Is My Child Gifted?
Spotting Possible Signs
Many parents or teachers may see signs in a child that make them think he or she is gifted. These signs, such as the ability to learn things very quickly, an unusually large vocabulary, or an uncommon ability to solve problems could mean that the child is gifted. However, there are also several less obvious characteristics, some of which may surprise you: idealism and a strong sense of justice, for example, or the child being preoccupied with their own thoughts (daydreaming). Intense curiosity in how things work is a common trait, as is a tendency to experiment with doing things differently, or linking ideas or thoughts together that are not usually linked.
Each child is different, but most exceptionally bright children will display some of these characteristics:
■ perceptive, inquiring minds
■ unusual insight and intellectual curiosity
■ superior judgment and reasoning ability
■ abstract and critical thinking
■ originality
■ ability to see connections between ideas
■ long concentration spans in areas of interest
■ advanced reading ability
■ extensive vocabulary
■ keen powers of observation
■ strong sense of ethics and values
■ a rapid mastery of basic skills
■ special ability in one or more areas, such as music, art, science, language, computers, or mathematics
This is far from being an all-inclusive list, and not every bright child has all of these characteristics.
However, in general, compared to children of the same age, gender, temperament and cultural background, the gifted, school-age child will exhibit some of the following behaviours more frequently, more intensely, and for a longer period of time:
- Humour: Exceptionally keen sense of the comical, the bizarre, or the absurd
- Imagination & Creativity: Extraordinary capacity for ingenious, flexible use of ideas, processes, materials or anything else
- Inquiry: Probing exploration, deep questions; experiments with events, ideas, feeling, sounds, symbols, movements, etc
- Memory & Processing: Tremendous “brain power” for dealing with large amounts of information and skills.
- Sensitivity: Unusually aware of or responsive to experiences and feelings, both their own and/or those of other people
- Expressiveness: Extraordinary ability to communicate meaning or emotion through words, actions, symbols, or media
- Reasoning: Outstanding ability to think things through and consider implications or alternatives; rich, flexible, highly conscious, logical thought
- Problem Solving: Outstanding ability to find systematic solutions to problems; is able to invent and monitor many paths to a goal; seeks challenges
- Intuition: Suddenly discovers connections or deeper meaning without conscious awareness of reasoning or thought
- Learning: Able to grasp and use sophisticated new understandings quickly and easily
- Interests: Advanced, ardent; perhaps for unusual topics; passionate, sometimes fleeting
- Moral & Ethical Concerns: Intense need for fairness and justice; deep desire to take action to resolve injustices; concern for consequences of their actions
- Motivation: Persistent, intense need to know, do, feel, create, or understand
(Source of list: “Brilliant Behaviors” by L. Kanevsky, in The Tool Kit for Curriculum Differentiation, 1999.)
Jumping to Conclusions: the Need for Caution
Of course it might be the case that only one aspect of a child’s development could be interpreted as being more advanced than that being exhibited by his or her classmates. Also, children rarely develop according to a strict timetable: some children learn to walk or talk earlier than the norm. Therefore, one should be cautious about assuming that a child is gifted unless a certain trait is particularly obvious, or unless a combination of several unusual characteristics is evident.
Defining Giftedness
One useful definition was passed into law by the U.S. Congress in 1988.
“Students, children or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services and activities not normally provided by the school in order to develop those capabilities.”
Developing Giftedness Capabilities
There are many forms of giftedness. Of course Mensa is primarily concerned with intellectual ability, but the second part of the above definition is highly relevant: “… and who need services and activities not normally provided by the school in order to develop those capabilities”. Some may argue that it is elitist to identify intellectually gifted children, but it is not elitism to recognise that gifted children need special attention in order to bring them to their full potential, just as much as other, less able children may need help, advice or support to reach theirs.
It is also important to understand that there is no single “one-size-fits-all” solution, and that each individual gifted child is unique. Each needs to be adequately stimulated and their talents channeled, and that is a challenging task for parents, teachers and schools.
Approaches to Giftedness
Education
The heterogeneity of giftedness in children and young people necessitates a flexible and multifaceted approach to education and support within the Mensa community. Find out more about Mensa Gifted Youth and how giftedness educators in various national Mensa gifted youth programmes are endeavouring to provide their students with the support they need to reach their full potential.