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Jeffrey is just not interested in elementary school anymore. He doesn't retain what he is taught, and his grades are bad. At recess he avoids classmates and keeps to himself. He knows his parents are disappointed in him, too. His teacher finally recommends that he be taken to a child psychiatrist for evaluation. The therapist administers a special intelligence test, and Jeffrey turns out to have an IQ of 150--far above the average for his age. He is a highly gifted child.
Two to 3 percent of children are considered highly gifted, showing IQ scores of at least 130. For many such youngsters, their extraordinary intellect gives them a real advantage in school. They may shine in music, math or science. Contrary to popular belief, child prodigies do not on average have more school or social problems than their less gifted peers, according to longitudinal studies. They may have fewer friends, but that is usually because they make greater demands of acquaintances.
Some exceptional children are constantly wary of failure, leading them to emotional paralysis.
And yet there is a dark side. For some of the most talented--those with IQs in the 140 to 150 range--their gifts can turn out to be a trap. Because these children are so insightful at such a young age, able to make sense of adult ideas, they are constantly aware of the potential risk of failure. This awareness can immobilize them to the point of emotional paralysis, a quiet demon that parents and teachers must watch for.
School tests pose one example. Unlike classmates who typically approach exams with a certain detachment and answer one question at a time, some highly gifted children relentlessly consider the implications of each answer and what the risks are of making an error. Jeffrey's behavior reflected this constant sense of imminent failure. His fear caused his academic performance to be barely average. He also kept himself away from the other children because he doubted they would accept him.
Developmental disorders can exacerbate the trap. Dyslexia affects about 10 percent of children, regardless of their intelligence. The consequences are particularly severe for a highly gifted child. From the moment such a child enters school, he finds that he gets poor grades even though he comprehends everything easily. He therefore encounters difficulty understanding why his efforts meet with so little success. A steady diet of frustration eats at his self-esteem. The consequence is anxiety that may even shade into depression. As a defense, the child gradually loses interest in schoolwork and begins to isolate himself from social interaction. Punishment may only make matters worse. With their well-developed sense of right and wrong, prodigies consider punishment undeserved, and they may withdraw further.
Moreover, with their heightened self-awareness, gifted children keenly feel a personal loss caused by any developmental disorders. For example, highly gifted children may be acutely aware of a lack of physical coordination or spatial orientation, which also undermines their self-image.
In some cases, IQ tests mislead parents and teachers as well. A gifted child might excel in questions that probe verbal intelligence, say, but perform miserably on spatial reasoning skills in the labyrinth part of the test. Because both scores are typically combined, the overall result may be just average. The discrepancy between the child's own high expectations and the discouraging evaluation from the adult world may lead a boy or girl up a blind alley that is hard to resolve. The ironic and unfortunate result is that an extremely intelligent child may fail dramatically in school.
Catch It Early
So what is to be done? The first step is to recognize exceptional intelligence as well as developmental disorders so that parents and teachers can intervene. Earlier detection means quicker correction. For instance, in five-year-olds, phonics training can clear up dyslexia within six to 18 months. But if treatment begins only a year later, the correction can take twice as long--extending the chance that the child gives up on school.
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4 Comments
Add CommentI totally agee with the findings in this article. I have a child who I call an underachieved gifted child. His IQ was 130, yet he struggle in school. He had behavioral problems, yet wanted fairness. He understood all his work, yet would not show it. If able to give answers verbally(while tapping pencil), he got 100%. When timed, had to write answers, and sit quietly, the scores were less than 60%. We struggled with this issue my son's education until he was a junior in high school. Then he decided to achieve, but only to pass and prove he would. I also believe not being able to give him the resources to expand his imagination and creativity was hurtful. If I was able to expand on all the interests and curiousities he had as a child, He may have learned better. Income and rural areas can be hurtful for these children. I am so glad there is internet available for my younger children. My son is a soon to be college student and a Soldier who has been to Iraq. He has done well for himself, even though he still fears failure a little bit.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe asyncronous development is frustrating as a child may be very talented in art or music but have much difficulty in other subjects. Also, the highly gifted is more able to see or feel the differences in aptitude for particular things but may have a hard time explaining it. Since it affects such a small percent of the population, few people can relate or understand the child, which is really what leads to depression.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree somewhat with this article. Emotional Paralysis and the fear of failure have a huge impact on academics. However, an IQ test does not measure anything except how to take an IQ test. Children should be assessed on study skills and academic related problems, not on IQ tests. I have an IQ 130-137 and i have dyslexia as well. But my biggest help was from a mentor who showed me my academic weaknesses and determined the root of my reading and comprehension problems, he also showed me how i learned best. Because of that i have to learned how i learn best, and it has boosted my college academic success.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHaving made a cursory examination of the DCD area of study, it becomes clear there are 2 distinct camps in terms of "effect" in a pragmatic account.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPrivate practitioners clearly favor positive diagnosis from any number of predispositions; lack of training, unfocused eagerness, the business model of professional development, subconsciously/consciously anxiousness over grants/funding/clients, etc, that, combined with the hyperbola and obfuscation for the layperson due to lexicology and the inflationary statistics provides the panic motivations to accept the diagnosis and process.
The public practitioners labor under the political institutionalization of providing diagnoses to fit their employers needs, more often as marginalizing the quantitative extremes necessitating resource provision due to social net policies/practices and skew the statistics to negative diagnoses.
In one case a 13 year old male was definitively pronounced wiith DCD, based predomionantly on his hand writing. Not wanting to tie his shoes was counted in as not being able to, and other therapist-deemed anomalies were actually due to having received no training in those particular areas.
Tutored briefly for seconds he quickly demonstrated perfect capacity.
However, while he consistently demonstrated acute capabilities, such as learning to solder and complete a robotics project in a matter of minutes, these other, at 1st questionable levels of ability, which triggered exception by the practioner, were all in the realm of least preferential tasks.
The subject received several mental tools to use for these least favored tasks, that were designed to be easy and fun and attention applied to creating an awareness of the particular subject at hand like art and drawing, the way it should be taught in school to foster interest and motivation.
I am sorry too say all, but only 1 was "corrected" immediately - tying his shoes. He knows how - but it is the 'style' for him and in socialization patterns - near mandatory for "street cred".
His entirely family on his father side are all extremely intelligent but hate writing - script, excelling in most disciplines. It is a choice
I know the diagnosis of my son is faulty, but have come across an inordinate abundance of medical profession arrogance with negligent concerns for misdiagnoses in the last 10 years.
Sporatic examinations through considered conversation has demonstrated far too many know-it-all charlatans that can barely cover-off on historical work much less any current studies.