Were you deaf and 'gifted' ?

dreama said:
I've heard of that before. I think Emily Bronte also had mental health isssues but I'm not sure which. Probably the diagnoses of Bipolar didn't even exist back then. Their is also the case of Van Gogh who sliced off his own ear.
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avicenna, a persian physician who wrote the canon of medicine in 1025 first discovered bipolar disorder.

the name "manic depression" goes back to the 1850s.

only until recently has the term "manic depression" been replaced with "bipolar."

edit: the first treatment for bipolar disorder (lithium) was discovered in 1949 by john frederick joseph cade.
 
Hear Again said:
avicenna, a persian physician who wrote the canon of medicine in 1025 first discovered bipolar disorder.

the name "manic depression" goes back to the 1850s.

only until recently has the term "manic depression" been replaced with "bipolar."
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I stand corrected then. (smile).
 
I was in a GT program in my last college. there was an IQ test every semester given free at charge so me and my friend took it. i made a 144 and my friend made a 146. but i also have something that holds me back (besides being deaf). im extremely lazy when it comes to doing stuff. im one of those ppl that always does things at the last minute. i mean i do great but i just love to procrastinate lol. i hate that i do but oh well. something i'll need to work on. my friend is the same way which is weird and funny. but he is hearing.
 
I'm not sure if I qualify as gifted but I did very well in public school before I transferred to a deaf school in 1993. The deaf school could not meet my educational needs and it left me bored and when I get bored, I do stupid things. I was never happy with the educational part of it but I do not blame it for my life experiences. The social experiences were great.

Regardless, I had SAT scores that were probably the highest at my deaf school and when I was as young as 11 or 12, I was already reading and writing at the college level.

10 years have passed since I finished high school and I am still in school, working on a second college degree. It took forever to get my AA degree but it should only take 2.5 years to get my B.S and then I may attend graduate school as well depending on my work situation.

Regardless, it can be difficult if you're the smartest kid in your school/class but you have to remember that book smarts don't usually translate to street smarts. I spent most of my Junior and Senior years in high school preparing for college but I was not taught how to pay bills or balance a budget.
 
Hear Again said:
my psychiatrist told me that many people (like myself) who have bipolar are very creative and intelligent individuals. many bipolars are heavily into the arts, writing and literature.

in fact, if you do a google search to find names of famous people who have/had bipolar, you would learn that many of them are authors, artists and actors/actresses. some of them include mark twain, edgar allen poe, darryl strawberry, patty duke, buzz aldrin, ted turner, axl rose, sylvia plath, jim carey, mariette hartley and jimi hendrix.

many people (myself included) find that their level of creativity reaches its peak during a manic episode. (see the link in my signature entitled, "what is bipolar disorder?" for the definition of a manic episode) they are filled with all kinds of creative ideas and can be extremely productive during these times.

unfortunately, all of this quickly comes to an end after a person "crashes" and experiences severe depression, irritability and agitation.
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I certainly don't have bipolar (not that I know of) but I am still intelligent and creative.

Interesting to note the famous people who have/had it. It didn't really stop them but it could explain why the original Guns and Roses split up (Axl Rose). ;)
 
BradB08 said:
I certainly don't have bipolar (not that I know of) but I am still intelligent and creative.

Interesting to note the famous people who have/had it. It didn't really stop them but it could explain why the original Guns and Roses split up (Axl Rose). ;)
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exactly.
 
I think this is why a lot of good band split up, not just issues between the members, but possibly because one member just becomes so mentally unstable that they can no longer deal with the pressure of touring and producing music, basically they just crash out and they don't do anything for a year or two.

I do know that artists that go 2 years between albums, usually there is a 12 month period in their in which they sought treatment for depression and to hide it from fans and the media they call it a 'break' from the industry, of course this isnt true for all, but Ive noticed a majority of them have happened that way and it gets out that the person sought treatment from a tdoc. However there are some that take a break for a period of 10 years or more simply to have a family. When the kids are grown and ready to be on their own, they get back to the studio and start hammering out new hits.
 
shel90 said:
Since I am a faculty at a deaf school and able to understand the policies and how things are run. I have asked about why many deaf schools didnt have programs for gifted students and I was told that the problem was with the state approving to establish a budget for gifted programs. Many educators and administrators agreed that deaf schools should offer them but due to the small number of gifted deaf students, the proposals made to the state has been turned down. As usual, it is all politics when it comes to the budget.
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Yeah, that's what I thought.

That just...sucks.

At least, teachers could have done something to keep me from being bored if my school cannot provide anything to meet my needs instead of dragging me down.

But it's all in the past, I am happy with choice I made when I left school for the deaf to go to public school. I guess everyone cannot have everything their way, huh?
 
shel90 said:
Not gifted here..but was considered "bright". Whatever that means...I just see myself having strenghts in certain areas and weakness in other areas. To me, having a high IQ is not important.
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I'm the same way too. I had to take some classes at the local hearing school nearby the deaf school for English and Literature since the deaf school was not able to meet my needs.

All these years at the deaf school, I was often told that I'm bright. Teachers and the houseparents would be putting me on a high expectation. That alone built a lot of pressure for me.

It did not make it any easier when some of the students at the deaf school were making fun of me just because I was considered to be 'bright'. They were like "Oh, Just because you are smart, doesn't mean that you think you are better than us". There were a lot of taunting and I was made fun of. I hated every minute of it. I wasn't too happy about it but you know, in fact, when they kept taunting me - that only fueled me up to get on the top.

For those who attended deaf schools, Were you also taunted as well just because you were considered to be 'bright'?
 
Jolie77 said:
I'm the same way too. I had to take some classes at the local hearing school nearby the deaf school for English and Literature since the deaf school was not able to meet my needs.

All these years at the deaf school, I was often told that I'm bright. Teachers and the houseparents would be putting me on a high expectation. That alone built a lot of pressure for me.

It did not make it any easier when some of the students at the deaf school were making fun of me just because I was considered to be 'bright'. They were like "Oh, Just because you are smart, doesn't mean that you think you are better than us". There were a lot of taunting and I was made fun of. I hated every minute of it. I wasn't too happy about it but you know, in fact, when they kept taunting me - that only fueled me up to get on the top.

For those who attended deaf schools, Were you also taunted as well just because you were considered to be 'bright'?
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I've had that happen to me.
 
Jolie77 said:
I'm the same way too. I had to take some classes at the local hearing school nearby the deaf school for English and Literature since the deaf school was not able to meet my needs.

All these years at the deaf school, I was often told that I'm bright. Teachers and the houseparents would be putting me on a high expectation. That alone built a lot of pressure for me.

It did not make it any easier when some of the students at the deaf school were making fun of me just because I was considered to be 'bright'. They were like "Oh, Just because you are smart, doesn't mean that you think you are better than us". There were a lot of taunting and I was made fun of. I hated every minute of it. I wasn't too happy about it but you know, in fact, when they kept taunting me - that only fueled me up to get on the top.

For those who attended deaf schools, Were you also taunted as well just because you were considered to be 'bright'?
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i never attended a school for the deaf (i was in public school from kindergarten through 12th grade), but i did have students in my high school's learning disabilities resource room make fun of me because i was gifted.

many of them rejected me because they were performing several years below grade level. when it came to completing spelling and grammar assignments, they mocked me because the ld program didn't have textbooks that were designed for students who performed at the college level.

year after year students in the ld resource room kept telling me i didn't belong there and that i should leave.

even when i tried to make friends with them, they refused and said i was a stuck up snob.

oh well. at least i had alot of good friends in my accelerated honors courses.
 
Dixie said:
I think this is why a lot of good band split up, not just issues between the members, but possibly because one member just becomes so mentally unstable that they can no longer deal with the pressure of touring and producing music, basically they just crash out and they don't do anything for a year or two.

I do know that artists that go 2 years between albums, usually there is a 12 month period in their in which they sought treatment for depression and to hide it from fans and the media they call it a 'break' from the industry, of course this isnt true for all, but Ive noticed a majority of them have happened that way and it gets out that the person sought treatment from a tdoc. However there are some that take a break for a period of 10 years or more simply to have a family. When the kids are grown and ready to be on their own, they get back to the studio and start hammering out new hits.
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according to statistics, it is said that a person with bipolar remains undiagnosed over the period of 10 years. they may be initially diagnosed with mdd (major depressive disorder) as i was and later diagnosed correctly as bipolar after having their first manic episode.
 
I am just about average unlike my sister. :giggle: She's hearing, gifted, she got all good grades, she was on Honor rolls, and she received a 4 year college scholarship. My sister graduated from M.I.T. college when she was 19. Now, it's her third college and she's currently working on her Ph.D. in Health Policy.
I received a 4 year college scholarship as well because I got all good grades and plus, went to summer school twice (8th and 10th grades. I was only one deaf student... I don't know any ASL until I went to RIT. I thanked my roommate who taught me to learn some basic ASL. Also, I took ASL 1, 2, 3 and 4 courses at RIT/NTID. It was difficult at first but it was fun..) because there were no interpreters at my H.S. at the time. That was 32 1/2 years ago.
 
Jolie77 said:
I'm the same way too. I had to take some classes at the local hearing school nearby the deaf school for English and Literature since the deaf school was not able to meet my needs.

All these years at the deaf school, I was often told that I'm bright. Teachers and the houseparents would be putting me on a high expectation. That alone built a lot of pressure for me.

It did not make it any easier when some of the students at the deaf school were making fun of me just because I was considered to be 'bright'. They were like "Oh, Just because you are smart, doesn't mean that you think you are better than us". There were a lot of taunting and I was made fun of. I hated every minute of it. I wasn't too happy about it but you know, in fact, when they kept taunting me - that only fueled me up to get on the top.

For those who attended deaf schools, Were you also taunted as well just because you were considered to be 'bright'?
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Yep. Either that or other students asked for help on their homework because the teachers could not help them or were not willing to.
 
Silentwolfdog said:
Yeah, that's what I thought.

That just...sucks.

At least, teachers could have done something to keep me from being bored if my school cannot provide anything to meet my needs instead of dragging me down.

But it's all in the past, I am happy with choice I made when I left school for the deaf to go to public school. I guess everyone cannot have everything their way, huh?
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that was the old days...nowadays are different ..if we see a student who is advancing, we will modify the lessons to meet that students' needs. I have a 4th grader now who is like that and I am working long hours to create specified lesson plans just for him only. He knows the difference between homophones and homographs..I HAD to look them up cuz I forgot what the difference was!!!! :eek:...whatever! LOL!
 
Jolie77 said:
I'm the same way too. I had to take some classes at the local hearing school nearby the deaf school for English and Literature since the deaf school was not able to meet my needs.

All these years at the deaf school, I was often told that I'm bright. Teachers and the houseparents would be putting me on a high expectation. That alone built a lot of pressure for me.

It did not make it any easier when some of the students at the deaf school were making fun of me just because I was considered to be 'bright'. They were like "Oh, Just because you are smart, doesn't mean that you think you are better than us". There were a lot of taunting and I was made fun of. I hated every minute of it. I wasn't too happy about it but you know, in fact, when they kept taunting me - that only fueled me up to get on the top.

For those who attended deaf schools, Were you also taunted as well just because you were considered to be 'bright'?
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I always got into trouble in high school so I was never taunted for being bright. In fact, my graduating class had over 500 students so kinda hard to stand out! LOL!
 
I should mention that I got into trouble in deaf school due to bordeom until I got promoted mid-year to a class with kids three years older than me, one four years older. Then the oldest kid (who was a FRIEND for few years before!) started to taunt me. Even the teacher was flabbergasted that I could name the world countries and kept whipping the class at this game. Then I was gone at end of that year---into public school in fifth grade where no one bothered me, but good to me.

Then that "friend" came looking for me and we were good again. Called me her best friend. Yea, but at least we were friends a couple years before college. :D
 
shel90 said:
that was the old days...nowadays are different ..if we see a student who is advancing, we will modify the lessons to meet that students' needs. I have a 4th grader now who is like that and I am working long hours to create specified lesson plans just for him only. He knows the difference between homophones and homographs..I HAD to look them up cuz I forgot what the difference was!!!! :eek:...whatever! LOL!
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That sounds good that things are improving. When I was a kid my parents had a friend who had a daughter who was gifted. She just got moved up a year to be with older kids. But then that was at least 30 years ago. I've heard things have changed since then.
 
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