Addressing the Social, Emotional, and Intellectual Needs of Gifted Learners
The following is a reference for teachers of gifted learners. Much of the information here was introduced during CORE
training, but a refresher never hurts! Information on the nature and needs of gifted learners, identification and
screening, and curriculum differentiation is included. Teachers of gifted learners know that the value of our programs is
limited if the social, emotional component is not addressed. Find ways to help students work through social and
emotional issues. Remember to teach the whole child. A gifted learner is not merely an intellect. For more information
on EPISD guidelines and practices, visit the Advanced Academics tab under District Services on the EPISD start page.
10 Myths about Gifted Education
1. Gifted children will do fine on their own. Gifted children cannot teach themselves. Just as star athletes train
with skilled coaches, gifted students need guidance from well-trained teachers who challenge and support them
in order to fully develop their abilities. (see Differentiation)
2. Teachers challenge all students. Most teachers have not been prepared to work with advanced students. Gifted
students not only learn more quickly than other students, they learn differently. (see Asynchronous
Development)
3. Gifted students are role models for other students. Average or below-average students do not look to the
gifted students as role models. Students model their behavior on those who have similar capabilities and are
coping well in school. (see Gifted Learner Profiles)
4. All children are gifted. All children have strengths and positive attributes but are not all gifted in the academic
sense of the word. The label “gifted” in a school setting is applied when a child has an advanced capacity to
learn and apply what is learned in one or more subject areas, or in the performing or fine arts compared to
others his or her age or grade. (see High Achiever vs. Gifted Learner)
5. Academic acceleration is socially harmful. Gifted children are often happier with older children who share
interests and abilities. Acceleration interventions can provide the flexibility in curriculum delivery to meet
student needs without negative consequences. (see Understanding the Role of Socialization, Defining
Acceleration)
6. Gifted education programs are elitist. Gifted education programs help all high-ability students. Many students
are denied learning opportunities because of flawed identification practices and the way in which programs and
services are funded. (see Equality vs. Equity, The Ten Commandments, Guidelines for Understanding
Giftedness in Diverse Populations)
7. Students getting poor or average grades cannot be gifted. Not all gifted students are academically successful.
The causes of underachievement differ greatly. It is imperative that perceptive, well-trained adults recognize
gifted learners and help them break the cycle of underachievement. (see Characteristics of Gifted
Underachievers, Five Types of Gifted Underachievers, 5 Reasons for Procrastination)
8. Gifted students are happy, popular, and well-adjusted. Schools can be a negative experience for some gifted
students. Although many gifted students flourish in their school, some gifted children are prone to emotional
and moral intensities. It is important that counselors and other school personnel are trained to recognize these
issues. (see Behavior Patterns Exhibited by the Gifted, Problems from Outside Sources, Affective
Characteristics Associated with Gifted Students, Dabrowski’s Overexcitabilities, Social and Emotional Issues
Associated with Gifted Learners)
9. A child receiving special education services cannot also be gifted. Having strengths in one area does not
preclude the need for support in another. It is important to focus on the student’s abilities and strengths,
providing access to challenging curricula in addition to receiving support for a recognized disability. (see
Identifying GT Students with Disabilities, Is It a Cheetah?)
10. Gifted education programs require an abundance of resources. Offering gifted education services does not
need to break the bank. Starting a program requires understanding and commitment that gifted student require
qualitatively different services.
Differentiation
Gifted programs in EPISD are differentiated from general education programs through the use of pacing, depth and
complexity, themes and generalizations, and professional level products. While GT courses are differentiated from
general education that does not mean that differentiation is taking place in the GT classroom. Teachers must further
differentiate the GT curriculum in order to meet student needs.
Basic Principles Underlying Differentiation
• There must be a “what” and a “why” behind differentiating. Simply differentiating to differentiate isn’t really a
best practice.
• No two children learn in an identical way.
• Children learn at differing rates, through various styles, and by individualized patterns.
• An enriched environment for one student is not necessarily an enriched environment for another.
Students Who Require Differentiation
• Traditional Gifted Students
• Culturally/Linguistically Diverse Gifted Students
• Twice Exceptional Gifted Students
• Introverted Gifted Students
• Low Socio-Economic Gifted Students
• Gifted Students with Overexcitabilities
What to Differentiate
 content
 process
 product
Reasons to Differentiate
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learner profile - preferred learning style
learner interest – student passions and content areas of intrigue
learner readiness – skills, background knowledge, etc.
Asynchronous Development
There are 4 developmental domains: physical, cognitive, social, and emotional. The average child develops across all 4
domains evenly. The high achiever also develops across the 4 domains evenly, but at a faster rate than the average child.
The gifted child develops unevenly across the domains; physical and social growth are similar to that of an average child,
but cognitive and emotional growth surpass both the average and high achieving child. Dr. Joyce Juntune, a gifted
specialist at Texas A&M refers to this uneven growth as 3D Syndrome: Disconnected Developmental Domain Syndrome.
Gifted Learner Profiles
Feelings & Attitudes
George Betts identified 6 types of gifted learners. It goes without saying that a gifted learner can fit more than one
profile. While using these profiles may help to pinpoint particular students, the more important focus is helping students
to work challenges.
Type 1: Successful
Type 2: Challenging
Type 3: Underground
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Boredom
Frustration
Low self-esteem
Impatient
Defensive
Heightened sensitivity
Uncertain about social rules
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Unsure
Pressured
Confused
Guilty
Insecure
Diminished feelings of self and insights
into their emotions
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Corrects teachers
Questions rules, policies
Is honest, direct
Has mood swings
Demonstrates inconsistent work
habits
Has poor self-control
Is creative
Prefers highly active/
questioning approach
Stands up for convictions
Is competitive
Rebellious
Engaged in power struggle
Creative
Discipline problem
Peers see them as entertaining
Free-floating
Want to change them
Not viewed as gifted
Peer/ parent nominations
Interviews
Performance
Creativity testing
Teacher advocate
Recommendation from a
significant, non-related adult
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Denies talent
Drops out of GT and advanced classes
Resists challenges
Wants to belong socially
Changes friends
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Viewed as leaders or unrecognized
Seen as average and successful
Perceived to be compliant
Seen as quiet/shy
Adults see them as unwilling to risk
Viewed as resistive
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Gifted peer nominations
Home nominations
Community nominations
Achievement testing
IQ tests
Performance
Teacher advocate
Identification
Adult/Peer
Perceptions
Behaviors
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Boredom
Dependent
Positive self-concept
Anxious
Guilty about failure
Extrinsic motivation
Responsible for others
Diminished feelings of self and
rights to own emotions
Self-critical
Perfectionist
High achiever
Seeks teacher’s approval and
structure
Non-risk taking
Does well academically
Accepts and conforms
Dependent
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Loved by teachers
Admired by peers
Loved and accepted by parents
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Grade point average
Achievement tests
IQ tests
Teacher nominations
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Adult/Peer Perceptions
Behaviors
Feelings & Attitudes
Gifted Learner Profiles (cont.)
Type 4: Dropouts
Type 5: Twice Exceptional
Type 6: Autonomous
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Resentment
Angry
Depressed
Explosive
Poor self-concept
Defensive
Burnt out
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Powerless
Frustrated
Low self-esteem
Unaware
Angry
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Has intermittent attendance
Doesn’t complete tasks
Pursues outside interests
“Spaced Out” in class
Is self-abusive
Isolates
Creative
Criticizes self and others
Is disruptive, acts out
Seems average or below
Is defensive
Adults are angry with them
Peers are judgmental
Seen as loners, dropouts,
dopers, or airheads
Rejected and ridiculed
Seen as dangerous and
rebellious
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Demonstrates inconsistent work
Seems average or below
May be disruptive or act out
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Self-confident
Self-accepting
Enthusiastic
Accepted by others
Supported
Desire to know and learn
Accepts failure
Intrinsic motivation
Personal power
Accepts others
Has appropriate social skills
Works independently
Develops own goals
Follows through
Works without approval
Follows strong areas of passion
Is creative
Stands up for convictions
Takes risks
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Seen as “weird”
Seen as “dumb”
Viewed as helpless
Avoided by peers
Seen as average or below in
ability
Perceived to require a great deal
of imposed structure
Seen only for disability
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Accepted by peers and adults
Admired for abilities
Seen as capable and responsible by
parents
Successful
Psychologically healthy
Recommended by significant
others
Recommendation from
informed special education
teacher
Interview
Performance
Teacher advocate
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Grade point average
Demonstrated performance
Products
Achievement testing
Interview
Teacher/peer/parent nominations
IQ tests
Creativity testing
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Identification
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Review cumulative folder
Interview earlier teachers
Discrepancy between IQ and
demonstrated ability
Incongruities and
inconsistencies in
performance
Creativity testing
Gifted peer nominations
Demonstrated performance
in non-school areas
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High Achiever vs. Gifted Learner
adapted from High Achieving and Gifted Learners—Characteristics and Behaviors by Joyce Juntune, 1997
The Gifted Learner
The High Achiever
Asks the questions
Knows the answers
Is intense about ideas
Is receptive to new ideas
Is highly curious
Is interested in learning
Creates a new design or way of doing it
Copies accurately
Is mentally and physically involved
Is attentive in class
Enjoys learning
Enjoys school
Loves ideas
“Loves” the teacher
Manipulates information
Absorbs information
Has wild, silly ideas
Has good ideas
Is an inventor of ideas
Is a technician of ideas
Discusses in detail, elaborates
Answers the questions
Good, informed guesser
Good memorizer
Is focused on the “journey”
Is focused on the destination or end product
Loves to think and ponder
Loves to memorize
Initiates projects
Completes the assignments
Thrives on complexity and ambiguity
Enjoys a straightforward, sequential presentation
Plays around, yet tests well
Works hard
Is keenly observant
Is alert
Is beyond the group
Is a top group student
Is highly self-critical
Is pleased with own learning
High Achiever vs. Gifted Learner (cont.)
Shows strong feelings and opinions
Listens with interest
Has own idea of how it should be done
Likes an authority to be in charge
Wants only basic guidelines
Loves rules
Already knows
Learns with ease
Sees relationships and combines ideas, sees the whole
picture
1-2 repetitions for mastery
Learns easily at the knowledge and comprehension
level
6-8 repetitions for mastery
“I want to do it my way.” Has a better way to do it
Wants the “rules” of the assignment spelled out
“What is the purpose of this assignment?”
“What do I need to do to get an A?”
Constructs abstractions
Understands ideas
Prefers older students or adults
Enjoys peers
Draws inferences
Grasps the meaning
Understanding the Role of Socialization
When Gifted Kids Don’t Have All the Answers
• Gifted children from a young age often prefer complicated, rule-based games that others their age don’t
understand or care about.
• Gifted children are often concerned with world problems and other “big issues” that may not interest other kids
their age.
• Gifted children’s advanced vocabularies inadvertently isolate them from age peers who don’t comprehend their
words.
• Gifted children seek out others whose minds operate at the same fast pace as their own. Finding few, they may
gravitate toward older children or adults, making them appear “snobby” to their classmates.
• Gifted children who feel distanced from their age peers may resort to solitary play or a world of video-game
playmates, making them even less available for social interaction.
Defining Acceleration
Gifted Child Quarterly, 1987
There are many different ways to accelerate the curriculum. These options offer the flexibility needed to help meet the
individual needs of gifted students:
• acceleration in one or more subject areas
• grade skipping
• advanced Placement programs
• college courses offered in high school
• early graduation from high school/entrance into college
Equality vs. Equity
from “Promoting Gifted Education in Your Community” by Kristen Stephens
It is neither fair nor reasonable to provide equal educational programming and hold equal expectations for all students,
regardless of their abilities. By providing enrichment and acceleration experiences for gifted students, we are providing
them with what they need, not superfluous or unnecessary education. Helping the community see and value the
educational needs of gifted and talented students will help generate support for their special programming
requirements.
The Ten Commandments
adapted from Bruce A. Clair’s “The Ten Commandments,” Gifted Child Today (September/ October 1985)
…That Foster Elitism
…That Foster Understanding
(How Gifted Children Develop Feelings of
Superiority)
(How Gifted Children Develop Humility as They
Develop Their Talents)
I.
I.
Thou shalt be told that boredom is part of life and that
easy, redundant work must be tolerated.
II. Thou shalt often hear classmates express frustration
because the test was hard..when thou thought it was
easy.
III. Thou shalt procrastinate on long-term assignments until
the day before they are due…and thou shalt turn them in
and get As.
IV. Thou shalt hear classmates ask questions of thy teacher
that thy teacher answered clearly yesterday.
V. Thou shalt receive numerous telephone calls from
classmates the night before a test asking how to solve a
difficult problem.
VI. Thou shalt consistently get good grades without having to
work or study hard.
VII. Thou shalt know the answer to every question the
teacher asks…and can answer the questions no one else
can.
VIII. Thou shalt have thyself, thy grades, and thy work held
up, by thy teacher, as examples to be emulated.
IX. Thou shalt be chosen first by the team captain for spelling,
math, and geography bees.
X. In short, thou shalt have ample opportunity to believe that
aptitude is equated with human values and that if thou
art smarter, thou art better.
Thou shalt regularly experience work that is relevant,
stimulating, and challenging.
II. Thou shalt have expectations placed upon thee that are in
line with thy aptitude.
III. Thou shalt learn that self-discipline, long-range planning,
and hard work are necessary before thou canst produce
quality work.
IV. Thou shalt have the opportunity to hear thy classmates
ask questions of thy teacher and thyself that are hard
questions—questions which require deep thought and
careful consideration.
V. Thou shalt find it necessary to occasionally phone thy
classmates to ask for their help and perspective.
VI. Thou shalt work hard to earn thy good grades and come
to realize that excellence of thy work and the quality of
thy ideas are more important than grades.
VII. Thou shalt experience humility as questions are raised by
thy teacher and thy classmates—questions to which thou
dost not know the answer (and of which thou never
thought.)
VIII. Thou shalt, through associations and discussions with thy
classmates, come to appreciate that talents come in
many forms and that no one talent is more valuable than
another.
IX. Thou shalt come to realize that thou, too, hast both
strengths and weaknesses, as do other students.
X. In short, through a diversity of experiences with thy
classmates and teachers, thou shalt come to a fuller and
richer understanding of every person’s worth. Thou shalt
come to realize that human value and intellectual
aptitude can never be equated.
Guidelines for Understanding Giftedness in Diverse Populations
Alexinia Y. Baldwin, 1999
 Giftedness expresses in one dimension is just as important as giftedness expressed in another.
 Giftedness can be expressed through a variety of behaviors.
 Giftedness in any area can be a clue to the presence of potential giftedness in another area, or a catalyst for the
development of giftedness in another area.
 A total ability profile is crucial in the educational planning for the gifted child.
 Carefully planned subjective assessment techniques can be used effectively with objective assessment
techniques.
 All populations have gifted children who exhibit behaviors that are indicators of giftedness.
 Behaviors classified as gifted should be above and beyond the average of a broad spectrum of individuals.
Characteristics of Culturally Diverse Gifted Students
In order for culturally diverse students to be identified for gifted programs, we must consider certain characteristics:
1.
Ability to express feelings and emotions
2.
Ability to improvise with commonplace materials and objects
3.
Ability to articulate well in role playing, sociodrama, and storytelling
4.
Enjoyment of and ability in visual arts such as drawing, painting, and sculpture
5.
Enjoyment of and ability in creative movement, dance, dramatics, etc.
6.
Enjoyment of and ability in music, rhythm, etc.
7.
Use of expressive speech
8.
Fluency and flexibility in figural media
9.
Enjoyment of and skills in group activities, problem solving, etc.
10.
Responsiveness to the concrete
11.
Responsiveness to the kinesthetic
12.
Expressiveness of gestures, body language, and the ability to interpret body language
13.
Sense of humor
14.
Richness of imagery in informal language
15.
Originality of ideas
16.
Problem centeredness or persistence in problem solving
17.
Emotional responsiveness
18.
Quickness of warm-up
Characteristics of Gifted Underachievers
(Not all characteristics may be present in the same person.)
• High IQ score
• Lack of effort
• Skill deficit in at least one subject area
• Frequently unfinished work
• Inattentiveness to current tasks
• Low self-esteem
• Poor work and study habits
• Intense interest in one area
• Seeming inability to concentrate
• Failure to respond to usual motivating techniques
5 Types of Gifted Underachievers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Low grades, high test scores
Low test scores, high grades
Low performance in all subjects
Low performance in certain subjects
Unnoticed
5 Reasons for Procrastination
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Fear of failure
Fear of success
Fear of control
Fear of separation
Fear of commitment
Behavior Patterns Exhibited by the Gifted
James T. Webb, 1994
These characteristics are seldom inherently problematic by themselves. More often, combinations of these
characteristics lead to behavior patterns such as:
Uneven Development: Motor skills, especially fine-motor, often lag behind cognitive conceptual abilities,
particularly in preschool gifted children. These children may see in their “mind’s eye” what they want to do,
construct, or draw; however, motor skills do not allow them to achieve the goal. Intense frustration and emotional
outbursts may result.
Peer Relations: As preschoolers and in primary grades, gifted children (particularly highly gifted) attempt to organize
people and things. Their search for consistency emphasizes “rules,” which they attempt to apply to others. They
invent complex games and try to organize their playmates, often prompting resentment in their peers.
Excessive Self-Criticism: The ability to see possibilities and alternatives may imply that youngsters see idealistic
images of what they might be, and simultaneously berate themselves because they see how they are falling short of
an ideal.
Perfectionism: The ability to see how one might ideally perform, combined with emotional intensity, leads many
gifted children to unrealistically high expectations of themselves. In high ability children, perhaps 15-20% may be
hindered significantly by perfectionism at some point in their academic careers, and even later in life.
Avoidance of Risk-Taking: In the same way the gifted youngsters see the possibilities, they also see potential
problems in undertaking those activities. Avoidance of potential problems can mean avoidance of risk-taking, and
may result in underachievement.
Multipotentiality: Gifted children often have several advanced capabilities and may be involved in diverse activities
to an almost frantic degree. Though seldom a problem for the child, this may create problems for the family, as well
as quandaries when decisions must be about career selection.
Gifted Children with Disabilities: Physical disabilities can prompt social and emotional difficulties. Intellect may be
high, but motor difficulties such as cerebral palsy may prevent expression of potential. Visual or hearing impairment
or a learning disability may cause frustration. Gifted children with disabilities tend to evaluate themselves more on
what they are unable to do than on their substantial abilities.
Problems from Outside Sources
James T. Webb, 1994
Lack of understanding or support for gifted children, and sometimes actual ambivalence or hostility, creates
significant problems. Some common problem patterns are:
School Cultural Norms: Gifted children, by definition, are “unusual” when compared with same-age children—at
least in cognitive abilities—and require different educational experiences. Schools, however, generally group
children by age. The child often has a dilemma—conform to the expectations for the average child or be seen as
nonconformist.
Expectations by Others: Gifted children—particularly the more creative—do not conform. Nonconformists violate
or challenge traditions, rituals, roles, or expectations. Such behaviors often prompt discomfort in others. The gifted
child, sensitive to others’ discomfort, may then try to hide abilities.
Peer Relations: Who is a peer for a gifted child? Gifted children need several peer groups because their interests
are so varied. Their advanced levels of ability may steer them toward older children. They may choose peers by
reading books. Such children are often thought of as “loners.” The conflict between fitting in and being individual
may be quite stressful.
Depression: Depression is usually being angry at oneself or at a situation over which one has little or no control. In
some families, continual evaluation and criticism of performance—one’s own and others—is a tradition. Any natural
tendency to self-evaluate likely will be inflated. Depression and academic underachievement may be increased.
Sometimes educational misplacement causes the gifted youngster to feel caught in a slow motion world.
Depression may result because the child feels caught in an unchangeable situation.
Family Relations: Families particularly influence the development of social and emotional competence. When
problems occur, it is not because parents consciously decide to create difficulties for gifted children. It is because
parents lack information about gifted children, or lack support for appropriate parenting, or are attempting to cope
with their own unresolved problems (which may stem from their experiences with being gifted).
Affective Characteristics Associated with Giftedness
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emotional sensitivity
unusual sensitivity to the feelings of others
heightened self-awareness
feelings of being different
idealism and a sense of judgment
early development of inner locus of control
high expectations
perfectionism
advanced levels of moral judgment
early concerns about death
high energy
aesthetic sensitivity
strong need for consistency between values and actions
Dabrowski’s Overexcitabilities
Individuals with an overexcitability or multiple overexcitabilities have a deeper sensitivity and intensity of emotional
experience. They see reality in a different, stronger, more multi-sided manner. Reality leaves a long-lasting
impression on these individuals. It is important to not only recognize overexcitabilities in your students but to help
them to develop them as strengths. There are 5 areas of overexcitability, and it is possible for a person to have all 5.
Psychomotor Overexcitability
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Heightened excitability of the neuromuscular system
Capacity for being active and energetic; love of movement for its own sake
Organic surplus of energy (rapid speech, marked excitation, intense physical activity, need for action)
Psychomotor expression of emotional tension (compulsive talking or chattering, impulsive actions, acting out,
nervous habits –tics, nail biting, drive, workaholism, extreme organization, competitiveness)
Strategies
 Jointly discuss the positives of this characteristic
 Allow specific or set times for activity and movement
 Be flexible about allowing unscheduled movement – walking, standing breaks
 Allow the “movers” to do physical tasks
 Use kinesthetic approaches to learning and allow standing, pacing, or other alternative postures while learning
 Provide moving furniture – rockers, gliders, exercise balls
 Discuss non-verbal messages that are unintentionally being sent
 Allow doodling
 Permit playing with quiet, unobtrusive toys
 Provide time for spontaneity – open-ended, freewheeling activities
 Allow time to talk about ideas or new concepts
Sensual Overexcitability
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Heightened experience of sensual pleasures or displeasure (seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, hearing)
Early interest in sexuality (because he/she likes to be hugged, kissed, etc.)
Sensual expression and outlets for emotional tension (overeating, buying sprees, wanting to be noticed–the
center of attention–in the limelight)
 Aesthetic pleasures (appreciation of beautiful objects, art, music, form, nature, color balance)
Strategies
 Jointly discuss the positives of this characteristic (i.e. experiences life more fully than others, can get great joy of
simple things)
 Provide environments which limit offensive stimuli and maximize comforting stimuli (study carrels, earphones,
joint decision-making about individual’s location in the classroom, home, bedroom)
 Provide opportunities for limelight
 Provide time to dwell in their delight (offer aesthetic opportunities, create an aesthetic environment)
 Enable control of own living and work space—their room is their room
 Be tolerant of food or water in classroom/ room
 Help find comfortable and appropriate clothing
Intellectual Overexcitability
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Heightened need to seek understanding and truth, to gain knowledge, analyze and synthesize
Intensified activity of the mind (curiosity, concentration, capacity for sustained intellectual effort, avid reading,
keen observation, detailed planning, detailed visual recall)
 Penchant for probing questions, problem-solving (search for truth, understanding, tenacity in problem-solving)
 Preoccupation with logic and theoretical thinking (love of theory and analysis, thinking about thinking, nonjudgmental introspection, moral thinking, conceptual and intuitive integration, independence of thought—
sometimes criticism)
 Development of new concepts
Strategies
 Jointly discuss the positives of this characteristic (i.e. potential to change the world intellectually and morally,
sticks to projects related to passions, fights for own ideas)
 Honor need to seek understanding and truth, regardless of the age of the individual
 Provide spaces and opportunities for individual to sue their mind—libraries, quiet study, problem-solving
activities
 Accept and provide for sustained effort, little sleep
 Encourage individual to share observations, concepts
 Help individual find answers to questions
 Help individual find ways to act on their concerns—to feel effective
 Help individual understand how their criticism is taken
 Remember not to treat child as a small adult
 Provide access to materials, internet, and other resources to pursue intellectual pursuits
 Encourage a question journal
 Teach inquiry methods and communication skills
Imaginational Overexcitability
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Heightened play of the imagination
Rich association of images and expressions—real and imagined (frequent use of image and metaphor, facility
for invention and fantasy, detailed visualization, poetic and dramatic perception, animistic thinking, magical
thinking)
 Spontaneous imagery as an expression of emotional tension (animistic imagery, mixing truth and fiction,
elaborate dreams, illusions)
 Capacity for living in a world of fantasy (predilection for fairy and magical tales, creation of private worlds,
imaginary companions, dramatization)
Strategies
 Jointly discuss the positives of this characteristic (i.e. has productive imagination, views world in a unique way,
makes the mundane extraordinary)
 Cherish creative and imaginative expression
 Encourage individual to share imaginings
 Help individual to differentiate between imaginary and real world
 Provide outlets for creative pursuits—writing, drawing, acting, dancing, etc.
 Help individual to use imagination to solve problems and cope with challenges (use creativity to organize and
study, use imagery/metaphor to explain thoughts and actions)
 Respect and understand divergent learning styles
 Offer open-ended activities
 Provide dramatic outlets
 Respect private worlds
 Acceptance and allowance of risk
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Encourage the “idea trap”—ways to record imaginings
Provide brainstorming types of environments
Emotional Overexcitability
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Heightened intense positive and negative feelings (extremes of emotion, complex emotions and feelings,
identification with feelings of others, high degree of differentiation of interpersonal feeling, awareness of range
and intensity of feelings
 Somatic expressions (tense stomach, sinking heart, blushing, flushing, pounding heart, sweaty palms)
 Strong affective expressions (inhibition, timidity, shyness, ecstasy, euphoria, pride, strong affective memory,
feeling of unreality, fears and anxieties, feelings of guilt, concern with death, depressive and suicidal moods)
 Capacity for strong attachments and deep relationships (strong emotional ties and attachments to persons,
living things, places; compassion; responsiveness to others; empathy; sensitivity in relationships; difficulty
adjusting to new environments; loneliness; conflicts with others over depth of relationship; intense desire to
offer love)
 Well-differentiated feelings toward self (awareness of one’s real self, inner dialogue and self-judgment)
Strategies
 Jointly discuss the positives of this characteristic (i.e. sensitivity to others, caring, loyal, possessing strong
feelings)
 Accept all feelings and their intensity
 Teach individuals to share emotions and feelings with others verbally, through movement, art, journaling, music,
or other outlets
 Teach to be respectful of the feelings of others, or the seeming lack thereof
 Develop feeling vocabulary—including a continuum of feeling words
 Learn listening and responding skills
 Teach individual to find ways to change behaviors, rather than dwell on personal “failures”
 Share that intense feelings and even occasional depression are OK
 Teach individual to anticipate physical and emotional responses and prepare for them
 Consider attachments when considering change
 Help individuals to understand how intense emotions may adversely affect others
 Use journaling to express intense feelings
 Find physical outlets for emotional energy
General Strategies for Working with the Overexcitabilities
 Focus on positive nature of these characteristics
 Cherish and celebrate diversity and individual differences
 Think about how these traits effect a person’s perception of the world—through a different, perhaps
kaleidoscopic lens
 Use joint decision-making to deal with any negative impact caused by these traits
 Accept the individual as is—including “bizarre” descriptions and expressions of feelings and alternative ways of
viewing and doing things
 Use and teach clear verbal and non-verbal communication skills
Verbal
Nonverbal
Listening
Rhythm and use of time
Responding
Interpersonal distance (space) and touch
Questioning
Gestures and postures
Telephoning
Facial Expressions
Problem solving
Tone of voice, pitch, etc.
Style of dress
 Help individual to become aware of and responsible for own behaviors
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Facilitate an understanding of impact of their supersensitivity and behaviors upon others
Facilitate an understanding of which behaviors may be inappropriate or distracting
Use natural and logical consequences
Teach about locus of control and how to effect change
Remember most classrooms are not reflective of the “real world”—most people have choices about their
environment and mode of working
Allow time to pursue passions
Try not to remove passions as consequences
Cultivate gifts/ talents
Social and Emotional Issues Associated with Gifted Learners
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Underachievement
Perfectionism
Motivation
Imposter Syndrome
Stress Management
Idealism & Depression
Introversion
Identifying GT Students with Disabilities
David Sousa, How the Gifted Brain Works
 Focus on Assessing the Disability: Assessment of the disability should include looking for particular strengths,
such as superior mental or artistic ability, and creativity. Besides medical information, test administrators
should look at participation in extracurricular activities and performance in music, visual arts, drama, or dance.
 Stereotypic Expectations: The long held perception that gifted children are motivated and mature while
learning disabled children are unmotivated and sluggish, needs to be overcome if we are to successfully identify
this population.
 Developmental Delays: Delays in a student’s cognitive development may result in disabilities that mask talent.
Students with visual impairments, for example, will have difficulty with any abstract thinking that requires visual
representation but may have high capabilities in other areas of language expression.
 Experiential Deficits: Children in families with limited resources may not have had many opportunities for a
variety of learning experiences (i.e. travel), thus inhibiting the expression of their unique abilities.
 Narrow Views of Giftedness: Too many educators still hold a narrow view of giftedness as intellectual potential
in mathematics and language. However, the works of Howard Gardner, Robert Sternberg, and others have
provided broader conceptions intelligence that may help in the identification of gifted students with learning
disabilities.
 Disability-Specific Concerns: Because a specific disability may affect a student’s performance in certain parts of
the testing process, test administrators may need to make adaptations or accommodations to the testing
procedures. These alterations should be appropriate to the specific disability and could include omitting certain
questions or extending the time for taking the test.
Is it a Cheetah?
Stephanie S. Tolan
Copyright 1995, Stephanie S. Tolan. Properly attributed, this material may be freely reproduced and disseminated.
A Speech Given at the Hollingworth Conference for the Highly Gifted, 1992
It’s a tough time to raise, teach or be a highly gifted child. As the term “gifted” and the unusual intellectual capacity to which that term
refers become more and more politically incorrect, the educational establishment changes terminology and focus.
Giftedness, a global, integrative mental capacity, may be dismissed, replaced by fragmented “talents” which seem less threatening
and theoretically easier for schools to deal with. Instead of an internal developmental reality that affects every aspect of a child’s life,
“intellectual talent” is more and more perceived as synonymous with (and limited to) academic achievement.
The child who does well in school, gets good grades, wins awards and “performs” beyond the norms for his or her age is considered
talented. The child who does not, no matter what his or her innate intellectual capacities or developmental level, is less and less
likely to be identified, less and less to be served.
A cheetah metaphor can help us to see the problem with achievement-oriented thinking. The cheetah is the fastest animal on earth.
When we think of a cheetah, we are likely to think first of its speed. It’s flashy. It’s impressive. It’s unique. And it makes identification
incredibly easy. Since cheetahs are the only animals that can run 70 mph, if you clock an animal running 70 mph, it must be a
cheetah!
But cheetahs are not always running. In fact, they are able to maintain top speed only for a limited time, after which they need a
considerable period of rest.
It’s not difficult to identify a cheetah when it isn’t running, provided we know its other characteristics. It is gold with black spots, like a
leopard, but it also has unique black “tear marks” beneath its eyes. Its head is small, its body lean, its legs unusually long — all bodily
characteristics critical to a runner. And the cheetah is the only member of the cat family that has non-retractable claws. Other cats
retract their claws to keep them sharp, like carving knives kept in a sheath; the cheetah’s claws are designed, not for cutting, but for
traction. This is an animal biologically designed to run.
Its chief food is the antelope, itself a prodigious runner. The antelope is not large or heavy, so the cheetah doesn’t need strength and
bulk to overpower it. Only speed. On the open plains of its natural habitat, the cheetah is capable of catching an antelope simply by
running it down.
While body design in nature is utilitarian, it also creates a powerful internal drive. The cheetah needs to run!
Despite design and need, however, certain conditions are necessary for it to attain its famous 70 mph top speed. It must be fully
grown. It must be healthy, fit and rested. It must have plenty of room to run. Besides that, it is best motivated to run all out when it is
hungry and there are antelope to chase.
If a cheetah is confined to a 10x12 foot cage, though it may pace or fling itself against the bars in restless frustration, it won’t run 70
mph.
Is it still a cheetah?
If a cheetah has only 20 mph rabbits to chase for food, it won’t run 70 mph while hunting. If it did, it would flash past its prey and go
hungry! Though it might well run on its own for exercise, recreation or fulfillment of its internal drive, when given only rabbits to eat,
the hunting cheetah will only run fast enough to catch a rabbit.
Is it still a cheetah?
If a cheetah is fed Zoo Chow, it may not run at all.
Is it still a cheetah?
If a cheetah is sick or if its legs have been broken, it won’t even walk.
Is it still a cheetah?
And finally, if the cheetah is only six weeks old, it can’t yet run 70 mph.
Is it, then, only a potential cheetah?
A school system that defines giftedness (or talent) as behavior, achievement and performance is as compromised in its ability to
recognize its highly gifted students and to give them what they need as a zoo would be to recognize and provide for its cheetahs if it
looked only for speed.
When a cheetah does run 70 mph, it isn’t a particularly “achieving” cheetah. Though it is doing what no other cat can do, it is behaving
normally for a cheetah.
To lions, tigers, leopards—to any of the other big cats—the cheetah’s biological attributes would seem to be deformities. Far from
the “best cat,” the cheetah would seem to be barely a cat at all. It is not heavy enough to bring down a wildebeest; its non-retractable
claws cannot be kept sharp enough to tear the wildebeest’s thick hide. Given the cheetah’s tendency to activity, cats who spend
most of their time sleeping in the sun might well label the cheetah hyperactive.
Like cheetahs, highly gifted children can be easy to identify. If a child teaches herself Greek at age five, reads at the eighth grade
level at age six or does algebra in second grade, we can safely assume that this child is a highly gifted child. Though the world may
see these activities as “achievements,” she is not an “achieving” child so much as a child who is operating normally according to her
own biological design, her innate mental capacity. Such a child has clearly been given room to “run” and something to run for. She
is healthy and fit and has not had her capacities crippled. It doesn’t take great knowledge about the characteristics of highly gifted
children to recognize this child.
However, schools are to extraordinarily intelligent children what zoos are to cheetahs. Many schools provide a 10x12 foot cage,
giving the unusual mind no room to get up to speed. Many highly gifted children sit in the classroom the way big cats sit in their
cages, dull-eyed and silent. Some, unable to resist the urge from inside even though they can’t exercise it, pace the bars, snarl and
lash out at their keepers, or throw themselves against the bars until they do themselves damage.
Even open and enlightened schools are likely to create an environment that, like the cheetah enclosures in enlightened zoos, allow
some moderate running, but no room for the growing cheetah to develop the necessary muscles and stamina to become a 70 mph
runner. Children in cages or enclosures, no matter how bright, are unlikely to appear highly gifted; kept from exercising their minds
for too long, these children may never be able to reach the level of mental functioning for which they were designed.
A zoo, however much room it provides for its cheetahs, does not feed them antelope, challenging them either to run full out or go
hungry. Schools similarly provide too little challenge for the development of extraordinary minds. Even a gifted program may provide
only the intellectual equivalent of 20 mph rabbits (while sometimes labeling children suspected of extreme intelligence
“underachievers” for not putting on top speed to catch those rabbits!). Without special programming, schools provide the academic
equivalent of Zoo Chow, food that requires no effort whatsoever. Some children refuse to take in such uninteresting, dead
nourishment at all.
To develop not just the physical ability, but also the strategy to catch antelope in the wild, a cheetah must have antelopes to chase,
room to chase them and a cheetah role model to show them how to do it. Without instruction and practice, they are unlikely to be
able to learn essential survival skills.
A recent nature documentary about cheetahs in lion country showed a curious fact of life in the wild. Lions kill cheetah cubs. They
don’t eat them, they just kill them. In fact, they appear to work rather hard to find them in order to kill them (though cheetahs can’t
possibly threaten the continued survival of lions). Is this maliciousness? Recreation? No one knows. We only know that lions do it.
Cheetah mothers must hide their dens and go to great efforts to protect their cubs, coming and going from the den only under deep
cover, in the dead of night or when lions are far away. Highly gifted children and their families often feel like cheetahs in lion country.
In some schools, brilliant children are asked to do what they were never designed to do (like cheetahs asked to tear open a wildebeest
hide with their claws—after all, the lions can do it!) while the attributes that are a natural aspect of unusual mental capacity—intensity,
passion, high energy, independence, moral reasoning, curiosity, humor, unusual interests and insistence on truth and accuracy—
are considered problems that need fixing. Brilliant children may feel surrounded by lions who make fun of them or shun them for their
differences, who may even break their legs or drug them to keep them moving more slowly, in time with the lions’ pace. Is it any
wonder they would try to escape? Or put on a lion suit to keep from being noticed? Or fight back?
This metaphor, like any metaphor, eventually breaks down. Highly gifted children don’t have body markings and non-retractable
claws by which to be identified when not performing. Furthermore, the cheetah’s ability to run 70 mph is a single trait readily
measured. Highly gifted children are very different from each other, so there is no single ability to look for, even when they are
performing. Besides that, a child’s greatest gifts could be outside the academic world’s definition of achievement and so go
unrecognized altogether. While this truth can save some children from being wantonly killed by marauding lions, it also keeps them
from being recognized for what they are—children with deep and powerful innate differences as all-encompassing as the differences
between cheetahs and other big cats. That they may not be instantly recognizable does not mean that there is no means of identifying
them. It means that more time and effort are required to do it. Educators can learn the attributes of unusual intelligence and observe
closely enough to see those attributes in individual children. They can recognize not only that highly gifted children can do many
things which other children cannot, but that there are tasks which other children can do that the highly gifted cannot.
Every organism has an internal drive to fulfill its biological design. The same is true for unusually bright children. From time to time
the bars need to be removed, the enclosures broadened. Zoo Chow, easy and cheap as it is, must give way, at least some of the
time, to lively, challenging mental prey.
More than this, schools need to believe that it is important to make the effort, that these children not only have the needs of all other
children to be protected and properly cared for, but that they have as much right as others to have their special needs met.
Biodiversity is a fundamental principle of life on our planet. It allows life to adapt and to change. In our culture, highly gifted children,
like cheetahs, are endangered. Like cheetahs, they are here for a reason; they fill a particular niche in the design of life. Zoos,
whatever their limitations, may be critical to the continued survival of cheetahs; many are doing their best to offer their captives what
they will need to eventually survive in the wild. Schools can do the same for their highly gifted children.
Unless we make a commitment to saving these children, we will continue to lose them, as well as whatever unique benefit their
existence might provide for the human species of which they are an essential part.
Worthwhile Sites
TEA: Gifted Talented Education
A wealth of resources, including the Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented Students
EPISD Advanced Academic Services
EPISD guidelines and procedures for district gifted programs
Byrdseed
General knowledge and specific topics in gifted learning
Northwestern CTD
Information and links to other great sites
National Association for Gifted Children
Resources and advocacy information
Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented
Resources and conference information