What does it mean to be “gifted”? Is that just a different way of saying “high IQ”? Read on to learn what it actually means to be highly gifted.
The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) defines traits of giftedness based on Barbara Clark’s book Growing Up Gifted as falling into 4 categories: cognitive, creative, affective, and behavioral. The NAGC stresses that no two gifted individuals are the same and no gifted individual has traits in every area. Here are a few of the traits commonly associated with giftedness:
- Cognitive: high level of intellectual curiosity, large vocabulary, persistently showing goal-directed behavior, working and studying independently, diverse interests, passion for problem-solving and applying learned concepts, early reader, high levels of critical thinking
- Creative: highly inventive, wide range of interests and openness to stimuli, highly intuitive, fantasizing imagination, highly flexible, highly self-accepting and unconcerned with social norms, unique sense of humor
- Affective: increased self-awareness and feelings of being different, increased emotional depth and intensity, advanced levels of moral judgment, high level of sensitivity or empathy to the feelings of others
- Behavioral: highly perseverant, intensely enthusiastic and focused on passions, high level of energy with little need for sleep or down time, seemingly insatiable curiosity, feelings of high frustration when unable to meet self-imposed or other-imposed standards of performance
Just remember, this list is by no means comprehensive and not every gifted child will show every trait. If you think your child may be highly gifted and are seeking resources and support, be sure to contact Dandelion Family Counseling and schedule an appointment with one of our therapists today!
References:
Clark, B. (2008). Growing up gifted (7th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall
National Association for Gifted Children (nagc.org)