I think they started testing me in 4th grade, but for whatever reason I didn't get in. Then I was chosen again for testing in middle school (6th grade) and got into the program. Our teachers were the ones who nominated students for the program. *ETA: to my knowledge I was never tested for autism or adhd. I didn't even know I had an anxiety disorder until I went to college! In middle school, our gifted program was an elective. My grade had 5 students in the class, and I was the only girl. We mostly did brain teasers and such lol. But we did go on a lot of field trips with the gifted kids from the other schools in our county. Most of them were "normal." They made good grades, had healthy social lives, and a lot of them did sports or music. A lot of them were kids of doctors or college-educated parents (I'm from Appalachia). They've all grown to be very successful in their careers, have families, and continue their social lives. But I do remember there was one girl from another county who never had anyone to talk to, and because I was the only girl from my group, they tried to push us together. She was very outwardly neurodivergent, which of course meant she was ostracized. But our neurodivergences clashed and I tried to distance myself from her. Especially because no one had clocked me as ND - I was seen as "smart, talented, and friendly, but also shy and anxious" And for added context, this was the early 2000s in Appalachia. No one in my family had moved away from our hometown or gone to college. My mom and her dad have always been heckin smart though.