Can You Hear the Flowers Sing? Issues for Gifted Adults

Can You Hear the Flowers Sing? Issues for Gifted Adults Author: Deirdre V. Lovecky Citation: Copyright © American Counseling Association. Reprinted with permission from Journal of Counseling and Development, May 1986. There has been comparatively little focus in the literature on the characteristics and social and emotional needs of gifted adults. Although the personality traits and social and emotional needs of gifted children have been widely described (Erlich, 1982; Terman, 1925; Torrance, 1962; Webb, Meckstroth, & Tolan, 1982), there has been comparatively little focus on gifted adults. In studies of male scientists (Roe, 1952), creative artists and writers (Cattell, 1971), female mathematicians (Helson, 1971), and architects (MacKinnon, 1962), among others, the predominant characteristics found included impulsivity, curiosity, high need for independence, high energy level, introversion, intuitiveness, emotional sensitivity, and nonconformity. Trait Descriptions Divergency.

Problems of Gifted Children - Social and Emotional Problems Affecting Gifted Children The characteristics of gifted children often lead to social and emotional problems that can affect their emotional and social development. To understand your gifted child completely, it's a good idea to see how your child's giftedness can influence his or her behavior. Problems Resulting From Asynchronous Development Gifted children can intellectually understand abstract concepts but may be unable to deal with those concepts emotionally, leading to intense concerns about death, the future, sex, and other such issues. Gifted children's physical development may lead to an inability to complete a task they are capable of intellectually envisioning. (Perfectionism may play a role in this frustration as well.)A gifted child may be able to participate in adult conversations about issues such as global warming or world hunger one minute and the next minute cry and whine because a sibling took a favorite toy. Problems Resulting From Advanced Verbal and Reasoning Ability