Living With and Managing Intensity
Posted by gtchatmod
Intense gifted behaviors are expressed in many ways and often misinterpreted by professionals who lack training in recognizing them as related to giftedness. Intense behaviors for gifted individuals may include emotional outbursts, preferring to be alone, excessive talking, stubbornness, being ‘bossy’, or even appearing conceited.
Why shouldn’t these intense behaviors be pathologized in gifted children? Giftedness is not an illness. It should be understood; not diagnosed. Pathologizing gifted behavior can lead to misdiagnosis and inappropriate responses can harm the child. Pathologizing typical behavior for a gifted child can make the child feel there is something wrong with them; that they are somehow abnormal.
Asynchronous development, many ages at once, can exacerbate feelings associated with the maturing process. It’s essential that adults … parents, teachers, professionals … respect the child’s feelings regardless of chronological age.
Teachers can seek professional development about giftedness and how it relates to academics and SEL independently. They can develop a plan in advance (GIEP/IEP); watch for escalation patterns or signs of impending situation; and be prepared to take action such as removing student to a neutral setting. Teachers can advocate for modifications to the student’s learning experience and respect student voice.
Parents should actively build strong parent-child relationship based on respect, authentic conversation on intense emotions, empathy, and time spent together. They should refrain from threatening language keeping own emotions in check, learn to listen and anticipate intense situations, and practice their responses in advance.
What are some important factors when choosing a mental health professional? When looking for a mental health professional for assessment or counseling, parents should meet alone with them before introducing their child. They need to feel comfortable talking to them. It’s essential that mental health professionals self-identify as having worked with gifted individuals and have specific training in understanding giftedness.
A transcript of this chat can be found at Wakelet.
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter. Join us Thursdays at 8E/7C/6M/5P in the U.S. and Fridays at Noon NZST/10 AM AEST/1 AM UK to discuss current topics in the gifted community and meet experts in the field. Transcripts of our weekly chats can be found at Wakelet. Our Facebook Page provides information on the chat and news and information regarding the gifted community. Also, checkout our Pinterest Page and Playlist on YouTube.
About the author: Lisa Conrad is the Moderator of Global #gtchat Powered by TAGT and Social Media Manager of the Global #gtchat Community. She is a longtime advocate for gifted children and also blogs at Gifted Parenting Support. Lisa can be contacted at: gtchatmod@gmail.com
Resources:
Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students
Best Tips for Parents of a GT Child
Self-Care for Parents of GT/2E Kids
Why Can’t They Loosen Up? Intensities of Gifted Youth
The Intrinsic Intensity of the Gifted Child
Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students: Helping Kids Cope with Explosive Feelings (2nd ed.)
Parenting Gifted Kids is an Emotional Rollercoaster Here’s How to Find Great Peace
Befriending Anxiety to Reach Potential: Strategies to Empower Our Gifted Youth
Supporting Students with Gifted-Talented Potential In High Need Schools: A Portraiture Study (pdf)
The Bright Side of Overexcitabilities in Gifted Children
Emotional Intensity in Gifted Children (pdf)
Helping Gifted Children Cope with Intense Emotions
Giftedness and Intensity/Complexity
Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide to the Well-Being of Gifted Adults and Youth
Coping with Emotional Intensity (pdf)
The Moral Sensitivity of Gifted Children and the Evolution of Society (Silverman)
Talented and Gifted Presentation by Jim Delisle (pdf)
Sprite’s Site: Stories of the OEs
Sprite’s Site: GT Chat Labels: Good, Bad or Simply Wrong
Sprite’s Site: Doggy Classroom Dynamics
Dabrowski’s Overexcitabilities and Theory of Positive Disintegration
Cybraryman’s Asynchronous Development Page
Hoagies’ Blog Hop: Overexcitabilities (OEs)
Living & Learning with Dabrowski’s Overexcitabilities
Living With Intensity (Amazon)
Parenting Emotionally Intense Gifted Children
Photo #1 courtesy of Unsplash
Photo #2 courtesy of Pixabay Pixabay License
Photo #3 courtesy of Pixabay Pixabay License
Photo #4 courtesy of Unsplash
Photo #5 courtesy of Pixabay Pixabay License
Graphics courtesy of Lisa Conrad.
Posted on June 28, 2019, in anxiety, Asynchronous Development, Emotional Intelligence, Emotional intensity, gifted, Gifted Adults, gifted and talented, Mental Health, Misdiagnosis, parenting, Psychology, Social Emotional and tagged emotional intensity, giftedness, gtchat, intensity, parenting, SEL, TAGT, Twitter. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.
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