Gifted adults are different from an early age

This is a clip from the movie Nancy Drew, based on the books about the talented girl detective.

Gifted children like Nancy are different and divergent in their thinking, interests, values and behavior.

And many gifted adults still feel wrong or anxious about not fitting in even though being different can be a strength.

In Nancy Drew, the heroine (played with style and grace by Emma Roberts) uses and celebrates her intuitive and intellectual abilities as a teen sleuth, and accepts the fact she is exceptional, and does not fit in with her high school peers mainly concerned with cliques, clothes and boys.

Many gifted children and gifted adults are considered "eccentric."

This is a clip of Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch (in glasses) in Ghost World" (2001). The director Terry Zwigoff commented that when he met Johansson, he thought, "OK, shes 15, but she could easily pass for 30. Shes a very attractive girl, but shes sort of a weirdo. I like that about her.

In her article Counseling Gifted Adults A Case Study, counselor Paula Prober writes about Susan, who had known that she was different since she was seven. Her thoughts and feelings had never fit into the box that was comfortable and reassuring for most children.

Her appetite for learning was insatiable. Reading was more nourishing than food. Thinking, analyzing, and synthesizing were better than Barbie. And she worried about everything: poverty, world peace, the loss of the rain forests. It kept her awake at night. To her classmates, she just seemed weird certainly not birthday party material.

The article continues, All of these reactions confused and saddened Susan but no one was explaining to her that she was different because she was gifted: She had a mind running deeper and faster than most.

Like many gifted adults, she rediscovered herself as gifted later in life, but also felt a strong need for emotional help, as Prober writes: "At age 52, Susan came to therapy. Raising her teenaged son, John, had forced her to confront herself. John had been identified as gifted in preschool. Susan started reading about gifted children and was quite surprised to find that she was reading about herself."

The image is from the book Gifted Grownups, which can help people understand some of the emotional and social aspects of being gifted.

Original article: Gifted adults are different from an early age
http://highability.org/gifted-adults-are-different-from-an-early-age/

Short list of gifted characteristics from video: Dr. Linda Karges-Bone about gifted children
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU9dQt_SSNI

book Gifted Grownups: The Mixed Blessings of Extraordinary Potential
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471295809/talentdevelopmen

Category:

Education

Tags:

• gifted
• gifted/talented
• talent
• psychology

[laglagga]

You're voice is very annoying I'm sorry. You sound like that guy from the office. Aggggggh

[METALRAT1000]

It was never too fun to be different!

[MsMesem]

this is all such a revelation to me, amazing but I have all the characteristics mentioned in various articles; not poppycock!

[METALRAT1000]

I can relate to a lot of what I heard on the video!

[jjojjorge]

@kiribula And?

[quickmantan]

definitely me.. gifted is as much a curse as its a gifted,, but god has a plan for all of us,, the plan for the gifted i think is always alot more selfless... i think god make people gifted cause he believes and trusts them people to make good use of it..

i can be good at superfast, where an average person would deem impossible... i have so many things i believe i couldve done, i decided to tell everyone d be a famous musician, so i had to back it up and i wouldnt change my mind.

[jjojjorge]

It is not surprising that text-books from various fields, have the term gifted in them. It is not surprising because it reflects most minds from academia; said minds are retrograde; they obviously do not know where the "gift" comes from. More than likely they attribute such quality to a god, or if scientifically prejudiced, they may attribute it to chemicals in the brain, both views are irrational. 

[hacsince91]

wow thank you so much for puttin gthis together. definitely hits home for me.

[devildogmre]

Pretty cool video, man.

I'll have to check out this movie now. Would be a good thing to show the kids.