Guiding the Gifted Child

Remember that thing about giftedness being a curse?

Try this on for size:
You're in second grade. Your school administers some tests. Your scores come back in the 97%ile. Your parents put you in a class with a bunch of other "gifted" kids. They've all been together since preschool. You, on the other hand, have never had any competition. Suddenly, you're not first any more.

You go on to third grade with these children. Your teacher trusts you to progress independently in basic academics, and much of the year is spend in "enrichment." You win the school's chess championship, and take 10th in a city meet. Sadly, however, your handwriting looks like a kindergartener's, and you don't know your math facts.

Meanwhile, you can't concentrate on any assignment long enough to finish it. You can envision completed projects, and once you've done that, the satisfaction is gone. Your mind races constantly. You can almost never fall asleep. You have one thought, which leads to another, and another, and another. Where did you start?

You have a painfully acute ability to understand others' pain and confusion. It can be crippling, particularly since you live in a city big enough to have a sizable population of homeless people, and you happen to have been born to a homeless couple.

You try sports and have wonderful raw talent. You sample several different musical instruments with initial enthusiasm. However, since most of your endeavors have come easily to you, you are embarrassed to be a beginner at anything. You won't let anyone see you practice. You resent advice because it seems like criticism. You're supposed to be so gifted; if you're so gifted, why is this so hard? You give up the sports and the musical instruments.

You have a few same-age friends, but frankly, adults "get" you more than kids. What can a non-athlete, non-musician do for fun?

The hell of adolescence arrives. Body awareness and brain flat-lining coincide.

See what I mean?