I will agree with the concern re consistency/accuracy being an issue. By way of analogy: My son is allergic to nuts and peanuts and used to be allergic to milk and eggs. When folks in the allergy community say "allergic" they don't mean "I hypothesize that my child's behavior will improve if I remove X from his diet." They mean "my child will have to be injected with epinephrin if he is exposed to X, and he could still die anyway."
There are many people with food-related hypotheses, and who am I to say they are wrong? I have no idea. However, as a short cut to explain why they need everybody else to follow their child's food rules - they say "my child is allergic." Well - no, your child isn't. They are sensitive, or have a bad reaction, or say whatever you want. Maybe it is even an exquisite sensitivity, and if so you have my sincere sympathy. I know it's hard.
But when 100 people say "my child is allergic" and they aren't, it virtually mutes my plea - "My child is allergic to milk and nuts. Please don't give him any of the rocky road ice cream." Instead, people wait until my back is turned and slip him a little taste because "he deserves a little bit at least, even if he is allergic." And then they truthfully say, "How were we supposed to know he was SO allergic he'd get that sick, that fast." Because honestly, the way people toss around the word "allergic," there really was no way they could know. [[Yes - this really happened to us. DS was fine after a trip to urgent care and meds and a very bad experience.]]
My point is - misuse or inconsistency is dangerous when it mutes people who need to use a word to mean what they say. And there's no other way to get the point across without going on and on and sounding like a crazy person. And then you're really muted anyway.
This is why I think the HG/PG community needs to abandon the word "gifted" and exclusively use the word "asynchronous." Better still, give it a three-letter acronym - "asynchronous development syndrome" = ADS.
Imagine: "My child has ADS. Sure - he has some challenges, but there's a plus side, too. And it's important we all stay focused on that." Now we're talking their language!!
