Learning that a child is gifted is frequently a shock to the parents. They may consider the child to be obstinate, difficult or behaviorally challenged. When the reason behind the behavior turns out to be the fact that he child is eons beyond his classmates in school and is bored with the work, at first it may be a big relief. However, raising a gifted child is a major life challenge.
A parent who suspects that her child may be acting out in school because he is intellectually gifted can look for a number of cues. Note that all the identifiers may not be present in all gifted children. If the child exhibits more than half of the characteristics, it may be appropriate to consider testing.
Optimally, testing should be performed at or close to the third grade level, or when the child reaches the age of eight or nine years. Having testing done at the public school is fine, but private testing is encouraged, since it is more extensive and individualized. A family doctor, school psychologist or principal can be consulted for a local referral when seeking private services.
Characteristics Frequently Observed in Gifted Children
Not all of these are evident in all gifted kids, but most have at least some of these tendencies to varying degrees of intensity:
- A propensity for perfectionism is very often evident in the gifted child. This can very from a mild irritation at getting a less than perfect grade on an exam, to a situation where the child frets and is mortified by not achieving the best grade in the class or a score of 100%.
- Exhibiting the desire for solitude. He needs time to think, use his imagination and even daydream about ideas. A child like this will complain if he feels his parents are filling up his days with too many activities.
- An overwhelmingly creative mind, sometimes to the point of fanaticism and the invention of imaginary friends in the very young child. She may even imagine non-human creatures that she pretends to play with or talks to as if they were real.
- Feelings of alienation from others, particularly same age peers. Many kids feel as though they are outsiders and sometimes feel shunned because of their high intellect and uniqueness.
These traits are less prominent, but tend to be observed in the young gifted population:
- Tendency to act out or exhibit negative behavior, particularly in a classroom setting. The child may be bored with the academic work and looking for ways to amuse herself and gain attention.
- The existence of the Imposter Syndrome, whereby the child feels that his giftedness label is some kind of mistake and he is not really that smart. Many kids will outgrow this problem but some need counseling with a specialist in giftedness to work this out.
- Propensity for being impatient or frustrated by the shortsightedness of other people. In some scenarios, the child will question authority figures, argue with teachers and exhibit stress when disappointed by others' opinions or actions.
- Risk avoidance behaviors are sometimes evident in the gifted. This child understands the consequences of her actions more fully and may be very cautious about taking action because of this.
For more information on characteristics of gifted kids, read Emotions and Characteristics of the Gifted.
Source:
Delisle, James R. Parenting Gifted Kids. TX: Prufrock Press, 2006.
Therese Haberman - With a MS degree and 25 years in HR mgmt, in 2005, Ms.Therese began a writing career specializing in children and HR.
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