Problems of Gifted Children
After being considered for 10 years by LAUSD to be a "gifted student", I'll declare myself as one for the sake of identifying with this article and being raised/educated as a gifted student.
Gifted children can intellectually understand abstract concepts but may be unable to deal with those concepts emotionally, leading to intense concerns about death, the future, sex, and other such issues.
Gifted children's physical development may lead to an inability to complete a task they are capable of intellectually envisioning. (Perfectionism may play a role in this frustration as well.)
A gifted child may try to outsmart parents and teachers. Sophisticated vocabulary and advanced sense of humor can cause gifted children to be misunderstood, which can make them feel inferior and rejected. (This is one reason gifted children prefer to be around older children and adults.)
A gifted child may require full details before answering questions or offering help, making him or her appear socially shy.
Intense sensitivity can cause gifted children to take criticism, or even general anger, very personally. Childhood slights do not roll off their backs.
Cognitive Traits
o Very Observant
o Extremely Curious
o Intense interests
o Excellent memory
o Long attention span
o Excellent reasoning skills
o Well-developed powers of abstraction, conceptualization, and synthesis
o Quickly and easily sees relationships in ideas, objects, or facts
o Fluent and flexible thinking
o Elaborate and original thinking
o Excellent problem solving skills
o Learns quickly and with less practice and repetition
o Unusual and/or vivid imagination
Social and Emotional Traits (see Supersensitivities in Gifted Children)
o Interested in philosophical and social issues
o Very sensitive, emotionally and even physically
o Concerned about fairness and injustice
o Perfectionistic
o Energetic
o Well-Developed Sense of Humor
o Usually intrinsically motivated
o Relates well to parents, teachers and other adults
Language Traits (See Language Development in Gifted Children)
o Extensive Vocabulary
o May Read Early
o Reads Rapidly and Widely
o Asks "what if" questions
Additional Traits
o Enjoys learning new things
o Enjoys intellectual activity
o Displays intellectual playfulness
o Prefers books and magazines meant for older children
o Skeptical, critical, and evaluative
o Asynchronous development
Gifted children can often feel quite isolated and alone and develop social problems because of their being different. They may have a hard time making friends or they may feel misunderstood and disliked. In most cases, gifted children have these problems only in school settings where they are forced to create friendships with their age mates. Children who have problems socializing with other children in school generally have no trouble making and maintaining friendships with older children or with other gifted children.
Telling a child he or she is gifted will not make a child feel different; chances are that child is already feeling different, and discussing giftedness will help that child understand those feelings. Pretending it doesn’t exist will not make it go away any more than pretending a disability doesn’t exist will make that disability go away.
Gifted children, especially those who are exceptionally sensitive can be even more profoundly affected by such events. These children may also feel that loss of security, but they can feel even more. Some of these children feel deep empathy for the victims of catastrophes and tragedies. The pain and suffering of the victims and their loved ones is felt deeply by emotionally sensitive children, so deeply at times, that it is almost as if they are personally involved.
Some gifted children will also feel a sense of responsibility. That does not mean that they believe that they are in any way responsible for the catastrophe or tragedy happening. It means that they feel a responsibility to make things better, to help those involved recover. It's hard enough for children to cope with the feeling of insecurity such events can trigger, but when they feel as though it is their responsibility to make things better, they can feel overwhelmed and become depressed.
Music, art, and creative writing are all excellent outlets for emotions. Children who play an instrument or sing can be encouraged to learn a new song that expresses their feelings. Children who are artistic or enjoy drawing, painting, or any other art form can be encouraged to express their feelings through pictures, sculptures or some other art form. Children who like to write can be encouraged to write a poem or short story to express their feelings.
It is most easily recognized by parents of gifted children because these children display heightened and intense emotions and emotional responses to events and experiences.
Children with this OE have the capacity for great emotional depth. They develop strong attachments to people, places, and things. Because of their emotional intensity, they are often accused of over-reacting or being melodramatic. However, the emotions they feel are real. The molehills to them are truly mountains.
The emotional OE is also manifested in a deep concern for others, as well as self-criticism and anxiety. Even gifted toddlers high in this OE can show concern over a baby's cries or over the distress of a fellow toddler who has been hurt or become upset. As sympathetic as they are to others, they seem unable to feel sympathy for themselves. Instead, they tend to be highly self-critical. They can also feel a deep sense of responsibility, which can lead to feelings of failure and guilt.
The depression that those with emotional OE often experience is existential depression, which means that they become depressed over issues concerning the basic questions of life: death, poverty, war, and disease, for example. Bouts of existential depression can be caused be some specific experience, but they are just as likely to arise spontaneously.
Children with the emotional OE also have a hard time adjusting to change and can experience high levels of anxiety when they are put in new situations or unfamiliar surroundings. They may also be shy and slow to participate in social activities.
Children do not grow out of this sensitivity. A child with intense emotional feelings will experience the same depth of emotion as an adult.
Source: http://giftedkids.about.com/od/socialemotionalissues/a/gtproblems.htm
Gifted children can intellectually understand abstract concepts but may be unable to deal with those concepts emotionally, leading to intense concerns about death, the future, sex, and other such issues.
Gifted children's physical development may lead to an inability to complete a task they are capable of intellectually envisioning. (Perfectionism may play a role in this frustration as well.)
A gifted child may try to outsmart parents and teachers. Sophisticated vocabulary and advanced sense of humor can cause gifted children to be misunderstood, which can make them feel inferior and rejected. (This is one reason gifted children prefer to be around older children and adults.)
A gifted child may require full details before answering questions or offering help, making him or her appear socially shy.
Intense sensitivity can cause gifted children to take criticism, or even general anger, very personally. Childhood slights do not roll off their backs.
Cognitive Traits
o Very Observant
o Extremely Curious
o Intense interests
o Excellent memory
o Long attention span
o Excellent reasoning skills
o Well-developed powers of abstraction, conceptualization, and synthesis
o Quickly and easily sees relationships in ideas, objects, or facts
o Fluent and flexible thinking
o Elaborate and original thinking
o Excellent problem solving skills
o Learns quickly and with less practice and repetition
o Unusual and/or vivid imagination
Social and Emotional Traits (see Supersensitivities in Gifted Children)
o Interested in philosophical and social issues
o Very sensitive, emotionally and even physically
o Concerned about fairness and injustice
o Perfectionistic
o Energetic
o Well-Developed Sense of Humor
o Usually intrinsically motivated
o Relates well to parents, teachers and other adults
Language Traits (See Language Development in Gifted Children)
o Extensive Vocabulary
o May Read Early
o Reads Rapidly and Widely
o Asks "what if" questions
Additional Traits
o Enjoys learning new things
o Enjoys intellectual activity
o Displays intellectual playfulness
o Prefers books and magazines meant for older children
o Skeptical, critical, and evaluative
o Asynchronous development
Gifted children can often feel quite isolated and alone and develop social problems because of their being different. They may have a hard time making friends or they may feel misunderstood and disliked. In most cases, gifted children have these problems only in school settings where they are forced to create friendships with their age mates. Children who have problems socializing with other children in school generally have no trouble making and maintaining friendships with older children or with other gifted children.
Telling a child he or she is gifted will not make a child feel different; chances are that child is already feeling different, and discussing giftedness will help that child understand those feelings. Pretending it doesn’t exist will not make it go away any more than pretending a disability doesn’t exist will make that disability go away.
Gifted children, especially those who are exceptionally sensitive can be even more profoundly affected by such events. These children may also feel that loss of security, but they can feel even more. Some of these children feel deep empathy for the victims of catastrophes and tragedies. The pain and suffering of the victims and their loved ones is felt deeply by emotionally sensitive children, so deeply at times, that it is almost as if they are personally involved.
Some gifted children will also feel a sense of responsibility. That does not mean that they believe that they are in any way responsible for the catastrophe or tragedy happening. It means that they feel a responsibility to make things better, to help those involved recover. It's hard enough for children to cope with the feeling of insecurity such events can trigger, but when they feel as though it is their responsibility to make things better, they can feel overwhelmed and become depressed.
Music, art, and creative writing are all excellent outlets for emotions. Children who play an instrument or sing can be encouraged to learn a new song that expresses their feelings. Children who are artistic or enjoy drawing, painting, or any other art form can be encouraged to express their feelings through pictures, sculptures or some other art form. Children who like to write can be encouraged to write a poem or short story to express their feelings.
It is most easily recognized by parents of gifted children because these children display heightened and intense emotions and emotional responses to events and experiences.
Children with this OE have the capacity for great emotional depth. They develop strong attachments to people, places, and things. Because of their emotional intensity, they are often accused of over-reacting or being melodramatic. However, the emotions they feel are real. The molehills to them are truly mountains.
The emotional OE is also manifested in a deep concern for others, as well as self-criticism and anxiety. Even gifted toddlers high in this OE can show concern over a baby's cries or over the distress of a fellow toddler who has been hurt or become upset. As sympathetic as they are to others, they seem unable to feel sympathy for themselves. Instead, they tend to be highly self-critical. They can also feel a deep sense of responsibility, which can lead to feelings of failure and guilt.
The depression that those with emotional OE often experience is existential depression, which means that they become depressed over issues concerning the basic questions of life: death, poverty, war, and disease, for example. Bouts of existential depression can be caused be some specific experience, but they are just as likely to arise spontaneously.
Children with the emotional OE also have a hard time adjusting to change and can experience high levels of anxiety when they are put in new situations or unfamiliar surroundings. They may also be shy and slow to participate in social activities.
Children do not grow out of this sensitivity. A child with intense emotional feelings will experience the same depth of emotion as an adult.
Source: http://giftedkids.about.com/od/socialemotionalissues/a/gtproblems.htm