AIBU to find it incredibly frustrating that there are basically no resources in the UK for people like me?

[Maybeasd]

I’m genuinely starting to wonder whether I’m being unreasonable or whether this is just a massive blind spot in the UK.

I’m a woman, adult, functioning perfectly well in life for the most part, but I’m very cognitively able and have always been. I’ve been properly assessed and this a known entity (I was not born nor raised in the UK for context).

The issue is I’m finding that there are only pathways if you’re struggling but not if you’re just curious. I’m not only talking about the NHS, even privately I haven’t been able to find someone who hits the spot.

I’ve looked into:
ND assessments (very binary, very impairment-focused)
talk therapy - after years of it total waste of time and money.

People in the US suggested to find a neuropsychologist but they have eye-watering costs, mostly framed around brain injury or rehab

It’s either you’re ill or you’re fine, stop asking questions.

I’m not looking for validation, labels, or coping strategies.
I’m just trying to understand how my mind works, and it feels like that’s somehow illegitimate unless I’m suffering.

So… AIBU to find this incredibly annoying?

There aren’t enough services available for those who need support so I’m afraid you’ll either have to pay (but you will be taking spot someone else who is struggling could have had) or accept yourself as you are and enjoy the privilege you have.

I still think you need to read Helen Lewis' book, Genius. She has a whole bit on MENSA ...

What have you done with it?

I've no idea what my IQ score is and very much doubt it is anything extraordinary because when we did such tests at school in the 70s the 'patterns' meant nothing to me. I was and am jolly good at a couple of things but then loads of us are, different things, it is part of being human.

I am far from sure that many of the acknowledged creative geniuses, who left a legacy that lives for the ages would have got into Mensa. Leonardo da Vinci most probably would, Beethoven possibly not (he could barely add up) Doesn't make Beethoven any less phenomenal.

It doesn’t matter what your IQ is . It dont matter how gifted you are. It’s your life. You have to live it in a way that works for you and the society we are part of

no one needs to tell you what to do or how to be- if you suspect a particular issue you can research wha might make your life easier all by yourself

I have never been diagnosed anything but I know that avoiding crowds and using noise cancelling headphones can really help
me cope with the world and I pick up a lot of other tips relating to autistic people - I can see they also help me so I just get on and make my life better.

if you are not sure what will help - experiment. If you think it’s something unique then it will be had to get a diagnosis anyway

i am Also rather good at maths - your sort of level but so ? I don’t need a medal for it

That's ridiculous. Most people with IQs in the top 5% of the population will meet far more than just "a few" others like them.

For example, those who end up going to top universities etc will likely be surrounded by people just like them. Many career paths will also bring people into contact with others just like them.

I think the first world is suffering from an epidemic of navel gazing.

Exactly, that’s common sense.
OP hasn’t answered the question about where she got her degrees. I wonder why?

On a previous post, you said you decided you were gifted after some people on reddit decided you weren't ASD. It's a big leap from that to this. No idea what your diagnosis is, but any adult who goes around describing themselves as gifted like this has definitely got something missing.

No, that’s not what I said.

I said that I’ve known for the past 34+ years (assessed) and later confirmed I life that I am gifted.

i said that after asking on Reddit, and how they reacted and what they said, it seems that it was more likely that the giftedness was more likely to explain my experience than ASD.

Up to like maybe 3-4 weeks ago I thought I was likely on the spectrum, but now Im not so sure.

You'd think that someone who is supposedly "gifted" would perhaps be able to figure this out quite easily.

You wouldn’t know the universities as they were local
to me. For my masters though, my options were either a joint degree at Columbia/SciencePo / MIT / and LSE. I ended up going to LSE because my ex husband convinced me to stay.

Try us, we're quite clever, you know.

LSE has a good reputation. Did you feel you were more gifted than the others on the course?

How is it relevant?? Not the point but alumina have won Oscars. Of both actually, now that I think about it

That still makes zero sense, especially from an allegedly intelligent person:

i said that after asking on Reddit, and how they reacted and what they said, it seems that it was more likely that the giftedness was more likely to explain my experience than ASD.

You thought all your life your were on the spectrum but because of some Reddit people (who you no doubt simply irritated with your attitude) you decided it's not ASD but your 'giftedness' that explains it all. Why the heck would anyone base such a belief on the say of some Redditors? And the retreat into 'oh well, it must just be down to how super special I am' is just... well... not very intelligent at all.

So do you think you met a perfect cross section of the population at MIT and LSE, where the vast majority of people were much less intelligent than you?

Its not relevant, but it is of interest. The fact that alumnni of these establishments have won Oscars, is, however, irrelevant.

And when this intelligence is assessed, analysed and you get some ideas about how it works and how to maximise its potential power, what do you plan on doing?

Having great brain power is one thing. Making good use of it, quite another.

Oh help, DH was assessed as having an IQ of 146 aged 7 (told and shown the documented proof by his lovely proud aunt, he'd have burned it)

He is a very bright man IMO but with gaps in his knowledge (like everyone) and vaguely embarrassed by having been formally assessed, it is a joke. It was a thing for a couple of decades, hopefully we will move beyond such arbitary and selective 'proofs' of intelligence, because they really don't mean doodily.

Shakespeare was not a good scholar by his own account, 'small Latin and less Greek'. He was still Shakespeare.

Plenty of psychology avaliable online if you look for it. Try PsyPost for starters.

I went to a university where an alumni has won an Oscar (quite recently) and more than a couple of Nobel nominees, one an acknowledged important poet.

Doesn't make me any brighter.

Did a funding organisation pay the course fees for you, or did you take out a loan or self-fund?

What you seem to be after, @Maybeasd , is a service that isn't provided for the purposes of healthcare but is simply available for the curious. A bit like DNA testing for people who idly wonder about their percentage of Mongolian or Western European or African ancestry, etc.

Why is this different from (for example) wanting there to be more paintballing facilities or Armenian restaurants? Unless a service is required for health or some other social-justice-related purpose, it is provided (or not provided) on the capitalist basis of effective demand.

If enough people with the money to gratify their curiosity wanted the services that you also want, then they would be provided. If there is not enough demand to make servicing this type or recreational self-investigation a viable business, then why would you expect it to be provided?

try searching ‘google scholar’.
wish I’d not wasted the 6 minutes i’ve been on this thread.

You have to have impairment to be diagnosed with autism or ADHD. It's part of the diagnostic criteria so without impairment you do not have autism or ADHD.
You said you have been assessed and found to be gifted. So this assessment has looked at how your brain works. Did you not get a report based on this assessment?
Why don't you simply do your own research around how gifted brains and synaesthesia work?
You can pay for a neurodevelopmental assessment which includes a cognitive assesment.