Outlier, Not Gifted

There is perhaps no larger stumbling block to the highly intelligent/highly talented community than the term "gifted".  It is the bane of our existence.  It creates an instant defence in those who were never selected for Gifted and Talented classes.  It makes it impossible for us to describe who we are without sounding like self absorbed jerks.  It makes it impossible for mothers who have children with high IQ's to reach out to other mothers without causing instant jealousy.

It also can cause the person who is gifted to consider themselves superior or that they have no need to work or put forth effort.  It can create an identity of entitlement or can isolate a child so completely that their youth is spent hiding who they are whilst they fight off bullies.

It prevents the highly abled from getting the assistance they need.  It is very easy to generate sympathy from other parents for the child who is not a 'rival' their own, due to disease or injury.  Only the most callous man does not have some place in his heart for a child who struggles to read or walk.

However, try getting education funding for "gifted kids" and suddenly it is as if you are trying to take away Little Timmy's last crutch.  "Why do 'gifted kids' need educational support if they are so 'gifted'?" people ask with a tinge of jealousy. 

Teachers too can feel anger or hostility toward the "gifted troublemaker" kid who outscores their own child.

When parents are overwhelmed by their 3 year old who has given up sleep for Lent and is trying to build his own nuclear reactor in the basement, they too can feel resentment at the "gifted" label "If this is a gift, can I give it back?" is a refrain spoken by more than one frazzled parent or lonely teen.

Most of this could be eliminated by the simple act of changing the term from the emotionally charged "gifted" to the more accurate "outlier".  Outlier is accurate.  It is a place on a bell curve.  It makes no judgement about whether that place is good or bad, it just states a location on a map, so to speak.

It also illustrates poignantly the feelings of isolation that a highly intelligent person can feel.  "I look at the chart of myself and my peers and there are no dots around me" an Outlier might observe.

Words have weight and meaning and subtext that creates ripples of effect throughout entire lives, so here we use the term Outlier and encourage you to do so as well, as you see fit.