ABOUT
DIFFERENT IS GREAT!
The Devaluation of Creative Intelligence
For generations, we have been denied access to our true cognitive birthright. The education system, professional world, and broader society have systematically misclassified, mislabeled, and misunderstood our minds. What they've labeled as disability, disorder, or dysfunction is often simply the natural expression of an integrative intelligence trying to operate in a fragmented world.
Outlier giftedness is inherently neurodivergent. Our minds don't just work "better" in certain domains—they work fundamentally differently across all domains. The child who can solve complex mathematical problems intuitively but struggles to show sequential work isn't displaying contradictory abilities. They're operating from a unified cognitive system where pattern recognition happens at Levels 5-7—a range completely invisible to conventional assessment.
What we've experienced isn't accidental. Educational systems weren't designed to accommodate cognitive diversity but to standardize thinking patterns. When we couldn't conform—when our creative minds refused to fragment—we were diagnosed, medicated, remediated, and marginalized. The translation burden forced upon us—converting our multidimensional understanding into sequential formats acceptable to fragmented systems—extracted a devastating physiological and psychological toll.
Many of us have spent 95-98% of our cognitive resources on translation rather than creation, burning our mental energy converting what we see naturally into formats others can recognize. The constant downshifting required to communicate with conventional cognition has left us exhausted, depleted, and questioning our own perceptions.
The world now faces challenges that sequential, fragmented thinking cannot solve. They require minds that can perceive paradigmatic patterns and generative meta-patterns, minds that can synthesize across artificial domain boundaries and recognize the unified field underlying seemingly disconnected phenomena.
The neurodivergent gifted, are uniquely equipped for this moment precisely because our minds never fully surrendered to fragmentation. Our sensitivities—to sensory input, to emotional undercurrents, to system inconsistencies—aren't weaknesses but assets of an integrated intelligence that perceives what others cannot.
The Imperative of Self-Determination
This is why we founded Gifted ND—to create space for those of us who have been forced to live and work within systems designed against our natural cognitive architecture. We are Gifted Neurodivergents. We are also their parents, teachers, consultants, researchers, creators, employers, and friends. We recognize that what optimizes performance for sequential processors actively harms the most creative, integrated thinkers.
For too long, we've been forced to operate on schedules, in environments, and under structures that deliberately suppress our natural cognitive strengths while amplifying our translation challenges. We've been told our struggles represent personal deficiencies rather than system mismatch.
To reach our full potential and provide the world with the integrative insight it desperately needs, we must first reclaim our cognitive autonomy. This begins with rejecting the fragmented framing of our minds and embracing the unified intelligence that is our natural state. We must create environments that honor our need for integration cycles rather than production schedules, for sensory calibration rather than standardized stimulation, for pattern exploration rather than procedural compliance.
The Liberation of Creative Intelligence
As conventional systems reach their limits in addressing complex, interconnected challenges, it is those with integrative intelligence who will perceive the patterns and possibilities invisible to fragmented cognition. By reclaiming our natural cognitive architecture and refusing forced fragmentation, we will not only heal ourselves but offer essential insight for navigating the unprecedented transitions ahead.
The future belongs not to those who can optimize within existing frameworks but to those who can perceive across and beyond them. Different isn't just good or even great—different is necessary. The most profound innovations and solutions will come from minds that were never fully colonized by fragmented thinking.
Our neurodivergent giftedness isn't something to accommodate—it's something to liberate. Let's reclaim the integrated intelligence that is our natural birthright and create systems that honor rather than suppress our cognitive diversity.
Different is more than good; different is great. Let's make your differences work for you!
The Gifted ND Team
Lillian Skinner
Mother, Spouse, Creative Intelligence Researcher, Futurist, Writer, Consultant, Coach, Silversmith, Musician, Bunny Whisperer, and Weekend Roller Blader
Prior to starting Gifted ND, Lillian was an IT professional who founded risk advisory groups, secured systems for global financial institutions and developed cutting edge emerging technology. She is a serial entrepreneur with a degree in Marketing and Information Systems. She has started companies in retail, consulting, emerging technology, application development and consulting. However, nothing in her career can compare to the reward and challenge of raising three profoundly gifted and neurodivergent children.
Growing up, Lillian was never identified as Gifted or Learning Different. When her children were diagnosed with their differences, she was, too. Suddenly, she had a context for understanding all the frustrations and feelings of being misunderstood as a child. She also had a context for understanding the poverty of her childhood and her family of origin. Though she took a different path than her parents-- one that led to the American Dream-- once she achieved the American Dream, she found it deeply lacking in balance and fulfillment.
To get that balance and fulfillment she pivoted to self-employment in her early 30s and has never looked back. As an outsider, she understands that the systems in place will never meet her needs. She sees this as a gift because accepting this allowed her to create her own system, one that uses her creative and intellectual strengths to meet her needs and the needs of others like her.
As a Creative Intelligence Researcher Lillian has found the current science and opinion on intelligence, giftedness and neurodivergence seriously lacking. As a prodigious savant with extremely high meta cognition she uses her unique gifts to re-frame the perspectives and potential of being an outlier. She recognizes that sometimes it's better to define yourself based on the lived experience than to wait for others to catch up, comprehend or validate. So she has decided to take matter into her own hands and prove what she knows to be true.
With Gifted ND, Lillian seeks to address the difficulties of being an exceptional outlier. By recognizing the systems’ limitations, understanding each individual’s specific needs and then meeting them by supplementing their current path or creating new path, Gifted ND wants to change the world so we can see the outliers for the value they really have to offer.
Michael Strauss
Father, Spouse, Entrepreneur, Inventor, Maker, Strategic Partner, Consultant, Mr. Fix-Everything, Almost Competitive Tennis Player, and Dog Rescuer
Michael is a profoundly gifted neurodivergent who enjoys and excels at consulting and mentoring those seeking to build their own path through entrepreneurship. Michael is a master business startup creator and maker.
Michael began his career at 19 years old. He knew even then he didn’t want to toil away in the corporate grind. After his first 2 years in college, he co-founded a software development company that created several commercial entertainment products. After three and a half years, he exited the company successfully and finished up college in 1999 with a degree in Computer Science (with a focus in Artificial Intelligence) and minors in mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
Upon graduation he was recruited to work at a dot-com startup, Telenisus, focused on cyber security before getting recruited again by multiple Fortune 100 corporations, including banking (Bank of America) and defense (General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products). Highly motivated, he spent his days working in corporate America, and his nights and weekends consulting for various start-ups and still found time to complete his MBA with a concentration in finance before turning 30. Understanding he had maxed out what more he could learning in large companies, he moved full time to being a start-up addict using all of his skills and experience to become a successful consultant, serial business founder, and serial patent creator.
To say he is well rounded is an understatement. Michael worked in emerging technologies in a multitude of areas including: cyber security, pharmaceuticals, private industry, merger and acquisitions, corporate strategy, military and defense, and more. Michael worked every area of a successful startup from business development, contract negotiations, technical development, patent creation, fundraising and technology innovation. He is the rare individual who can move fluidly from technical speak to strategy to sales. It is not an exaggeration to say he is truly a Renaissance Man.
Michael's journey to understand his neurodivergence was fairly recent. Initially, he did not want to recognize his differences, having society’s stigmas ground into his psyche. In his 40s, he finally sought out diagnosis and the changes it brought were life altering. He was shocked at how much easier navigating life could be. He sees that the knowledge of self he obtained on his journey was the most profound gift he ever received. Michael always identified as gifted but embracing his neurodivergence has shown him how to enhance all of his abilities.
Coaching The Gifted Neurodivergent Adult and Child To Their Full Potential
Coaching in the field of persons with Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), Bi-Polar, Hyperlexia, and Depression; Coaching in the field of parents of children with Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), Bi-Polar, Hyperlexia, and Depression; Coaching in the field of Intellectual Property; Coaching in the field of entrepreneurship; Coaching in the field of business and professional development; Coaching in the field of family and relationships; Coaching in the field of self-discovery, self-awareness, and self-improvement; Coaching in the field of social skills; Educational services, namely, providing courses, classes, seminars, conferences, and workshops in the fields of business and professional development; Educational services, namely, providing courses, classes, seminars, conferences, and workshops in the fields of personal and professional development; Educational services, namely, providing courses, classes, seminars, conferences, and workshops in the fields of business and business development; Educational services, namely, providing courses, classes, seminars, conferences, and workshops in the fields of entrepreneurship; Educational services, namely, providing courses, classes, seminars, conferences, and workshops in the fields of Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), Bi-Polar, Hyperlexia, and Depression; Educational services, namely, providing courses, classes, seminars, conferences, and workshops in the fields of family and relationships; Educational services, namely, providing courses, classes, seminars, conferences, and workshops in the fields of strategic planning; Educational services, namely, providing courses, classes, seminars, conferences, and workshops in the fields of Intellectual Property; Educational services, namely, providing courses, classes, seminars, conferences, and workshops in the fields of self-discovery, self-awareness, and self-improvement; Entertainment information; On-line journals, namely, blogs featuring information on personal development and improvement; On-line journals, namely, blogs featuring information on business and professional development; On-line journals, namely, blogs featuring information relating to health and wellness; On-line journals, namely, blogs featuring information relating to Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), Bi-Polar, Hyperlexia, and Depression; On-line journals, namely, blogs featuring information on communication; On-line journals, namely, blogs featuring information on entrepreneurship; On-line journals, namely, blogs featuring information on family and relationships; On-line journals, namely, blogs featuring information on strategic planning; On-line journals, namely, blogs featuring information on Intellectual Property; On-line journals, namely, blogs featuring information on self-discovery and self-improvement; Providing on-line courses of instruction in the field of business and professional development via a website; Providing on-line courses of instruction in the field of entrepreneurship via a website; Providing on-line courses of instruction in the field of Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), Bi-Polar, Hyperlexia, and Depression via a website; Providing on-line courses of instruction in the field of family and relationships via a website; Providing on-line courses of instruction in the field of personal and professional development via a website; Providing on-line courses of instruction in the field of Intellectual Property via a website; Providing a website featuring entertainment information; Providing information about education via a website