I am much smarter than I think I am

I thought I have Intellectual Disability, but I am much more intelligent than I give myself credit for. I just only learn things based on my restricted interests.

Forensics is my restricted interest.

  • When I was at school I actually took an Open University short course on Forensics- very introductory but lots and lots of fun :) 

  • Forensics is fascinating!! I think there are so many ways in which people can be intelligent and being super passionate and interested in a subject is one way. I find conventional definitions of intelligence often unhelpful. A lot of my friends are very intelligent but all in different ways. If I had to define it I think I would say " intelligence is the ability to question things including yourself" - but again this is also a flawed definition. So I hope you do give yourself more credit for it!! 

  • No, it is a clinical diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder.

  • must be something of ABA origin

  • I've had moments like this too. I have no clue about really basic/common things that everyone else seems to know but I can go well in depth about things I like well beyond what most people would know. 

    Never heard it called a restricted interest before though!

  • Just curious, but who told you your interests were Restricted? The word implies a limitation and I have a feeling you, being human, have maybe potential to specialise in forensics, but I bet there's a wealth of things you might be interested in. I know if I think of exploring a sensory item I can find I desire to learn all about nuances of that thing. I might look up the chemical composition of fake scents compared to natural oils, I might even explore how the botanical properties of, say, lavender, are anti-biotic. I might be curious about different coffees and origins, teas, tea pots. Small things of interest for a moment until I eventually work out what I like or what I would want. 

    Forensics is a very wide field. There's biology and it's decay, the geometry of prints, chemistry, geology and all sorts. I mean, one could be into writing about it or just collecting a shelf of detective novels. Which parts are you interested in?