10 Nov 2013, 10:44 pm
Can you elaborate on what you mean by having a high IQ? Your IQ does not necessarily having high intelligence when it comes to academics. There are your verbal IQ and processing IQ. I apologize if I sound rude but that's the way I personally see it. You mentioned not being able to read facial expressions and the fact you are clumsy....have you ever heard of a neurodevelopmental disability called nonverbal learning disorder? A minor part of it is not reading body language very well and having fine motor issues i.e not holding a pen or pencil well, having poor balance, etc, etc. People with NLD are also extremely verbal while lacking in areas that require nonverbal abilities. We get our information through verbal communication and that's how we try to relate to others. Also, an area of academic weakness with NLD is math.
Unfortunately nonverbal learning disability and Asperger's Syndrome overlap so much that it's hard to tell the difference. The only way to really find out is to get a psychological evalution.
I understand having certain interests, being clumsy, and not reading body language very well either because I have nonverbal learning disability. From the information you gave doesn't really scream autism spectrum disorder because it honestly wasn't enough information. Those of us with NLD have certain interests because that's how we relate to people verbally and we don't know how to socialize otherwise. It's very awkward because we can't understand the required body language or voice tone or we miss the cues that the conversation is over or has started.
Anyways...I apologize for the rambling. NLD has become a certain interest for me. Lol.I have researched NLD as well as AS, but it does not seem to fit. For me, the sensory issues, stimming, and having very good spacial reasoning skills (as well as special interests, as those are more commonly an aspie trait, though I can see how they might fall into the NLD category too) sway me towards the AS side of the narrowly drawn line of distinction.
Again, this thread was not asking for people to agree that I had autism, but I really do appreciate the suggestion. I fit the NLD criteria (with some exceptions, such as that I excel at math and spacial reasoning), but the AS criteria fits me better, encompassing more of what I might cal my 'symptoms'.
10 Nov 2013, 10:46 pm
12 Nov 2013, 12:37 am
12 Nov 2013, 3:29 am
As an adult, I probably come down more on the gifted side here. As a child? Hard to say. I do remember reciting the version numbers for Macintosh system software from version 6 and up to a cousin at my 15th birthday. My mom didn't quite know what to make of that.
This part really resonated with me:
I was actually an English lit major in college, but I hated it. Loathed it. But I stuck with it because it was the path of least resistance and I didn't really know what else to study. I really had to work really hard to learn how to think in these sorts of terms because even as an adult, I defaulted to taking a more literal reading of the texts.
13 Nov 2013, 2:42 pm
Well, even though I'm joining in the discussion a little late, I concur with what a couple of posters stated on the first page.
Twice exceptional or referred to as twice gifted by some, is the co-morbidity of a learning disability and exceptional at some other area.
I was diagnosed with this although I've yet to know what my area of exceptional giftedness is? I know my disability is math, and I am reluctant to call it a disability since I personally believe I just learn differently and need to spend more time on it, but whatever..
Either I just so happened to be traveling in groups of school diagnosed high IQs or giftedness by coincidence or there's a whole lot of people in this world who are pretty bright.
It just seems like wherever I post online or wherever I go in life (different colleges, schools, etc) a couple of people start talking about their high IQs or giftedness diagnosed by their school.
Personally, I never want to know my IQ. I don't need confirmation that I'm stupid. 
Therese04
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13 Nov 2013, 6:02 pm
13 Nov 2013, 8:24 pm
13 Nov 2013, 8:53 pm
21 Jan 2014, 12:41 pm
21 Jan 2014, 1:53 pm
Anyways...I apologize for the rambling. NLD has become a certain interest for me. Lol.Yes! NLDers unite! Especially since we lost our NLD sticky thread
Back on topic... to the OP, you might want to check out this book as well:
Different Minds: Gifted Children With Ad/Hd, Asperger Syndrome, and Other Learning Deficits
I am also a 2E-er, although I'm only in the highly gifted category, not profoundly (although I've never been given an IQ test with a high enough ceiling to identify that- so who knows?
). I do think that my giftedness helped mask issues in school though. Also, I am pretty good at math, despite my NLD-ness saying that I should be terrible at it. When it comes to academic work that is more spatial (like molecules in chemistry), I am often able to come up with an alternate way to process the information, and make it more verbal and sequential for myself. The only problem is that it takes a lot longer! But I do think my giftedness has really helped me to compensate for my weaknesses. They only become very apparent in situations with time pressure. So your giftedness could definitely be masking some signs of Asperger's or NLD.
21 Jan 2014, 7:03 pm
21 Jan 2014, 7:36 pm
21 Jan 2014, 8:17 pm
btbnnyr
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21 Jan 2014, 9:39 pm
21 Jan 2014, 10:23 pm
then how am I supposed to know if I have aspergers or just giftedness?
no "go to the psychologist" as an answer please. they are quite expensive
22 Jan 2014, 12:28 am
