For a good nine years of my life growing up, from the ripe old age of eight, I lived with the label of bring gifted.
Fifteen years ago, my public school along with a psychologist type person determined that I had special education needs. But someone, some time ago decided to call the special education i received the Gifted Program.
The whole word gifted is pretty loaded, and applies to about two and a half percent of the general public. Most assume the label is applied to the intellectual elite, though that belief isn’t really appropriate.
Being gifted is sort of a genetic anomaly. Though kind of crude, think of what you’d consider the bottom of gene pool, and it’s a little easier to understand how far from normal a gifted person is.
What’s being gifted all about? It’s hard to describe, though my understanding is trying to be on par with the definition by experts in the field.
Giftedness is asynchronous development in which 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.
Gifteds are generally introvertive, can only relate to other similarly gifted individuals, and are more likely to be at risk of brain diseases like ADHD or autism. Attention spans are short but can be incredibly focused and passionate. This really means that a gifted child will learn things much differently from the norm, and the most gifted students cannot learn at all in your typical classroom environment.
Emotions are more intense for these people. Their ‘Happy’ is happier and their ‘Sad’ is much sadder. Feelings can be hurt very easily for seemingly no reason. This concept of overexcitability is related to why gifted people can relate to moral issues more deeply. It seems there is no doubt that my strong feelings for environmental protection and human/animal rights, among other issues, is the root of some glitch in my brain, some oddity developed from my DNA.
These brains operate on emotional, intellectual, imaginitative and physical levels very different from others. Much more than you’d expect to the point where several are socially outcast.
I can relate to descriptions of the over-sensitive, often guilty feeling gifted people. Is my compassion more attributable to my ‘condition’ rather than growing up in a stable environment?
The problems that many gifted children and parents face today are stemmed from social and peer pressures. Gifted individuals often hide their abilities from others, become sometimes paying attention and being observant can come off as being ‘know-it-all/smart alecy’. Being considered too smart is often descibed embarassing scenario for many gifted peopl.
Often achievements by gifted people are attributed to luck rather than personal skill, the so-called imposter syndrome, and results in social and professional self-sabotage.
Parents of gifted children see a similar social divide. Talking about how quickly your children are developing intellectually is a definate way of being excluded from most circles. The tough fact is that gifted children need as much attention paid into their development as say a mentally retard child. Constant mood-swings and incomprehensible behaviour is common to both groups, and is often mentally and physically too frustrating and exhausting for most parents to handle. Not being able to talk about it with other parents makes things worse!
Of course, I don’t wish I was any other way, and I understand and appreicate the pretty remarkable job my parents did raising three similarly brained kids.
But this is the clearest it’s ever been for me, this notion that i’ve been toying with. Are my social ineptitudes, my passions seemingly unequalled in my peers, my desires to make a difference in the world, everything about me: more a product of several thousands of years of human evolution mixed in with some DNA defects? Am I just some textbook case? Have I really had much less control over my life and how I act than I thought I did? Am I going to subconsciously stunt my personal devlopment just so I grow at a rate similar to those around me?
If so, maybe some professor somewhere can tell me what I can expect over the next 50 odd years of my life.
I’d like to believe that my willpower are inherited from my genetic goo and my parents; but it’s my accomplishments and failures that are something I can call all my own.
EDIT: In the spirit of furthering the discussion on this topic, I shall include any responses I find.
Eugene can relate but is cautious to label himself too.
