Every person on this planet has a gift inside because we are all unique manifestations of the Divine. But some of these gifts and capacities don't seem to fit in well with the everyday life experiences of the conventional world.
I know this territory well, growing up with unusual capacities and now parenting two gifted kids. These moments have truly been the most challenging and most rewarding parts of my life.
I don't like using the word gifted because in my experience we all possess amazing gifts. But many people process reality in a way that gets described as "gifted and talented" in the fields of education and psychology.
What I encounter are vast, original thinking brains that usually come with an extremely open and sensitive nervous system, an insatiable curiosity, an intensity of all emotions, a longing to learn deeply and quickly, a variety of processing speeds, a passion for unusual interests and a feeling of aloneness when we look around and see how differently many other people process reality.
If you or someone you love experiences life this way, please watch these videos that beautifully and specifically describe how to understand and support gifted people. Please also spend time at some of the websites listed on this page, which share resources for gifted people to learn and socialize together.
One person who understands reality the way you do makes all the difference in the world.
That moment reminds us of the Divine truth that we are never alone.
The first person who held my hand and walked me safely and gently into the land of giftedness was Annemarie Roeper. We were infinitely blessed as a family to meet her, spend time with her and learn from her. Her wisdom and deep love of the gifted journey became an integral part of our lives and continues to guide us. We love you Annemarie and miss you and thank you for making the world a much better place.
Annemarie's brilliant qualitative assessment work continues today. I have great love and respect for her successor, Anne Beneventi. I have watched Anne masterfully and creatively work with groups of gifted kids, helping them feel more relaxed, open and connected to themselves. I always felt enchanted watching her work.
Anne's organization is called Children Evolving.
Annemarie compiled a list of common characteristics of gifted people. I have shared this invaluable resource with many families. It is a treasure.
Signs Of Giftedness
Some signs of giftedness in children and adults compiled by Annemarie Roeper, Ed.D. and Betty Maxwell, Ph.D.
- Sensitivity
- Remembering insults forever
- Doing three things at once
- Doing the outwardly foolish thing, taking up lost causes
- Psychic
- Interest in life and death
- Driven to comprehend, complexity of understanding
- Wanting to know the reasons and origins of things
- Asks, “What is my purpose?”
- Naive
- Recognition of falsity, no “trophy friends”
- Complexifying solutions
- Finding non-conventional solutions, originality
- Not motivated by extrinsic awards, discomfort with praise
- Passionate
- Undeterred by conventional expectations
- Self taught, non-sequential learning
- Need for precision
- Recognition of unfairness, strong sense of justice
- Making intuitive leaps, making logical projections
- Noticing what no one else does
- Manipulation and bargaining
- Make and follow their own plans, less teachable
- Devise practical experiments to see “What if?”
- Saying, “Actually”
- Large vocabulary, love of big words
- Delayed in toilet training, difficulty in separating from mom
- Early sense of responsibility
- Not wanting to grow up and face the world
- Less physical risk-taking
- Zipping through Piagetian stages
- Friends of both genders, later sexual interests
- Abstract thinkers before having the emotional ability to handle it
- Symbolic thinkers
- Can animate their fears, powerful emotional imagination
Contacts For Support On The Giftedness Journey
The Gifted Development Center, Dr. Linda Silverman
The Daimon Institute, P. Susan Jackson
SENG - Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted
Camp Summit for the Gifted, Talented and Creative
Hoagies' Gifted Education Page
Hand in Hand Education, Alessa Keener
Gifted and Creative Counseling, Linda Powers-Leviton
This is my most favorite book about giftedness.
I share it with all of my clients who are traveling this road and feeling confused and alien about their place in the world.
I can't recommend it highly enough.
This is one of the first videos I ever watched about giftedness. It is a short documentary made by P. Susan Jackson of the Daimon Institute before she made her current film, Rise. I love this first film. It captures so much about the journey of gifted people, especially kids. This particular film has helped many of my clients understand themselves more compassionately. Some words follow about the purpose for making this film.
First Documentary on Giftedness by the Daimon Institute
"This video is the first documentary we made in 2011 on giftedness. We are making a second documentary on the Experience of Being Highly-Exceptionally-Profo
http://www.gofundme.com/
Favorite Quotes about Giftedness...
"Giftedness is not what you do or how hard you work. It is who you are. You think differently. You experience life intensely. You care about injustice. You seek meaning. You appreciate and strive for the exquisite. You are painfully sensitive. You are extremely complex. You cherish integrity. Your truth-telling has gotten you in trouble. Should 98% of the population find you odd, seek the company of those who love you just the way you are. You are not broken. You do not need to be fixed. You are utterly fascinating. Trust yourself!" ~ Dr. Linda Kreger Silverman
"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all." ~ Aristotle
"Your kid's mental health is more important than their grades."