Social and Emotional Challenges of Gifted Children Sally G. Hoyle, Ph.D. Child and Adolescent Psychologist 11/7/2018

Introduction There is a perception that children who are gifted are lucky, problem-free individuals Though it is great to have brain power, there are social and emotional challenges inherent in giftedness for some children and adolescents. Consequently parents of exceptional children have unique problems raising them. Misdiagnosis of gifted children and teenagers is common due to lack of understanding of the issues I will discuss today.

Social Challenges Some gifted children have few, or no friends. Kids tell me that it is hard to find someone that “gets” them Also they make social mistakes in communication, conflict management or use of technology such as social media They may be overly competitive in games and/or experience losing as devastating.

Social Challenges-2 Gifted youngsters may have trouble with overactivity, personal space, and vocal volume They may come off as being odd or eccentric Social cues can be missed or misinterpreted They might criticize themselves for not “fitting in” They may experience loneliness

Developmental Challenges Gifted children may show asynchrony in development So for example, you have a ten year old child with an IQ of 130. The child’s chronological age is 10. The child’s mental age based on IQ is about age 13. But due to uneven or asynchronous development, this child may act much younger, say like a six year old. I call this The Three Numbers. It can be confusing to parents, kids and teachers.

Emotional Challenges Managing feelings, also called Affect Regulation, is often a weakness for the gifted Many gifted individuals do not have trouble with this, according to research Stress brought upon by the aforementioned social and developmental challenges can result in psychological problems A theory by Dabrowski (1996)explains how these emotional problems develop

Overexcitabilities in Gifted “Overexcitabilities are inborn intensities indicating heightened ability to respond to stimuli” (Lind, 2011) Dabrowski’s theory talks about the five overexcitabilities: Psychomotor Sensual (referring to higher awareness of sight, smell, touch, taste and/or hearing)

Overexcitabilities -2 Intellectual. Need to acquire knowledge, seek understanding and truth, to analyze and synthesize Imaginational. Elaborate imagination, fantasy, intense visualization. Emotional. Intense feelings of complex emotions, heightened empathy

Parent ideas Learn about Overexcitability and Supersensitivity in Gifted kids. Now I want to talk about specific ways you can address the most frequent social and emotional problems. I am working on a book on this topic and have developed some social skills modules that address social and emotional coping skills.

References Dabrowski, K. (1996). The Theory of Positive Disintegration. International Journal of Psychiatry, 2(2), 229-244. Daniels, S., & Piechowski, M. (Eds). Living With Intensity (2009), Great Potential Press. Lind, S. (2011). Overexcitability and the Gifted, www.senggifted.org Silverman, L. 2013). Gifted 101, Springer Publishing. www.gifteddevelopment.com www.hoagiesgifted.com www.giftedkids.about.com