What is Giftedness?
Giftedness is a term that is often met with much confusion by the public, as well as by educational and mental health professionals. A widely accepted, though broad, definition of giftedness denotes a person who excels or has the potential to excel in critical or creative thinking, or in athletic or artistic endeavors. The term may also refer to a person who possesses an above average capacity for empathy, which is also called emotional giftedness.
Most people assume that giftedness describes an extremely intelligent person, i.e. a genius or a prodigy in some area of the arts, such as a gifted pianist. This assumption fails to recognize gifted people that have not exhibited any great or unusual achievements. In fact, many gifted people are labeled as being lazy, underachieving and unsuccessful. This is often due to a gifted person’s own confusion about his or her above average abilities. The assumption also tends to include extremely intelligent people that do not, however, fall under the term giftedness.
There is a marked difference between intelligence and giftedness. An intelligent person excels in education and knows the answers to questions, compared with a gifted person, who instead asks the questions. An intelligent person has great ideas, whereas a gifted person has crazy, wild ideas. An intelligent person is very alert, and a gifted person is sharply observant. An intelligent person learns easily, and a gifted person already knows based on his or her intuition. IQ tests may indicate a highly intelligent person, whereas gifted people may do poorly.
Giftedness is an inborn trait that can be recognized in early childhood. Apart from obvious indications of giftedness, as in a musical prodigy, a gifted child may also comprehend abstract concepts at an early age; enjoy collecting peculiar things, such as rocks, insects and bottle caps; be intensely curious and attentive to detail; make connections between seemingly obscure things; experiment and exhibit high creativity. Gifted children also tend to prefer older companions, question authority and seem mature for their age. These characteristics are only some of the traits that may signify giftedness.
Giftedness is not often recognized in childhood. Sadly, gifted children are sometimes misdiagnosed as having attention deficit disorder (ADD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) or other behavioral problems and mental illnesses. Depression, anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are also often present in gifted people. When these difficulties are unrecognized as coexisting with giftedness, the result is sometimes unnecessary or inappropriate medical interventions, as well as the pain and insecurity of being misunderstood by others.
Written by J.Gunsch
