Comments on: Twice Exceptional: Definition, Characteristics & Identification

By: Karen Speelman

Karen Speelman — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 19:39:22 +0000

I am the Grandmother if a 2E and want to know as a grandmother what I can do. My granddaughter us 17 nearly diagnosed. Doesn’t seem like there us much out there for help.

By: Argenta Davidson

Argenta Davidson — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 17:36:04 +0000

In reply to Anita Howard. My 73 year old partner checks ALL the boxes for 2e classification. Being able to recognize how his processes work and enhance our communication by better understanding him needs has been a game changer!

By: Anita Howard

Anita Howard — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 22:01:53 +0000

I’m 68 year old woman, dyslexic and last year diagnosed with Autism. Reading this article about 2e adds to my insight about myself. The characteristics mentioned resonate with me and I wonder how many other women are in my situation. It is great that there is a beginning of an understanding and assistance for 2e people, however those of us who were educated and worked when there was no understanding now suffer from a life of confusion and disappointment

By: Delta

Delta — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 14:43:07 +0000

I’ve been diagnosed as gifted with an IQ over 140 for almost 10 years now. I’m 15 and in my senior year in high school. Thanks to my school, I was detected very early and was able to skip one grade, then another. But now I don’t know how to work and am failing successfully at my classes, and I realize I might have undiagnosed ADHD and maybe autism (Aspergers)… I am highly sensitive to all, and any, sounds, smells, etc. My social anxiety is getting worse by the minute and this article has finally convinced me to get professional advice and hopefully get diagnosed, to access something, anything, that’ll help me. So, yeah, thank you!

By: Stefanie Ash

Stefanie Ash — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 11:37:46 +0000

I was identified gifted as a young child based on my 147 IQ. When I retested at the age of about 18, I scored 143 – still on the gifted scale. But that was it. I was never told about any of the other “things” that come with being gifted. I was simply seen as the kid with the high IQ who is lazy. Terribly bullied by my peers, I never understood, nor did I know until recently, that I also had other traits that go with being gifted. Nothing was ever explained to me or my parents. The extra classes that were presented to gifted children were presented in just the same way as all other learning material and basically just focused on teaching you the class of the next year up from the year you were in at school. I remember attending one or two of these classes and finding it so boring and off point that I insisted my dad contact the education dept and remove my name from their records so that they could stop trying to make me sit through their boring lectures that did not help me one bit. No effort was ever made to identify the specific areas where I might be more “talented” than my peers, nor was anything ever said about my emotional and psychological wellbeing. I never knew that being gifted was like a whole aspect of life that I was missing out on. At the age of 43 I finally started experiencing complete burnout and struggled at work. It was so embarrassing because my whole life I always knew that I had greater intellectual capacity than others, but nobody ever understood me. I was a complete perfectionist and because of my intellectual capabilities, I was always the best at everything, but I never realised just how held back I was because of other issues gifted individuals experience if they do not have the correct support network. And then it happened: I got diagnosed with ADHD at age 43. Wow. My whole identity collapsed in one day. Of course, I started hyperfocusing on researching ADHD and there it was: 2e kids. What??? You mean I was gifted AND ADHD all this time and there are actual programmes out there to help people like me?? What?? Why did nobody ever tell me? I started reading up on giftedness and suddenly a whole new level of understanding befell me. Why did nobody ever tell me? Why was I just told I was gifted and left? Why did nobody ever try to figure out that I was masking my ADHD and that my ADHD was to some extent masking my giftedness? What did I miss out on in life because nobody ever stepped up to explain anything to me? Why was I left to feel so misunderstood, to constantly be aware that I have so much more in me but nowhere to place it? And no-one to tell… Even when I tested as a level 5-6 Cognitive Processing Profile (CCP) at age 38 when applying for a position at work, I was still just left to my own devises. Nobody came to talk to me about how my cognitive processes are so different from the people around me. Nobody bothered to find out if it was linked to being gifted. The main thing I have learnt via my recent ADHD diagnosis is how much more work the world has to do to recognise each other’s differences and to create a space where each and every individual can flousish.

By: Lissette Gonzalez Torres

Lissette Gonzalez Torres — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 09:58:28 +0000

In reply to Francisco Javier Martínez Gayosso. Jelena and Francisco, my daughter was recently diagnosed with adhd in her HS senior year which makes her 2e. I also have the characteristics of a 2e although not formally diagnosed. Specially challenging because I had to navigate this as a single mom and no other help. Francisco, your testimony and advocacy is so valuable. Big hug!

By: win cronin

win cronin — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 22:00:57 +0000

There’s so much emphasis on the school’s role in the lives of 2e children, I’m curious to know how a nurturing, enriching home life will help such a child. And how singling out the 2e child at home will affect his/her siblings or do they all benefit? ( It’s wonderful to know a 2e child.)

By: Vanessa Taveras

Vanessa Taveras — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 19:57:42 +0000

Well, as an 2e adult, I have social anxiety problems from now and then. When I’m in public, I need to feel comfortable in the environment I’m in in order to be myself. I find it quite challenging in my professional life, but I try to overcome the fear of being judged by normal people. We are often seen as “abnormal” due to our high intelligence levels.

By: Jelena Djuric

Jelena Djuric — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 03:53:49 +0000

In reply to Francisco Javier Martínez Gayosso. Oh dear, I feel exactly like you, and now I have a child who is exactly like me. Recently at the age of 40 I discovered that I have ADHD after my son was diagnosed too. But is not only ADHD it was always something more about me and my child. Then I discovered 2e, and everything has sense now. I will do anything to help him to find his place in this world and to live a happy life. That is my mission now, nobody should feel the way we feel. We both love you and send you a big hug!

By: Francisco Javier Martínez Gayosso

Francisco Javier Martínez Gayosso — Sun, 02 Jan 2022 03:57:56 +0000

My life as a 2e student was frustrating and lonely, everyone told me that due to my intelligence in many areas and rapid learning I was going to excel at school and my career of choice, but due to my ADHD and depression I barely managed to get from one grade to another, in my country education is not centered in either gifted or challenged children, so I was forced by my parents to study in a high performance high school, I struggle a lot and I’m overwhelmed most of the time, I wish there was a place for people like us in this world. My dream was to be an astronaut, but due to my mental health issues I’ve been discouraged to do so. Now my dream is that 2e children around the world can live plentiful lives, and I strive to make a world like that.

By: Owen An

Owen An — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 06:07:34 +0000

Exactly. I am 2e, being an aspie, adhder, and bipolar sufferer. I am highly gifted in spatial intelligence, while being moderately gifted in multiple areas. Of course, these are only self identified. I think tests with low ceilings limit 2e’s functionality. This stops lots of geniuses from identification. For instance, me, got 104 in WAIS-IV.

By: Angela Rose

Angela Rose — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 23:47:03 +0000

In reply to Group Memo. I am so sorry that someone of such tender years and with their whole promising life ahead of them is so wrongly judged and unfairly mistreated.Everyone should have the same opportunity to showcase their unique array of abilities and many talents to the world.