A Cartoon to Learn From

I noticed this cartoon – and it holds a message that doesn’t come from the typical guidance counselor’s office:

It’s a slightly different way of displaying the bell curves that explain IQ (intelligence, the G factor)

The article describes parts of the author’s life after the brain injuries associated with multiple concussions – “Two standard deviations below the mean is considered to be low IQ or mentally handicapped. We accept that people with low IQ fall outside the norm and may need additional assistance to adapt and be successful in society. Sadly, the same compassion and understanding does not often exist for people more than two standard deviations above the mean.  The existence of only “positive” words to describe IQ on the high side is an example of that. A big difficulty for people with high IQs is that they are sorely in the minority.  Though there is a long tale to the bell curve it is a narrow one.  96% of all people fall within 30 points of the mean IQ of 100.”  Clicking the link takes you to her page, where she discusses her own experiences of high intelligence and traumatic brain injury.

“One of the biggest difficulties for Gifted/Brain Injured adults is that all of our life we have been able to rely on our ability to pick things up quickly, make the thought connections between disparate ideas, multitask, multi-think . . .  We relied on it even if we were unaware that we were doing so. Suddenly those abilities have been stripped from us.  That is huge. We are completely at a loss how to navigate life.  Even with a very mild TBI executive functions involving planning, multitasking, and sequencing are usually compromised.  Because the gifted tend to “coast” relying on the enhances abilities, this fall from grace is into an especially deep pit.”

Note the verbal, the grammatical  error in the statement, and how they support the situation she describes.  Her writings are worth the click and the time it takes to read them.