Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Possibly Twice Exceptional?

I believe there is a possibility that I might be twice-exceptional, though I have not been professionally tested. I'm a female, twenty-five, and currently finishing a university degree. I do have a question to ask: I'm wondering if someone can be considered gifted if their memory storage and recall is muddled and not as strong? (in terms of factual memory). Would this be a learning disability? I'm wondering because a few teachers suspect I might be somewhat gifted in a few areas, but my long term memory isn't encyclopedia-ish. (Like an extreme detailed memory on WW ll. It would be bits and pieces). I must have difficulty with my working memory - with factual information. If there is something I'm fascinated with, I will remember it - especially visually. I seem to excel well with creative writing, having an extreme vivid imagination, enhanced motor-skills for sports, drawing shapes, photography, playing drums, puzzled games, deep thought, always asking questions, extreme curiosity, empathy for others (especially trying to grasp poverty, wars, animal rights), bizarre humor most people do not get, constant need of mental stimulation, and emotionally sensitive. I seem to have a natural knack for creative writing (short stories, poetry, imagination, drawing, analytical thinking, problem solving, playing sports, thinking critically, thinking philosophically, etc. I experienced and still do, a bleak sense of existential depression since I was 22. Though I have trouble sticking with things and staying motivated because I have too many interests, it is difficult to stick with one and accelerate it. The University curriculum bores me to tears, there is little room for creativity, thinking, asking questions, insightful and philosophical learning - it has become cookie-cutter-ish, filled with rote memorization and repetition, especially with standardized testing, which I loathe. I always felt somewhat different from most children and young adults my age. I'm not sure where to ask a professional more about this information, so I thought I would attempt here.


What rules out a twice-exceptional person?

Much of what you describe is textbook gifted. You might find a book called Gifted Grownups interesting. There is a fallacy that gifted are automatically great at everything and work well in a traditional educational setting.

Twice exceptional often do have weaker working memory or slower processing speeds due to their second e but a lot of non 2e gifted are perfectionistic so that slows down processing. If you find your thoughts are often jumbled then look at visual spatial non sequential learner and/or adhd.