Gifted child

Giftedness in a child is an ability significantly higher than other children of the same age. The focus was initially on intellectual giftedness, but has broadened to include a mutitude of abilities.

Gifted children often develop asynchronously; their minds are often ahead of their physical growth, and specific cognitive and emotional functions are often at different stages of development. One frequently cited example of asynchronicity in early cognitive development is Albert Einstein, who did not speak until the age of three, but whose later fluency and accomplishments belied this initial delay. In regards to this fact, neuroscientist Steven Pinker theorized that, rather than viewing Einstein's (and other famously gifted late-talking individuals) adult accomplishments as existing distinct from, or in spite of, his early language deficits, and rather than viewing Einstein's language delay itself as a "disorder," it may be that Einstein's genius and his delay in speaking were developmentally intrinsic to one another. Mainstream education places more emphasis on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence when speaking of the gifted child; however according to Howard Gardner there are a greater variety of intelligences: musical, kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, as well as two that he discussed but has not officially added to the list - moral and spiritual intelligences. He claims that each individual has an amalgam of these intelligences, some stronger and some weaker.

Identifying giftedness

Overview

The formal identification of giftedness first emerged as an important issue for schools, as the instruction of gifted students often presents special challenges. During the 20th century, gifted children were often classified by the use of IQ tests, but recent developments in theories of intelligence have raised serious questions about the appropriate uses and limits of such testing. Many schools in North America and Europe have attempted to identify students who are not challenged by standard school curricula and offer additional or specialized education for them in the hope of nurturing their talents.

Because of the key role that gifted education plays in the identification of gifted people (children or adults), it is worthwhile to examine how that discipline uses the term "gifted."

Definitions of giftedness

In Identifying Gifted Children: A Practical Guide, Susan K. Johnsen explains that gifted children all exhibit the potential for high performance in the areas included in the United States federal definition of gifted and talented students:

The term "gifted and talented" when used in respect to students, children, or youth means students, children, or youth who give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such capabilities." (P.L. 103–382, Title XIV, p. 388)

This definition has been adopted in part or completely by the majority of the states in the United States. Most have some definition similar to that used in the State of Texas, whose definition states

[The phrase] "gifted and talented student" means a child or youth who performs at or shows the potential for performing at a remarkably high level of accomplishment when compared to others of the same age, experience, or environment, and who

• exhibits high performance capability in an intellectual, creative, or artistic area;
• possesses an unusual capacity for leadership; or
• excels in a specific academic field." (74th legislature of the State of Texas, Chapter 29, Subchapter D, Section 29.121)

The major characteristics of these definitions are (a) the diversity of areas in which performance may be exhibited (e.g., intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership, academic), (b) the comparison with other groups (e.g., those in general education classrooms or of the same age, experience, or environment), and (c) the use of terms that imply a need for development of the gift (e.g., capability and potential).

In earlier times, the term genius was widely used to describe gifted children, but it is now limited to the phenomenally gifted, with an IQ higher than 160. Only a fraction of the gifted are geniuses. Prodigy is a term commonly used to describe young children who display a high level of skill in a particular endeavor at a very early age.

Revised definition

David A. Sousa proposed a new definition of giftedness in 1978 in his book How the Gifted Brain Learns. He theorized that it resulted from the interaction of three traits: general or specific abilities that are above average, commitment to task, and creativity. His work was a catalyst for school districts to include more opportunities for creative expression in their programs for gifted children.

Multiple Intelligences

In recent times, most researchers have refrained from defining giftedness solely in terms of IQ tests and have broadened its usage to include other characteristics of giftedness, such as creativity and motivation, or a person’s contributions to culture and society. The multiple intelligences hypothesis put forth by Harvard University professor Howard Gardner in his 1983 book Frames of Mind states there are at least seven types of intelligences, each with its own type of genius. He recently added an eighth one, and in this schema, giftedness can be defined as a child being exceptionally competent in one or more of the following areas:

• Linguistic intelligence
• Logical-mathematical intelligence
• Bodily/Kinesthetic
• Musical intelligence
• Spatial intelligence
• Interpersonal intelligence
• Intrapersonal intelligence
• Naturalist intelligence

Two additional intelligences have been explored by Gardner but not yet officially declared:

• Spiritual intelligence
• Moral intelligence

In his book The Disciplined Mind he writes of the necessity to reinstill three very important qualities into the educational system—truth, beauty and morality.

Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences (MI) has not been readily accepted within academic psychology. However, it has met with a strongly positive response from many educators. A growing number of schools in North America have looked to structure curricula according to these intelligences, and to design classrooms and sometimes whole schools to reflect the understandings that Howard Gardner developed. The theory has also been used within pre-school, higher, vocational and adult education initiatives. It is becoming increasingly accepted that giftedness in other domains does not require a high score on an IQ test. Schools are increasingly using the MI theory as an alternative tool to identify gifted students. In addition, emphasis on intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences may reduce some of the social and emotional challenges that gifted children often experience.

Emotional Intelligence

Danield Goleman’s book in 1995 declared the powerful influence of emotions in a child’s growth and learning. Goleman believed that emotions interact with reason to determine how we view the world and to support or inhibit learning. An individual who can use emotions effectively is likely to become a more successful and productive citizen. The Unification Theory of Education proclaims a similar viewpoint that in order to develop genius and nurture the child's gift, there must be balance by including education of character and heart as well as education of citizenship.

Sternberg’s Theories

Several years after Howard Gardner’s work was published, Robert Sternberg proposed another view on giftedness. He described three types of intelligence: analytical, creative, and practical. Giftedness results from an ability to perform the skills in one or more of these areas with exceptional accuracy and efficiency. Various combinations of these three areas produce different patterns of giftedness. His work was useful in matching teaching methods with student strengths to produce higher achievement patterns. In 1995, Sternber introduced another theory that describes giftedness as meeting the following five criteria: • Rarity: a skill or attribute that is rare among peers. • Productivity: producing something in the area of giftedness. • Demontrability: the skill or aptitude of giftedness must be demonstrable through one or more valid assessments. • Value: showing superior performance in a dimension that is valued by that person’s society.

He does caution that this theory, while useful, should be used in conjunction with other accepted assessment measures.

Cultural implications

A review of literature on the characteristics of gifted children across different ethnic groups found some indicators that created concerns that gifted children from diverse cultural backgrounds may not be recognized as gifted in our schools. The definition of giftedness may vary dependent on what is valued in a particular culture or society.

Identification methods

Many schools use a variety of measures of students' capability and potential when identifying gifted children. These may include portfolios of student work, classroom observations, achievement measures, and intelligence scores. Most educational professionals accept that no single measure can be used in isolation to accurately identify a gifted child.

In the 1950’s, researchers and psychologists mainly identified giftedness in terms of a high score on an IQ test. This is now one of the measures still used and the general cutoff for many programs is often placed near the sigma 2 level on a standardized intelligence test, children above this level being labeled 'gifted'.

Some IQ testers use these classifications to describe differing levels of giftedness. The following bands apply with a standard deviation of σ = 15 on a standardized IQ test. Each band represents a difference of one standard deviation from the mean.

• Bright: 115+, or one in six (84th percentile)
• Moderately gifted: 130+, or 1 in 50 (97.9th percentile)
• Highly gifted: 145+, or 1 in 1000 (99.9th percentile)
• Exceptionally gifted/”genius”: 160+, or 1 in 30,000 (99.997th percentile)
• Profoundly gifted/”genius”: 175+, or 1 in 3 million (99.99997th percentile)

Unfortunately, most IQ tests do not have the capacity to discriminate accurately at higher IQ levels, and are perhaps only effective at determining whether a student is gifted rather than distinguishing among levels of giftedness. Although the Wechsler tests have a ceiling of about 160, their creator has admitted that they are intended to be used within the average range (between 70 and 130), and are not intended for use at the extreme ends of the population. The Stanford-Binet form L-M, currently outdated, was the only test that had a sufficient ceiling to identify the exceptionally and profoundly gifted. However, because the instrument is outdated, current results derived from the instrument generate inflated and inaccurate scores. The Stanford-Binet form V and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fourth Revision, both recently released, are currently being evaluated for this population. Mensa offers IQ testing but these are only suitable for persons over the age of ten and a half years. Younger children need to be assessed by an educational psychologist to find out their IQ score. Also, those who are more gifted in areas such as the arts and literature tend to do poorly on IQ tests, which are generally verbal- and mathematical-skills related. While many people believe giftedness is a strictly quantitative difference, measurable by IQ tests, a number of people have described giftedness as a fundamentally different way of perceiving the world, which in turn affects every experience had by the gifted individual. These differences do not disappear when gifted children become adults or leave school. Gifted adults are seldom recognized as a special population, but they still have unique psychological, social, and emotional needs related to their high intelligence.

Savantism

Savants are people that perform exceptionally in one field of learning. 'Autistic savantism' refers to the exceptional abilities exhibited by autistics or people with developmental disorders. In a 1978 article in Psychology Today, Dr. Bernard Rimland introduced the term 'autistic savant' to describe this condition.

Characteristics of giftedness

Generally, gifted individuals learn more quickly, deeply, and broadly than their peers. Gifted children may learn to read early and operate at the same level as normal children who are significantly older. The gifted tend to demonstrate high reasoning ability, creativity, curiosity, a large vocabulary, and an excellent memory. They often can master concepts with few repetitions. They may also be physically and emotionally sensitive, perfectionistic, and may frequently question authority. Typically the rebellion, whether active or passive, reflects underlying feelings of alienation. Some have trouble relating to or communicating with their peers because of disparities in vocabulary size (especially in the early years), personality, and interests. As children, they are out of sync with their peers and their social concept improves when placed with children of similar ability.

Giftedness is frequently not evenly distributed throughout all intellectual spheres: an individual may excel in solving logic problems and yet be a poor speller; another gifted individual may be able to read and write at a far above average level and yet have trouble with mathematics. It is possible there are different types of giftedness with their own unique features, just as there are different types of developmental delay.

Some gifted individuals experience heightened sensory awareness and may seem overly sensitive to sight, sound, smell and touch. For example, they may be extremely uncomfortable when they have a wrinkle in their sock, or unable to concentrate because of the sound of a clock ticking on the other side of the room. Gifted children are often bothered by the seams in socks and tags on clothes. Hypersensitivity to external stimuli can be said to resemble a proneness to "sensory overload," which can cause persons to avoid chaotic and crowded environments. Others, however, are able to tune out any unwanted distractions as they focus on a task or on their own thoughts, and seem to seek and thrive on being in the midst of lots of activity and stimulation. In many cases, awareness may fluctuate between conditions of hyperstimulation and of withdrawal. These conditions may appear to be similar to symptoms of hyperactivity, bipolar disorder, autism-spectrum conditions, and other psychological disorders, but are often explained by gifted education professionals by reference to Kazimierz Dabrowski's theory of Positive Disintegration.

Social and emotional issues

Gifted individuals experience the world differently, resulting in unique social and emotional issues. The work of Kazimierz Dabrowski suggests that gifted children have greater psychomotor, sensual, imaginative, intellectual, and emotional "overexcitabilities" (OE). While every gifted child may not exhibit each OE, gifted children almost always exhibit higher than average intellectual and emotional intensities. Dabrowski called having high levels of intensities the “Tragic Gift”. To the layperson, these intensities might be perceived as psychopathological rather than indicators of a strong potential for advanced personality development. The intensity of the gifted has, unfortunately, resulted in some highly gifted individuals being improperly labeled due to an inappropriate assessment. Following are some of the challenges gifted children face.

Isolation

Isolation is one of the main challenges faced by gifted individuals, especially those with no social network of gifted peers. In order to gain popularity, gifted children will often try to hide their abilities to win social approval. Strategies include underachievement (discussed below) and the use of less sophisticated vocabulary when among same-age peers than when among family members or other trusted individuals. This is more common in gifted girls, who may be socialized to hide their abilties.

The isolation experienced by gifted individuals may not be caused by giftedness itself, but by society's response to giftedness. "In this culture, there appears to be a great pressure for people to be 'normal' with a considerable stigma associated with giftedness or talent." To counteract this problem, gifted education professionals recommend creating a peer group based on common interests and abilities. The earlier this occurs, the more effective it is likely to be in preventing isolation.

Perfectionism

"When perfectionism refers to having high standards, a desire to achieve, conscientiousness, or high levels of responsibility, it is likely to be a virtue rather than a problem. Perfectionism becomes a problem as it frustrates and inhibits achievements. Perfectionism becomes desirable when it stimulates the healthy pursuit of excellence."

Perfectionism is another common emotional issue for gifted individuals. D. E. Hamachek identified six specific, overlapping behaviors associated with perfectionism. They include (1) depression, (2) a nagging "I should" feeling, (3) shame and guilt feelings, (4) face-saving behavior, (5) shyness and procrastination, and (6) self-deprecation.

There are many theories that try to explain the correlation between perfectionism and giftedness. Gifted children may have difficulty with perfectionism because they set standards that would be appropriate to their mental age (the level at which they think), but then can't meet them because they are trapped in a younger body. Perfectionism is also encouraged by the fact that gifted individuals tend to be successful in much or all of what they do because their abilities have not been challenged, and consequently try to avoid failure.

Underachievement

Another problem often associated with giftedness is underachievement. Many gifted students will continually do well on achievement or reasoning tests, but will fail to turn in assignments or attend or participate in class. Overall, they will be disengaged from the educational process. This can result from under-challenging schools, peer pressure for conformity, social isolation, and family dysfunction. In other cases it can result from other factors within the individual, including depression, anxiety, failure-avoidance, rebellion, irritability, nonconformity, or anger. In addition, such failures may also result from learning disabilities which have gone undiagnosed due to the myth that one cannot be gifted and learning disabled (generally a difference of 1σ between scores constitutes a learning disability even if all of the scores are above average). One apparently effective way to attempt to reverse underachievement in gifted children includes enrichment projects based on students’ strengths and interests.

Depression

It has been thought in the past that there is a correlation between giftedness and depression or suicide. This has not been proven. As Reis and Renzulli mention, "With the exception of creatively gifted adolescents who are talented in writing or the visual arts, studies do not confirm that gifted individuals manifest significantly higher or lower rates or severity of depression than those for the general population...Gifted children's advanced cognitive abilities, social isolation, sensitivity, and uneven development may cause them to face some challenging social and emotional issues, but their problem-solving abilities, advanced social skills, moral reasoning, out-of-school interests, and satisfaction in achievement may help them to be more resilient." Also, no research points to suicide rates being higher in gifted adolescents than other adolescents. However, a number of people have noted a higher incidence of existential depression, which is depression due to highly abstract concerns such as the finality of death, the ultimate unimportance of individual people, and the meaning (or lack thereof) of life. Gifted individuals are also more likely to feel existential anxiety.

However, numerous studies have shown that depression impairs intelligence because it leads to less neurogenesis in the hippocampus.

Professional attitudes towards giftedness

Some theorists in child development, including Linda Kreger Silverman and Dr. Fernidad Eide, have estimated that between 20-40% of gifted individuals have a learning disability, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or some other neurological disorder. Still other researchers, such as Stephanie Tolan, postulate that the attribution of controversial disorders such as "ADHD" - which other authors have argued has not been proven to exist by any means other than subjective behavioral analysis - to gifted individuals arises from a misguided tendency to pathologize that which we don't understand. Tolan also discusses that identifying as attention deficient has become fashionable in young adults. It is generally agreed that giftedness may have a genetic component; research has shown that first-degree relatives of the intellectually gifted will often have IQs measuring within 10–15 points of each other.

One theory of education maintains that in order to nurture genius and prevent the problems discussed above, education that nurtures the child's gift must be balanced by including education of character and heart as well as education of citizenship. With a balanced education, many more individuals would have the ability to develop their gifts and genius in a variety of areas. Education of character emphasizes development of the whole personality, including the faculties of intellect, emotion, and will in a balanced way, on the basis of heart (love). A person of character is altruistic, caring for their siblings, and ultimately contributing to the greater good of humankind. Education of citizenship refers to education of family and societal norms. A good citizen of the earth uses their gifts to improve the condition of humankind and the earth. Based on this balanced education, the gifted child can develop their greatest potential free from the social and emotional problems that result from the traditional unbalanced education.

Dabrowski's theory describes how human beings transform themselves from self-serving, conforming individuals to self-aware, self-directed persons who transcend their primitive natures and strive to "walk the moral talk." A Dabrowskian view of giftedness would require a revamping of the traditional definition; his theory is about authenticity, morality, becoming and being a good person; becoming truly human. Success in his definition is not material, nor is it related to academic achievement. Success rests in a life of service to others for the betterment of humankind.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Delisle, Jim,, Ph.D. and Galbraith, Judy, M.A. (2002). When Gifted Kids Don’t Have All the Answers: How to meet their social and emotional needs. Free Spirit Publishing, Inc. ISBN 1575421070 ISBN 9781575421070.
• Gardner, Howard E. (May 1999). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465025091.
• Gardner, Howard E. (2000). The Disciplined Mind. Penguin Books. ISBN 0140296247.
• M. Neihart, S. M. Reis, N. M. Robinson, & S. M. Moon (Eds.). (2005). The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children. Waco, Texas: Prufrock Press, Inc. ISBN 1882664779.
• Sousa, David A. (2002). How the Gifted Brain Learns. SAGE Publications. ISBN 076193829X ISBN 9780761938293.
• Sternberg, R.J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521278910.
• Strip, Carol A., Ph.D and Hirsch, Gretchen. (2002). Helping Gifted Children Soar. Great Potential Press, Inc. ISBN 0910707413.
• Webb, James T., Ph.D, Meckstroth, Elizabeth A and Tolan, Stephanie S. (1989). Guiding the Gifted Child. Great Potential Press, Inc. ISBN 0910707006.
• Winebrenner, Susan. (2000). Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom. Free Spirit Publishing, Inc. ISBN 1575420899.
• Renzulli, J. S., (1984). What Makes Giftedness. Phi Delta Kappan, 60, 127-130. Phi Delta Kappan Educational Foundation.

External links

• Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education
• Gifted Children:A Guide for Parents and Professionals: includes links to suggested reading and other websites related to gifted children, especially relevant to parents and families
• Hoagies' Gifted Education Page: web-based articles, information, and links related to gifted education
• GT World a support community for the gifted and talented and their families and friends
• Great Potential Press: books, materials, and articles for parents and educators of gifted children
• Gifted Development Center
• Resources for gifted adults
• GT Adults: gifted/high ability
• Gifted Children Need More Than Academic Excellence
• The Davidson Institute for Talent Development: free resources and services to support profoundly gifted young people, their parents and educators.
• GT CyberSource: news, free articles, and information about giftedness
• Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP): talent search, summer and online educational programs, free resources about giftedness.
• GiftedHaven: A site for and by Gifted children and teenagers. A chance to communicate with other Gifted youth.

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