Facts and Strategies for Gifted Student Challenges

ANXIETY
Gifted students are prone to anxiousness for a variety of reasons. They may be
feeling perceived pressure to perform because of their gifted status or they may be
feeling some social anxiety. According to Leslie Kaplan, Many gifted students
have a heightened sensitivity to their surroundings, to events, to ideas, and to
expectations (1990). These heightened sensitivities can lead to an increase in
anxiety for gifted students.
Some tips for success with gifted students struggling with anxiety are:

Routines and structures these can help students feel a sense of control of
their surroundings
Humor students feeling anxiety may feel a sense of relief during
lighthearted moments
Support Offering an outlet to express anxiety can be a relief
Coping Skills Teach gifted students to identify causes of anxiety and some
individualized coping strategies

Kaplan, L. (1990). Helping gifted students with stress management. ERIC. Digest
#E488/ED321493. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED321493.pdf
Lamont, R. (2012). The fears and anxieties of gifted learners. Gifted Child Today.
35(4), 271-276. http://dx.doi.org.10.1177/1076217512455479
PERFECTIONISM
Most gifted students are aware of their giftedness and perceive peer, familial,
academic, and societal expectations about themselves. This can lead to a sense of
always needing to live up to these expectations which can manifest as
perfectionism.
NAGC, SENG, and The Davidson Institute offer several tips to help gifted students
and their teachers and parents assist in dealing with their perfectionism:

Help students understand not to take outcomes personally and to realize

they are more than scores and assessments
Assist students in realistic goal-setting
Emphasize the importance of process over outcome
Help students be aware of failing upward

Pyryt, M. (2004). Helping gifted students cope with perfectionism. Davidson

Institute for Talent Development. Retrieved from
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10459.aspx
Rimm, S. (2010). Sylvia Rimm on perfectionism in the gifted (interview). SENG.
Retrieved from http://sengifted.org/archives/articles/sylvia-rimm-onperfectionism-in-the-gifted-an-interview-by-sengs-editor-in-chief-michaelshaughnessy
OVEREXCITABILITIES
Polish psychologist, Kazimierz Dabrowski discovered that gifted students tend to
experience high levels of excitement in one or more of five categories in which
their peers might not place so much emphasis. Understanding these
overexcitablitlies can help teachers and parents better understand the
motivations and interests of their gifted students. The five categories of
overexcitablity are:
Psychomotor in which students express a heightened need for physical activity or
expression.
Sensual in which students may experience a heightened sensitivity to sight,
sound, taste, touch, or smell, potentially rendering their environment or experience
very uncomfortable.
Intellectual in which students experience an extreme interest or curiosity in one
or more topics and desire to exhaustively research and satiate their need to know.
Imaginational in which students may experience a blur in the boundary between
fantasy and reality.
Emotional in which students may experience extreme highs and lows in mood
depending on their perception of their surroundings or experiences.
Tips for helping students, parents, and teachers understand and work with
overexcitablities are allowing the child to delve into topics they are interested and
apply them to academic pursuits if compatible.
Lind, S. (2001). Overexcitability and the gifted. SENG Newsletter. 1(1). 3-6,
Retrieved from http://sengifted.org/archives/articles/overexcitability-and-thegifted
Rinn, A. (2010). Overexcitablities and the gifted child. Digest of Gifted Research.
Duke TIP. Retrieved from https://tip.duke.edu/node/922
ASYNCHRONOUS DEVELOPMENT
Students dealing with asynchronous development experience a certain advance in
cognitive/academic ability while dealing with expectation to match that maturity
on a social or emotional level. Students dealing with asynchronous development
can exhibit a variety of age-appropriateness in various activities.

Strategies for students dealing with this can be as simple as ensuring that their
multifaceted needs are met and allow them to explore mature academic subjects
but also encourage peer-play. Discuss these things with the student/child to
understand better where they feel they struggle most with fitting in and expected
development. Subject acceleration may also help, but with prior student, instructor
and GRT counseling.
Quest Academy (n.d.). Asynchronous development. Quest Academy Gifted
Advisory Council. Retrieved from
https://pasco.instructure.com/courses/74291/files/2272800?
module_item_id=782932

GRIEF/DEPRESSION
Gifted students can experience an increase in negative emotions compared to their
peers for a variety of reasons. As a result of heightened sensitivities, gifted
students can experience emotions on a greater level than their peers, which can
lead them to more intense or long-lasting reactions to events.
To assist Gifted students in dealing with heightened emotional sensitivity, it is
important for school-based counseling staff to be aware of Gifted student needs in
addition to mainstream student needs. Teachers also must be aware of this so they
can understand the depth at which some Gifted students feel and can be affected
by an offhand comment or a class discussion topic.
Burke, A. (2009). Gifted and grieving: Why its critical to offer differential support to
gifted kids during times of loss. Gifted Child Today. 32(4). Retrieved from
https://pasco.instructure.com/courses/74291/files/1025500?
module_item_id=341498
NAGC. (n.d.) Depression. National Association for Gifted Children. Retrieved from
http://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources-parents/socialemotional-issues/depression
UNDERACHIEVEMENT
Gifted students, while highly academically able can sometimes fall into a pattern of
underachievement when dealing with expectations, pressure, disorganization, dual
exceptionality, or lack of interest. It is important to not label a gifted child as an
underachiever so it does not become a stigma that the student cannot overcome.
Strategies for bringing success to a gifted underachieving students can include
interest-based activities. Allowing a student to have choice in an assignment can
encourage a student to perform when otherwise unwilling. Another strategy can be

to simply talk to the student about why he or she is underperforming and try to
work with them on creating a success plan. Teachers and other school resource
personnel need to form a network or, continuum of services to catch any
students that might be headed for underachievement.
Delisle, J. (1994). Dealing with the stereotype of underachievement. Gifted Child
Today. 17(6). Retrieved from
https://pasco.instructure.com/courses/74291/files/2356150?
module_item_id=794953
The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement. (2008). Issue
brief: Gifted and talented students at risk for underachievement. Retrieved
from https://pasco.instructure.com/courses/74291/files/1025507?
module_item_id=341499

MULTIPOTENTIALITY
Gifted students can often struggle with the double-edged issue of multipotentiality.
On one hand, students are blessed with ability to accomplish a multitude of career
paths. On the other hand, they can feel pressure into choosing without being
totally informed.
One way to assist students with multipotentiality challenges is to offer skills and
aptitude assessments when available. This can help illustrate the students best
strengths from which to further their research into an area of interest. Another way
for students to explore is to offer real-life opportunities to explore a variety of
careers so they can see first-hand what goes in to being a part of a particular
career.
Bainbridge, C. (2009). Tips for parents: Career choices and paths. Davidson
Institute for Talent Develpoment. Retrieved from
www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10559.aspx