What is "Giftedness?"
advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity
combine to create inner experiences
and awareness that are qualitatively
different from the norm.
This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity.
The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable
and requires modifications in
parenting, teaching, and counseling
in order for them to develop optimally.
For example:
a gifted child may be excellent in math, but poor in reading--or vice versa.
"One size does not fit all" for gifted children--and even those with similar IQ scores may not have similar skills, personalities,
rates of development, abilities, or interests. The individual traits of one gifted child may be extremely different from another.
Another example:
It is not unsual for a 7-year-old highly gifted child to be . . . reading at a 6th grade level, performing math tasks at a 4th grade level,
and have fine motor skills at a 2nd grade level. At times, the child may also appear to be functioning socially at a level far
below her age mates.
As a reminder, the more highly gifted the gifted child, the more asynchronous she/he may be.