COMensarations

Saturday, March 18, 2006

A Strange Disability

Intelligence as a disability? C’mon!

When I first heard some psychologist or similar claim that intelligence was a disability, I thought it was another example of something taken way too far. But when I looked back on my experiences, I could see some arguments to support it.

Now, I suppose this could be a touchy subject for a Mensa-related website. It sounds like so much whining. I suppose wealth is a disability, too? Someone chimes in. Or talent? Maybe Renoir was handicapped? Mozart certainly was, right? Well, especially in our society, where deficits are elevated, equalization celebrated, this might not be such a crazy idea.

My father used to tell me about an SF story he read as a child in the 50’s, where intelligent and talented people were “equalized” by putting a device in their ear that buzzed all the time. (Apparently this is not a new idea, either.)

When I was in public school, it was not a crime to have special classes for the gifted. It was a godsend. I was accidentally placed in the wrong class at the beginning of one year, and I saw the reason it was so - I very quickly lost my focus and attention from the slow pace, the endless going over of the subject matter. It’s not to say that the other class members and I didn’t get along, it’s just that math was a very different subject for me than for them.

I know someone who has always been told by her family that she’s not that intelligent. People do that. My parents are very intelligent, but they did that to me too. There are various reasons. Theirs, as far as I can tell, was narcissism. There is apparently a lot of that afoot, so it may be a common reason. Anyway, she plowed her way through a top school with excellent grades, in spite of the fact that she can barely see. She’s legally blind, and then some. When I met her, the first thing I noticed was that her adaptations were a clear sign of her abilities. She takes whatever sensory input she gets, and synthesizes it to make up for what she’s missing. She often “sees” more than I do. She went to graduate school, in human services, and that’s where the trouble began. It was reputed to be an excellent school, but the proof is always in the pudding. Classes were not living up to the expectation, and she was required to intern as well, which was also a dud. Until her most recent one. I believe that this instructor was also intelligent, and probably had the same shaming as a child for her talents. Women especially did, years ago. In any case, my fiancee kept coming home worn out and depressed, and neither of us could really figure out what was wrong. It was not until things got a lot worse that I realized that one of the problems was clearly that she was very intelligent, and an affront to her instructor. Jealousy! Or, as they say in psychology, Narcissistic Envy. Another Golden Child to compete with her instructor. And with the power, she could use other techniques to put the “buzz in her ear.” Criticism. Shame. Crazymaking. It turns out the school tacitly seems to support that view, and I believe may regularly call out students who are “too smart for their own good” for punishment. I guess there are two ways to rise to the top - to excel, or to push everybody else down. And so it goes. In that kind of environment, intelligence is a handicap, something to be ashamed of, and something to not talk too loudly about in public. Good God.