Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Realizing you are gifted as an adult

Hi!

How many people only realized they were gifted as an adult because they only hung around with people or grew up with people who were also gifted so they assumed everyone was like that?

I was absolutely floored when I had my friends take IQ tests and ALL of theme were at least 125-130...

Many people first realize as adults that they are gifted, and there can be many reasons for not being aware of this earlier. The circumstance you mention, of having been surrounded with other intellectually gifted people through the years, with whom one blended in and did not stand out as different for their intelligence, may be regarded as somewhat ideal and enviable.

On the flip side, some children may have been outliers but their parents were unable to learn about giftedness and advocate for their children during their formative years. These children may have grown up without much support and encouragement.

Unfortunately, many gifted people find school to be a poor fit, with few intellectual peers, also curriculum placement and pacing well below a challenge level or their zone of proximal development. This may cause parents to begin seeking answers as to why their child is bored or unhappy, resulting in identification of the child as gifted. The chart in this old post may (somewhat humorously) help to illustrate the difficulty of gifted children in schools.

Additionally, some families may have pecking orders or value one area of intellect above another (for example, mathematical prowess over keen interest in history). This may cause parents to seek solutions as to why their child is different, resulting in identification of the child as gifted, and the realization that the same IQ score does not look the same on every person: IQ score is comprised of various subtest scores which can reveal unique processing strengths and relative weaknesses which may vary from person to person, even among family members.

While a wide range of topics can be posted here in "General Discussion," there is a section of these forums especially for gifted adults, which you may find to be of interest.

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