Gifted Identification: When giftedness is the problem

Previously, I've discussed how there can be difficulties in identifying gifted children in a classroom based on several factors. However, giftedness itself can lead to problems in identification. The following list, from Gifted Children Monthly, Feb. 1988, is summarized at this page. I've also added personal notes to the list, showing how teachers often perceive this behavior.

Gifted Traits Can Cause Classroom Problems

High verbal ability, unusually large vocabulary

The child seems older and more mature than he or she is, leading to unrealistic expectations on the part of the teacher; has difficulty developing listening skills; uses this verbal gift to manipulate or dominate others.

Early reading

The child presents problems primary teachers who may not know where to begin to meet the child's language arts development.

A questioning attitude

The child questions authority as well as rules, regulations, and generally accepted facts; teacher may feel threatened, which could result in hostile feelings towards child.

NOTE: Can be viewed as oppositional defiance disorder.

Keen powers of observation

The child sees through sham and pretense; teacher must be secure enough to admit he or she does not know something.

NOTE: Another one for the oppositional defiance disorder checklist.

Long attention span, persistence, intense concentration

The child is unable to go on to a new activity; becomes oblivious to everything and everyone around, sometimes missing explanations, directions or assignments.

NOTE: The behavior can be sometimes mistaken for both autistic spectrum disorders ("rigid thinking", "can't handle transitions", "stuck in his/her own world", etc.) or ADD/ADHD when the child isn't paying attention.

Ability to learn basic skills more quickly and easily, and retain much information with less repetition.

The child resists drill and repetition, becomes impatient with those who do not learn as quickly; devours material almost as fast as the teacher prepares it.

NOTE: When the child resists drill and repetition, many teachers don't understand that the child feels they are wasting their time. They assume the child doesn't know and is actually behind other students. When the resistance becomes too great, labels like oppositional defiance disorder begin showing up.

Wide range of interests

The child leaves activities incomplete.

NOTE: Another ADD/ADHD behavior.

Very narrow interests

The child sticks to things he or she knows or does best, unwilling to risk trying new things; signals perfectionistic tendencies.

NOTE: This is very often misunderstood as the "circumscribed interests" attributed to individuals with autistic spectrum disorders, most often Asperger's Syndrome.

Creativeness, originality, putting ideas and things together in novel ways

The child is seen as being nonconformist or rebellious, even "wierd".

NOTE: Gifted children may try to answer questions creatively, but don't give the "right" answer. The teacher then assumes the child doesn't understand the material. This can be alleviated by probing into the reasons why the child answers the way he or she does.

Unusual, often highly developed sense of humor

The child sees humor in situations that escapes others; sometimes leads to judgements of inappropriateness by others.

NOTE: Another trait often mistaken for autistic spectrum disorders.

Ability to see relationships, make connections

The child makes intuitive leaps which can exasperate teachers who insist on step-by-step procedures.

Sensitivity

The child is often overly sensitive, taking minor jokes or teasing too seriously; has feelings easily hurt.

NOTE: This issue is especially difficult for boys, who are expected to not display emotions or reactions to such teasing.

High energy level

The child cannot sit or wait quietly; is impatient; seems to have inherent need to be constantly engaged in activity; becomes bored, sometimes disruptive; can exhaust teacher.

NOTE: This sounds like every child diagnosed with ADHD.

Independence

The child has difficulty working with others on group probjects or activities requiring cooperative effort; usually prevers working alone, doing it his or her own way.

NOTE: This can contribute to beliefs that the child suffers from oppositional defiance disorder or autistic spectrum disorders, depending on how the child handles social situations. The same is true of the next point.

A "loner"

The child does not develop appropriate social skills, which leads to more isolation.

What does it mean?

I wish every IQ test came with a key like the one at Hoagies Gifted. I wish everything written about giftedness also came with a comparison chart so that you could reference the appropriate scores on whichever IQ test had been administered.

I also wish children came with manuals. Unfortunately, while IQ tests do help in that regard, it still doesn't tell you everything you need to know.

When my son was finally tested by someone knowledgeable about giftedness, I was surprised at his scores. They seemed lower than I was expecting, but I was pleased that someone had recognized he was gifted. I didn't understand about the more current tests being renormed for the Flynn effect such that higher scores corresponded to lower scores on newer tests. I didn't understand that some of the older tests used a ratio score rather than a population normalization. I didn't understand that what I thought was a pretty good score was much better than I thought.

It took a long time for it to sink in that my son was exceptionally gifted with subtests running from highly gifted to the profoundly gifted range. I used to ignore information on exceptionally gifted and profoundly gifted children because I didn't think it applied to my son. I wish I hadn't ignored it because it does explain a lot of the behaviors I never understood. Once it finally sunk in that I had an EG child, I spent a lot of time going over and finding papers and articles that I had previously ignored.

I'm still not certain what it means to be exceptionally gifted. I can certainly list a series of negative consequences. A child in this IQ range feels ostracized by peers, misunderstood by teachers, and is generally miserable in the public school system. They are very sensitive and empathetic to those less fortunate, but also very hostile and angry for the mistreatment they receive. They get bored extremely easily. They do not have to be prodigies, although I'm sure there are some who are. They like to goof around and make jokes, much to the frustration of their teachers. I'm guessing a number of them enjoy reading because it's the only stimulation they get if their gifts are not recognized.

Unfortunately, most of these observations only point to what highly gifted children and above are not or how they shouldn't be treated. It doesn't explain how they should be dealt with educationally because an educational plan must take into consideration their individual personalities and interests as well as motivation. It would be nice to put all children in this range into some sort of category, but there are few of these children and they are very individual. If there were some way to group them, perhaps educational institutions would be far more considerate in dealing with them and their parents. In most places, however, they are so rare that they are assumed to be no different than your average gifted child, except more difficult.