244: Giftedness, Twice-Exceptionality, Autism and ADD within the Overexcitability Framework

Today’s show looks at the differences and overlap of giftedness, twice-exceptionality, autism, and ADHD within the overexcitability framework. Join us to learn more!

Chris Wells is a writer, therapist, and researcher on all things Dabrowski. She has a nuanced take on the concept of overexcitability, a topic on which she has focused much time, energy, and study. Chris is our first three-time guest on the podcast, having appeared most recently to discuss positive disintegration. Let’s hear more from Chris!

In this episode:

• How Chris came to overexcitability in 2014 on her quest to learn more about twice-exceptionality
• How Chris was identified as gifted as a kid but felt more disabled and mentally ill
• How Chris felt broken and emotionally intense by the time she was 40
• How overexcitability turned around her perceptions of herself as problematic and defective
• How Chris became hyperfocused on understanding overexcitability
• How Chris found Dabrowski’s early work, which identified four types of overexcitability: psychomotor, imaginational, sensual, and emotional
• How the gifted education world has finally accepted overexcitability as a characteristic of giftedness
• Why overexcitability is an umbrella term that brings together all the elements of neurodivergence
• Why Chris says autism and ADHD are “clearly neuro-cousins”
• Why there are so many misunderstandings about overexcitability in gifted education
• How overexcitability brings a whole different reality to those who have it
• How Chris’s imagination would take her to another place and another reality when she was growing up–and overexcitability gave her the answers for it
• The problem in learning to live with overexcitability
• Why giftedness is a meaningful difference, even in adults
• How we can best support those with overexcitability in light of the knowledge we now have and the labels we use
• Why we struggle as a whole to figure out the right language to use

Resources:

Check out our calendar of upcoming events: www.embracingintensity.com/community