Misdiagnosed Gifted Children

Posted by Susan Hyde Nov 16, 2007

Johnny talks too much, asks too many questions and never sits still in class. Sage creates amazingly detailed art but daydreams and misses class instructions. Kendall, the geography whiz, complains about buzzing fluorescent lights and cafeteria smells. Is it ADHD? Sensory Integration Dysfunction? Or is it an "Overexcitability," Kazimierz Dabrowski's term to explain unique sensitivities of the gifted? The difference is profoundly important.

Definition of Giftedness

In 1991 the Columbus Group's assembly of educators, psychologists and parents, described giftedness as "asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitively different from the norm." Thus, gifted (and especially highly gifted) students will have heightened sensitivities which results in very different experiences than those of average children.

Dabrowski's Overexcitabilities

In the 1960s psychiatrist Kazimierz Dabrowski called the heightened sensitivities of gifted individuals "Overexcitabilities." Dabrowski's partner, author Michael Piechowski, Ph.D., went on to explained that, although often overwhelming to others, "overexcitabilities feed, enrich, empower, and amplify talent." In fact, they often drive gifted individuals to learn and create.

Imagine the potential of students with documented Overexcitabilities:

• Psychomotor: The impulsive, talkative child has the competitive spirit of an Olympian or space explorer.
• Sensual: Today's distracted, overstimulated child may have the heightened aesthetic awareness to become tomorrow's Van Gogh or Yo-yo Ma.
• Intellectual: Intense, questioning students who resist classroom transitions may one day use their curiosity to develop a new biofuel or cancer cure.
• Imaginational: A dreamy child may become a novelist, comedian or inventor.
• Emotional: The overly emotional child one day become a tireless humanitarian.

Teachers should remember that the very traits that make a precocious child a poor fit for the classroom may serve to enhance the child's talents.