Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Dreams vs reality - difficulty discerning

Aww, that must be hard! I think being extremely sleep deprived probably could have that effect!

Hi,

This is my first post in this forum. I've been browsing the internet - doing some research on a whole host of seemingly interrelated topics - and just happen to stumble upon this thread.

I was formerly-diagnosed as a gifted child and placed in a bunch of gifted programs, competitions, etc. It is strange to me that there seems to be multiple high-intelligence profiles. A few of which bearing no resemblance to the others (linear/visual thinker, high-digit/low-digit span, etc). To discuss this more in-depth would be to deviate from the topic of this thread (if I haven't wondered to far already :P) and be irrelevant, but all of this is truly fascinating to me.

I can attest a many things pertaining to this, but I'll condense it to a few short points:

1.) As a former polyphasic sleeper who clocked about 1 1/2 hours of sleep per night at one point, I do see some similarities between what you described and extreme sleep deprivation.

2.) I think that it is a point of interest, even if not conducive to finding pinpointing your answer, that heavy-duty image-streaming, which is also claimed by its proponents to raise IQ -even in adulthood, also causes these same effects.

I'm not suggesting that unbeknownst to you that your daughter is secretly an image-streamer :P. I believe, however, the link between different modes of consciousness may be stronger in certain types of gifted individuals. Perhaps, her giftedness and the symptoms you mentioned go hand-in-hand. As one of the earlier posters mentioned, a visit to the neurologist might not be such a bad idea.

I was wondering if hypnosis would help her; if all else fails.

Interesting bmwoodson, I had never heard of polyphasic sleeping or image-streaming.

After googling image-streaming, I seriously doubt that is something my DD would do. I couldn't get her to try the brain exercises that are supposed to improve her short term memory which is problematic for her, so I don't see her doing that kind of work to improve her IQ which is already high enough to cause her problems and alienate her from most of her peers.

Her sleep habits could be described as involuntarily poly-phasic, I see NASA commissioned some studies on polyphasic sleeping, I wonder if they found similar side effects?

I do think all of the symptoms are related to her giftedness somehow, but I don't want to go to even one "professional" that might miss-diagnose her as nuts, her self esteem is fragile enough right now.

Ametrine: I fear hypnosis, probably because I don't really understand it, but the thoughts of allowing someone to "mess with your head" terrifies me. I would be open to hearing more about it though.

Nik, if you think she's having seizures of any kind, you should get her to a neurologist. The rate of seizures is higher among people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, and if you see signs, she really should be treated. It could really improve things for her, and help her know that what's going on isn't her fault.

DeeDee

I am torn, it could really improve things for her, or it could make things much worse.

I have not actually seen any thing other than an out of control sleep schedule (which she is trying to get under control) and daytime spaciness/zoning out, but she doesn't lose consciousness and she can be instantly brought back to alertness if I notice her glazing over. It's like her brain isn't getting enough sleep at night and is trying to compensate during the day.

Once she figured out that her symptoms were very well described by "psyhic seizures", we did some research to see what the normal course of treatment would be, should she get such a diagnosis. It seems as though this is a fuzzy area where doctors don't agree, and the seizure meds and their side effects sound horrifying from what I have read on the epilepsy forums. I would rather avoid going down that path if at all possible.

It's a matter of quality of life, she has been dealing with this for years and now she knows other people have the same symptoms and there are treatments she could try if she wanted to pursue that path. She knows what's going on isn't her fault but only she knows if it's disruptive or unpleasant enough to warrant pursuing medical attention and risking whatever side effects may go with that.

I am straddling the line between trying to help her figure out what's going on and how best to handle the things that are causing her grief and hardship on the one hand and trying to avoid making her feel like she is defective and needs to be fixed on the other.

She leaves for college in a week, I am hopeful that having a strict routine and a healthy diet at school coupled with the ADD meds and Melatonin will help. I think her "happy factor" will go up exponentially at school and I pray this will have positive healing effects on her brain chemistry. I may try to get a sleep study scheduled for Christmas break as I will have insurance coverage for her by then.