Gifted adults are largely invisible. One of the reasons so few apply the term to themselves is due to misconceptions about giftedness, both in adulthood and in childhood. Many adults who have been a part of the gifted community, either as children or as parents, still do not recognize themselves as gifted. Adults who were identified as gifted children were often given no information about what it means to be gifted and as a result think they have outgrown their ‘giftedness’. For a variety of reasons, parents of gifted children often fail to identify their own gifts as well. Of course, there are many gifted adults who are not affiliated with the gifted education system in any way, adults who just feel out of step and don’t know why, but would never consider themselves gifted due to misconceptions of what a gifted is. gifted adult.
The misconceptions of being a gifted adult fall into two categories: superstar achiever or incompetent misfit. The reality is more subtle than any of these stereotypes suggest. While some gifted adults struggle and some achieve extraordinary things, most gifted adults fall somewhere in between.
10 Misconceptions About Gifted Adults
All gifted people:
A gifted adult may or may not fit a stereotype, but none of the stereotypes explain or define what it is to be a gifted adult. If you’ve dismissed the idea that you’re a gifted adult based on any of the previous misconceptions, I encourage you to reconsider, but this time based on information, not popular misconceptions.