What is Giftedness?
- Eva Bruchez
- Nov 3, 2024
- 10 min read
Updated: Nov 10, 2024
"Giftedness is a natural variation in human cognitive and emotional functioning. Gifted individuals have a differently wired brain with complex, intense, and divergent ways of experiencing the world."
Giftedness isn’t just about acing tests or pulling in high grades; it’s a whole different way of experiencing the world. Gifted brains are wired in ways that can be intense, complex, and constantly curious, touching everything from thoughts and emotions to the way we experience a sunset or a piece of music. While IQ tests can help give a clue, they don’t tell the whole story, and they often miss the rich layers that make up the full experience of being gifted.
In this article, expanded on Jennifer Harvey Sallin's article "What is Giftedness", we’ll go beyond the surface-level view of IQ scores and look at how giftedness actually shows up in day-to-day life, and how giftedness can co-exist with other neurodivergences like AHDH and Autism. Inspired by the work of Jennifer and other thought leaders in gifted psychology, we’ll explore giftedness as a blend of intellectual, emotional, sensory, and existential traits. It’s about understanding that giftedness is more than just “thinking faster”, “learning quickly”, "being superior" or "being a geek" —it’s a whole way of being in the world.
Why IQ Tests Aren’t the Full Story
Let’s start by busting a big myth: IQ scores aren’t everything. Sure, IQ tests can highlight certain strengths, like logical reasoning or verbal skills, but they tend to miss the big picture. Emotional intelligence, creativity, sensory awareness, and those “big questions” about life and purpose? Not on the test. Plus, scores can fluctuate based on things like trauma, other neurodivergence (like ADHD, autism, dyslexia), anxiety, lack of sleep, or just an “off” day. Giftedness is about so much more than a number.
This is why I prefer to adopt a more holistic, qualitative approach to understanding giftedness. By looking beyond test scores, we get a fuller picture—one that includes the depth of a person’s experiences, their challenges, and their unique perspectives.
The Lived Experience of Gifted Adults
Gifted adults live at the intersection of intensity and insight, experiencing the world in ways that often feel extraordinary—and isolating. Their heightened awareness, relentless curiosity, and deep emotional capacity shape how they navigate life, work, and relationships. Let’s unpack the layers of what it truly means to be a gifted adult, from the struggles to the triumphs.
1. The Mind: Always in Overdrive
Gifted adults often describe their minds as hyperactive, like a puzzle that’s always solving itself.
Endless Curiosity: For you, curiosity isn’t a passing thought—it’s a way of life. A question like “Why do bees fly?” turns into hours of research connecting biology, aerodynamics, and environmental impact. You don’t stop at answers; you seek understanding.
Challenge: It’s easy to lose yourself in a “rabbit hole,” chasing ideas until you feel overwhelmed or exhausted.
Opportunity: Set time limits or focus areas for your curiosity to avoid burnout.
Pattern Recognition: Your brain instinctively connects dots others don’t even notice. You might see how a nature documentary relates to a corporate strategy or find parallels between historical events and current trends.
Challenge: Explaining your thought processes can leave you feeling misunderstood when others don’t see the connections.
Opportunity: Practice breaking down your ideas into smaller steps so others can follow.
Mental Exhaustion: Your mind never seems to stop, which can leave you feeling drained, even on a “quiet” day. Overthinking is common, especially at night.
Challenge: The constant churn of thoughts can lead to sleepless nights and mental burnout.
Opportunity: Try mindfulness techniques, journaling, or even walking to clear your mind. Scheduling “brain breaks” can help recharge.
2. Emotional Depth: Feeling Everything Intensely
If your brain is a storm of ideas, your heart is a deep ocean of emotions.
Empathy Overload: You don’t just sympathize; you feel what others feel. A friend’s heartbreak or a tragic news story can weigh on you for days.
Challenge: Absorbing emotions from others can lead to emotional exhaustion.
Opportunity: Set emotional boundaries by practicing self-awareness. You can care deeply without taking on others’ pain as your own.
Purpose-Seeking: You need your life, work, and relationships to have meaning. Without it, everything feels hollow.
Challenge: This drive for purpose can lead to frustration when life feels directionless or superficial.
Opportunity: Break big goals into smaller, actionable steps. Even small wins can bring a sense of fulfillment.
Sensitivity to Criticism: A single offhand comment can feel like rejection, making you replay conversations for days.
Challenge: Fear of judgment can hold you back from taking social or professional risks.
Opportunity: Focus on self-validation and remind yourself that no one is perfect. Reframe criticism as feedback for growth.
3. Social Dynamics: Craving Connection but Feeling Like an Outsider
Relationships can feel like a tug of war between wanting to connect and fearing rejection.
Craving Depth: Small talk feels pointless. You thrive on conversations about big ideas, values, and life’s mysteries.
Challenge: Not everyone is ready for this depth, leaving you feeling like an outsider.
Opportunity: Seek like-minded people who value authenticity and deep conversations.
Masking to Fit In: To avoid being seen as “too much,” you might downplay your intensity or hide your true thoughts.
Challenge: Prolonged masking can leave you feeling drained and disconnected from yourself.
Opportunity: Start by sharing your true self with people you trust. Small steps build confidence.
Feeling Misunderstood: Your unique perspective often makes you feel like a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite fit.
Challenge: Loneliness and self-doubt can creep in when others don’t understand you.
Opportunity: Embrace your individuality as a strength, not a flaw. Your perspective adds richness to the world.
4. Sensory Sensitivity: Seeing the World in High Definition
Your heightened senses make the world vivid—but also overwhelming.
Overstimulation: Loud noises, strong smells, or bright lights can feel unbearable.
Challenge: Sensory overload can make routine tasks like shopping or commuting exhausting.
Opportunity: Curate sensory-friendly spaces and use tools like noise-canceling headphones to protect your energy.
Richness in Experience: On the flip side, your sensitivity lets you enjoy the world in breathtaking detail—like hearing every note of a symphony or noticing the intricate colors of a sunset.
Challenge: Others might not understand why these experiences are so moving to you.
Opportunity: Channel your sensory awareness into creative outlets like art, music, or storytelling.
5. Existential Drive: Always Searching for Meaning
Gifted adults are natural philosophers, driven to understand life’s “why.”
The Quest for Purpose: You’re not content with just “doing.” You want your work, relationships, and hobbies to matter.
Challenge: Environments focused on routine or superficiality can leave you feeling frustrated.
Opportunity: Pursue purpose-driven projects or causes that align with your values.
Big-Picture Thinking: You instinctively see how everything connects, noticing systems and patterns that others overlook.
Challenge: Explaining these insights to others can be tricky, especially when they don’t see the “big picture.”
Opportunity: Use analogies or storytelling to make complex ideas relatable.
6. Resilience: Turning Challenges Into Strengths
Giftedness comes with its fair share of struggles, but it also equips you with unique tools to not just survive—but thrive.
Problem-Solving: Your outside-the-box thinking helps you tackle challenges that leave others stumped.
Problem: You may feel pressure to solve problems for everyone or struggle with perfectionism when solutions don’t come easily.
Opportunity: Focus your energy on challenges that truly matter to you, and remind yourself that not every problem is yours to fix.
Deep Introspection: You reflect deeply on your experiences, turning challenges into opportunities for personal growth.
Problem: Overthinking can turn into rumination, leaving you stuck in cycles of self-doubt or regret.
Opportunity: Use journaling, meditation, or therapy to channel introspection into actionable growth. Self-awareness is your superpower.
Purpose-Driven Impact: Your intensity and passion naturally align with meaningful causes that create real change.
Problem: You might feel overwhelmed by all the ways you want to make a difference, leading to burnout or frustration.
Opportunity: Focus on one cause or project at a time. Even small steps toward a big goal can make a lasting impact.
Levels of Giftedness: The Spectrum of Intensity
Giftedness isn’t a checkbox or a one-size-fits-all; it exists on a spectrum. Jennifer Harvey Sallin breaks it down into levels based mapped to typical IQ ranges for more intuitive understanding, where each level has its own mix of traits and needs.
Here’s a quick guide:
Mildly Gifted - 15-20% of the population (IQ 115-129): These individuals are quick learners and enjoy intellectual pursuits but may not stand out in typical gifted programs.
Moderately Gifted - 2-5% of the population (IQ 130-144): This level often includes strong curiosity and critical thinking skills, with an inclination for deep discussions.
Highly Gifted - 0.1-0.5% of the population (IQ 145-159): Highly gifted individuals often feel “out of sync” with others, craving complex conversations and facing social and emotional challenges.
Exceptionally Gifted - 0.01-0.1% of the population (IQ 160-179): With heightened awareness and intense curiosity, they require high levels of stimulation and can feel very isolated.
Profoundly Gifted - Less than 0.01% of the population (IQ 180+): Profoundly gifted people often feel worlds apart from others, with unique emotional and intellectual needs that require specialized support.
Understanding where someone falls on this spectrum helps tailor support, whether in learning environments, friendships, or even career guidance. Her framework suggests that levels of giftedness are often aligned with specific thinking styles. For example:
Skip Thinking (Mild and Moderate Giftedness - IQ 115-144): Individuals in this range often resonate with Skip Thinking, a quick, intuitive leap from point A to Z without needing each step along the way. Their thought processes allow them to connect dots rapidly, grasp relationships, and reach solutions without deep analysis.
Meta Thinking (High Giftedness and Above - IQ 145+): Those with high giftedness and above often identify with Meta Thinking—an approach that goes beyond simple connections to question the larger framework, challenge established norms, and explore new possibilities to define completely new systems.
1. Skip ThinkER: The Shortcut Specialist
Skip thinkers intuitively leap from start to finish, skipping intermediate steps and reaching conclusions that feel “obvious” to them, even if they can’t always explain how they got there.
Analogies:
The Spoiler Alert: Just a few minutes into a movie, they can guess the ending because they intuitively recognize patterns.
The Map Jumper: They see a city map and intuitively know the best route, jumping from one landmark to the next without needing each turn spelled out.
Example:
The Team Meeting: A skip thinker might walk into a meeting, instantly grasp the solution to a problem, and feel puzzled as others discuss each small step. They “just know” what needs to happen, even if they can’t clearly articulate every reason behind their intuition.
Overlap with ADHD
ADHD individuals often find themselves skipping steps as well. Their need for quick decisions can lead them to jump to conclusions or intuit solutions without fully analyzing each step. An ADHD skip thinker might grasp the core of a problem in seconds, feeling restless if others want to slow down and analyze every detail.
Gifted vs. Non-Gifted ADHD: Gifted ADHD skip thinkers often reach highly accurate conclusions thanks to an extensive knowledge base. They are more likely to leap intuitively while maintaining accuracy, though their fast pace can lead to occasional errors in detail. For gifted ADHD individuals, these intuitive leaps are a double-edged sword: efficient yet potentially scattered.
Divergence from Autism
Autistic individuals often prefer a structured, step-by-step approach, valuing accuracy and logical sequence. While they may still see the big picture, they usually arrive at conclusions through a process rather than leaps. This focus on precision makes the idea of “skipping” feel foreign, as they value thoroughness over speed.
Gifted vs. Non-Gifted Autism: Gifted autistic skip thinkers, while still rooted in logical thinking, can make efficient leaps within their area of expertise. Their pattern recognition allows them to intuit complex solutions, making their skip thinking more deliberate and calculated. Unlike the impulsivity of ADHD, this gifted skip thinking is informed by detailed understanding.
2. Meta ThinkER: The Big-Picture Builder
Meta thinkers have a unique ability to step back and see how different parts of a system connect. They can analyze complex frameworks and question conventional structures, often creating new ways of thinking altogether.
Analogies:
The Ecosystem Designer: Rather than focusing on one tree, they design the entire forest, considering how every part interacts.
The Alphabet Reorganizer: Most people follow A to Z, skip thinkers jump from A to Z, but meta thinkers might question the order entirely, creating a new system that reflects deeper connections between letters.
Example:
City Planning: A gifted meta thinker involved in city planning might propose an innovative layout where residential and work spaces are seamlessly integrated to reduce commute times and environmental impact. They don’t just address the surface issues—they rethink the entire framework to create a new system.
Overlap with Autism
Autistic individuals frequently excel in meta thinking, especially in areas that require deep analysis. When approaching a problem, they might study the entire system, analyzing how each component interrelates. For example, when addressing climate change, an autistic meta thinker might consider environmental, economic, and social factors, constructing a solution with rigorous attention to detail.
Gifted vs. Non-Gifted Autism: Gifted autistic meta thinkers push this even further, often questioning foundational assumptions and reimagining entire fields. Their meta thinking is transformative, challenging existing models and introducing new paradigms, a skill that non-gifted autistic individuals may share but with less inclination to reconstruct entire systems.
Divergence from ADHD
ADHD individuals may engage in meta thinking but often struggle to sustain the focus required for complex systems. They might glimpse the big picture and envision an innovative solution but may become distracted or lose momentum before building a fully integrated system. ADHD meta thinkers often have brilliant ideas but may need external support to organize these ideas into actionable frameworks.
Gifted vs. Non-Gifted ADHD: Gifted ADHD meta thinkers blend visionary insights with intuitive patterns, quickly identifying new concepts. However, they may struggle with follow-through, needing collaborative environments or external structure to bring their meta-level ideas to completion. Their thought processes are dynamic and inventive, but without guidance, ideas can remain as flashes of brilliance rather than completed projects.
Why Understanding These Differences Matters
Identifying the unique ways gifted, ADHD, and autistic individuals think can improve how we support each type of thinker. While there are overlaps, recognizing the nuances helps in:
Reducing Misdiagnosis: Differentiating giftedness-related traits from ADHD and autism helps prevent misdiagnosis, especially for those who may show traits common across these neurotypes.
Creating Tailored Support: By understanding individual thinking styles, we can provide more personalized strategies that harness their strengths, whether it’s encouraging the creativity of ADHD, supporting the structure of autism, or nurturing the depth of giftedness.
Fostering Self-Understanding: Knowing their cognitive style can empower individuals to embrace their unique strengths, leading to greater self-acceptance and confidence.
Resources for Profiling and Coaching
If you’re curious about your own giftedness or want to explore your unique “giftedness or neurodivergence profile,” I offer personalized profiling and coaching services. This isn’t about standard tests; it’s about diving into the whole picture—your thinking patterns, emotional traits, strengths, and even those quirks that make you you. Together, we can develop strategies to help you thrive.
Recommended Reading
Here are some great reads for anyone looking to understand giftedness more deeply:
"What is Giftedness", article by Jennifer Harvey Sallin. A modern understanding of giftedness beyond IQ
"Living With Intensity" by Susan Daniels and Michael Piechowski. A deep look into the emotional life of gifted individuals.
"Your Rainforest Mind" by Paula Prober. A compassionate guide for those who feel like they don’t quite “fit in.”
"The Drama of the Gifted Child" by Alice Miller. An exploration of the emotional needs and challenges gifted individuals face.
"Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults" by James T. Webb et al. Understanding how giftedness can be mistaken for pathology.