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📝 Episode Summary
Giftedness is one of the most misunderstood aspects of neurodivergence.
For many people, the word brings to mind high achievement, academic success, or exceptional talent. But for those who experience it, giftedness often feels very different — intense, complex, and at times difficult to make sense of.
In this episode of Intersecting Voices, I’m joined by Katy Higgins Lee, a neurodivergent therapist who works extensively with gifted, ADHD and autistic clients. Katy is also the creator of a widely shared diagram exploring the overlap between these experiences — something that has helped many people better understand themselves.
Together, we explore what giftedness actually means in practice, and why it is so often missed.
We talk about the experience of discovering your neurodivergence later in life, and how that can reshape your understanding of your past, your identity, and your way of navigating the world.
At its core, this episode is about making sense of complexity — and recognising that many of us don’t fit neatly into one category.
It’s also a reminder that understanding ourselves more deeply is not just personal — it shapes how we relate to others, how we work, and how we move through the world.
🎧Why You Should Listen to This Episode
If you’ve ever felt different but couldn’t quite explain why, this episode offers a thoughtful and honest exploration of giftedness and neurodivergence. Through this conversation, we unpack what giftedness actually is, how it overlaps with ADHD and autism, and why so many people only begin to understand themselves later in life. Whether this is something personal to you, or you’re trying to better understand others, this episode brings clarity to experiences that are often misunderstood.
🔍 Topics Covered
- What is giftedness and what it is not
- The overlap between giftedness, ADHD and autism
- Why giftedness and neurodivergence can be missed
- Why neurodivergence can be mistaken for mental health conditions
- Masking and the pressure to fit in
- How identity, gender and context influence how neurodivergence shows up
- What it means to finally understand yourself
- How intersectionality poses barriers to detection of giftedness and neurodivergence
👤 About the Guest
Katy Higgins Lee is a therapist based in California who specialises in working with neurodivergent adults and couples — especially those who are gifted, autistic, or have ADHD. She holds a Master’s in Counselling Psychology with a focus on somatics, and she’s also neurodivergent herself.Katy is perhaps best known for creating the well-known Venn diagram showing the overlap between autism, ADHD, and giftedness — a visual that’s helped countless people understand their own experiences more deeply, me included.
🔗Resources
Venn Diagram | Giftedness, Autism, ADHD
Intersecting Voices is a one-person, heart-led project created to amplify stories that don’t always get heard — and I need your help to keep it going.
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