Welcome to Suivez le Zèbre, the first blog dedicated to neurodiversityin France. Here you will find information about Giftedness (High Learning Potential), hypersensitivity, autism spectrum disorders (including Asperger’s syndrome), DYS disorders and ADHD.
Within the “big family” of gifted profiles, doctors and neuropsychologists Fanny Nusbaum, Olivier Revol and Dominic Sappey-Marinier in their book (hyper interesting) les philo-cognitifs have identified two types of profile: laminar and complex!
This discovery has not been validated by the neuroscientific community, and is not widely accepted.
At Suivez le zèbre, we find the project really interesting, because today there’s a void on the intrinsic characteristics of gifted people.
Neuroscientists blame Fanny Nusbaum, Olivier Revol and Dominic Sappey-Marinier, all neuropsychologists, for the panel and context in which the MRI study was carried out.
We hope that Fanny Nusbaum and Olivier Revol will go further in their study of the characteristics of philo-cognitives, as they call the gifted.
Here is a summary of the two profiles mentioned by the three professionals in their book: philo-cognitive
Philo-cognitive(gifted): complex profile
The Philo-cognitive complex, as the name suggests, is a more complex profile!
Its characteristics are more creative and intuitive. . These individuals have more difficulty controlling themselves and managing their emotions, sensitivity, and brain in fact! Morgane (played by the masterful Audrey Fleurot) in the TF1 series HPI is clearly verging on the complex profile.
- They have (very) divergent thinking
- They are intuitive and creative
- They live by their feelings and trusts their instincts
- There is a gap between their great analytical skills and the management of their emotions
- They see the world through their own lens
- They have their own reality
- Learning is guided by the people who inspire them and not by the subject matter (e.g, the teacher and not the subject)
- They are more emotionally dependent
- They have a heterogeneous Intelligence Quotient
- They do not tolerate illegitimate authority and find it difficult to adapt in conflict situations.
- They do not know how to deal with conflict
- They like changes and challenges
- They need calm to recharge their batteries and calm their brain that never stops thinking
- The physical reaction to their hypersensitivity is immediate and visible (crying, anger, racing heart)
- They will be more out of touch and will not be able to hide their difference, their atypicality
- They are never unanimous; they annoy as much as they are adored
- They are less attached to the rules
- They are extroverted
Generally speaking, the laminar Philo-cognitive is more stable than the complex profile.
They are more rational and precise in their analyses and their view of others, whereas the complex profile may be influenced by personal bias guided by intuition. It is a bit like the difference between a scientist and an artist.
Philo-cognitive(gifted): laminar profile
The laminar philo-cognitive, as the name also suggests, is a more “fluid” profile of giftedness.
Basically, the management of their giftedness seems less ‘problematic’ than the complex profile. Individuals with this profile have more analytical characteristics:
- They have linear and analytical reasoning
- They are good students who like to succeed; they have a stable school career if they find their balance
- They are more attached to the subjects than to the teacher
- They are demanding and consistent
- They have a rational analysis of situations
- They are organised
- They are objective and rely more on facts than intuition
- They are outwardly focused rather than inwardly focused
- They are able to adapt easily and have emotional, affective, and professional stability
- They lack a second degree and take things in stride
- They are hard workers who strive to achieve their goals
- Their Intelligence Quotient is homogeneous
- They are punctual
- They are introverted
WARNING: According to Fanny Nusbaum, you never have only the characteristics of the laminar profile or only the characteristics of the complex profile! They can be 50% one and 50% the other; 40% – 60% or 12%- 88% etc.
So much for the quick recap on these two philo-cognitive profiles!
A lot of people wrote to me after the HPI French series aired to tell me that they didn’t see themselves in Morgane’s character.
Perhaps Fanny Nusbaum, Olivier Revol and Dominic Sappey-Marinier can provide us with the beginnings of an answer with the identification of these two philo-cognitive profiles, which would be more laminar than complexand Morgane Alvaro more complex than laminar!
Find out more in the book : les philo-cognitifs, they only like to think and think differently…
You can also find more information, resources and tools on High Potential in Mel POINAS‘ book . With a lot of humor, Mel tells the story of the discovery of her High Potential and the routines she put in place to finally find her place!
Le livre
Écrit par une HPI !
Un témoignage et des solutions concrètes pour découvrir, comprendre et apprendre à vivre en étant HPI.
To go further, you can read
- What is being Gifted?
- The best books about High Learning Potential
- Impostor’s syndrome
- Giftedness : 20 characteristics of complex and laminar profiles
- How to take the WAIS 4 test?
- How to tell others we are gifted?
- Giftedness and Hypersensitivity
