Discover their stories and visions to better understand your own.

20 views of gifted men and women to understand and explore giftedness in its plurality! What does it mean to be gifted? What are the tips for living well with giftedness? How to blossom as a gifted adult? Discover rich, sensitive and authentic perspectives of gifted & 2e adults.

Gloria Jensen: Your professional advice for gifted?

Priscille Mahe: If we want to grow professionally, it seems important to me to find what makes us vibrate, even if it means changing as soon as it is no longer the case. This can be seen as “professional instability”, it is really about being aligned with who you are: Intense people, who are able to succeed in complex situations when the brain is really stimulated.

Gloria Jensen: What is a gifted person?

Nicolas Gauvrit: When I wear my research hat, it is someone who has an IQ higher than 130. When I think about it in a more philosophical way (…) a person who could revolutionize the intellectual world, who has the capacities.

Gloria Jensen: When you meet another gifted person, how do you recognize them?

Florine Rogé: The thing that marks me the most is this capacity to go very quickly and deeply into a subject. Time doesn’t exist anymore, we surf on the exchanges and the ideas that come out. I feel welcomed in my deepest being.

Gloria Jensen: How did it change your life to know you were gifted?

Barry Gelston: At first, there was a combination of imposter syndrome and connection. Going to my first gifted conference, I felt I had finally found people I could relate to. We appreciated each other’s intelligence. I made new friends. I began to realize that I was allowed to be my smart self. I was able to give up trying to fit in where I didn’t belong.”

Gloria Jensen: Is it a waste to not know you are gifted?

Jeanne Linguinou: Yes, for 2 different reasons: If the giftedness is “disabling”, it brings understanding and solutions to better live and overcome difficulties; If the giftedness is “fulfilling”, it highlights the assets that must be maintained and increased.

Gloria Jensen: What would you like to highlight about Giftedness?

Nicolas Martin Saint-Léon: “I think giftedness is really cool… it is correlated with a lot of positive things in life. I’m well aware that some people have problems, but I feel like sometimes we put disorders on giftedness that are independent, or simply “amplified” by giftedness, but which giftedness is not the cause.”

Gloria Jensen: An image that sums up Giftedness?

Anne-Claire Pliska: “Driving a racing car in the city of Lucerne, which is known for its speed cameras on every corner. The social fine can be quite high.”

Gloria Jensen: Is it a waste to not know you are gifted?

Eric Labrie : (…) A diagnosis at a young age would have saved me a lot of trouble, as a gifted who has no filter. The frankness of a gifted person can be murderous and corrosive. I don’t let anything that is unfair and unacceptable pass.

Gloria Jensen: The mistake not to make when you are gifted?

Elodie Bossoutrot: Using your giftedness as an excuse, a pretext, a justification…

Gloria Jensen: What do you want to tell gifted people?

Quentin: Don’t stay alone, get help and talk to people you trust who will understand and will be able to support you.

Gloria Jensen: What annoys you about giftedness?

Gwendoline Vessot: (…) the pathologization of the phenomenon = giftedness as a source of problems and an explanation of all problems. No, one can be very happy gifted, thank you ! And if you have problems, blaming them on giftedness is both very easy, but also cuts off a lot of tracks to work on these problems.

Gloria Jensen: What do you recommend to a person who wonders if he or she is Gifted?

Didier Poli: Find as soon as possible his answers, if not, be patient!

Gloria Jensen: And your opinion on the WAIS IQ test?

Didier Poli: Made for the gifted who still accept frames.

Gloria Jensen: A personal giftedness (life) tip?

Caroline Desquest: Take an interest in personal development! By opening up to yourself, you open up to others and you will offer yourself/them a bright life… I am so much happier in my relationship, in my family and in my personal life today than I was at 25. I am opening up to myself, to the world and to its infinite field of possibilities.

Gloria Jensen: What do you want to say to gifted people?

Stephan Boschat: Do not let yourself be imprisoned by the codes imposed by our society. Your real limits will always be higher than those you will always impose on yourself.

Gloria Jensen: What does being gifted mean to you?

Nathalie Alsteen: “A world of EXTRA ordinary possibilities, an intense and meaningful life.”

Gloria Jensen: What phases have you gone through since the discovery of your giftedness?

Fusée Nai: I was mostly surprised at how I had developed a normal functioning in parallel. But I was not shocked. Maybe because I put my difference on the account of cultural differences.

Gloria Jensen: The most difficult thing about Giftedness?

Emilie Vion: “The difficulty to turn off your brain. Always being in constant questioning and bubbling, I am often afraid of going into overdrive. That’s what I find most difficult to deal with personally.”

Gloria Jensen: What you allow yourself since you know you are gifted?

Anthony Gonnet Vandepoorte: “When I feel that too many things are starting to clash in my mind, that I don’t have a clear idea and that my brain is clogged with hundreds of information, I unplug everything to simply go for a walk. The simple fact of getting some fresh air for an hour or two allows me to release all the tension accumulated due to a lack of efficiency on various tasks. When I get to the “too full” point, rather than cracking up futilely, I allow myself to practice other activities like abstract painting, ideation, seeing friends, etc.”

Gloria Jensen: What do you recommend to a person who is wondering if she or he is gifted?

Bénédicte Braud: Take the test. It is the only way to remove this questioning. And above all, do not perceive it as a success or a failure. Is someone born in October disappointed that he or she was not born in January? It’s not an accomplishment, it’s just a fact. Knowing this will lead to answers, but if it’s not, then it will lead to looking for those answers elsewhere.