle! I'm glad I'm not the only one horrified at the idea of being tested at this stage of their life. After a decade of sleep deprivation, some days I'm not sure I could break 100.

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    I was identified as gifted in third grade. After experiencing my now 18 year old son, who has dyslexia, I'm pretty sure that I have it as well, though not as severely as he does.

    My husband entered school a year early, not necessarily because he was considered gifted, but because he was the third child and his mother was...tired. He went on to get a PhD in chemistry at a top ranked university, so I'm assuming he is gifted.

    My father is profoundly gifted. He went to a tippy top ranked science and engineering school for both his BS and his PhD and was a professor at a top ranked institution for his entire career. He is known for his creative solutions to physical problems and his ability in applied mathematics.

    My mother was a top student in school and she got the highest score you can get on the Miller Analogies Test, which I assume means something.

    My grandfather on my mother's side was, according to family lore, a math and music prodigy. He was given a full scholarship to a prestigious school and skipped three grades. He had to drop out of school at age 13 or so when his father died.

    My husband's father was a very successful electrical engineer and later an even more successful businessman. He was very obviously gifted, though I don't know if he was ever identified as gifted in school.

    My husband's mother was identified as gifted in school. Both of her brothers are/were very successful in their careers (physician and professor).

    I have one 2E kid who tests as HGish and another kid who tests as HG+. I see bits of myself in both of them.

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    Wow. This board does do wonders for my humility!

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    Regarding nature/nurture, researchers have suggested that nurture begins pre-birth, as the fetus can hear and the stimulation "may be shaping their child's brain." In this way, the heritability of intelligence may be due in part to lifestyle choices and not entirely based on genetics.

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    I've never had an IQ test and neither has my DH. I'm likely at least moderately gifted, but I also suspect that I have ADHD. Most of the males on my side of the family tree are super smart, and have what appear to be language and social disabilities. We never had names for these issues...now ASD, ADHD, specific language disorders would be on the menu if any had ever been evaluated.

    My DH is extremely intelligent and although he has a great career, I think he's a significant underachiever-- guy who dropped out of hard science major in college because he liked to party.

    My DS is HG+ and twice exceptional. We were wholly unprepared for our DS- a brilliant kid with social and language impairments.

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