Tag Archives: Parenting

Overexcitabilities in Giftedness

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Lets look a little further into how gifted kids are wired for creativity.

Psychomotor overexcitabilities (OE) is a surplus of energy or the expression of emotional tension “through general hyperactivity” Manifestations include excess physical energy, workaholism, nervous habits (such as tics and nail biting), rapid speech, love of movement, impulsivity, and pressure for action.

Rapid speech – one recommendation by Daniels and Piechowski is to use IQ sheets. These are photocopied sheets with an I for Interesting Ideas on one side and a Q for Questions on the other. Thus, intense ideas and urgent questions have a waiting place – or parking lot – to be saved for later exploration at a more opportune time.

Sensual OE includes responsiveness of the senses, aesthetic appreciation, sensuality, and enjoyment of being the center of attention.

Imaginational OE is the capacity to visualize events very well; inventiveness; creativity, fantasy; and poetic, dramatic, or artistic abilities.

Intellectual OE includes probing questions, analytical thinking, reflectiveness, problem solving, and interest in abstraction and theory. This OE appears to be most closely associated with intellectual giftedness, but gifted individuals have repeatedly been found to be high in emotional OE as well.

Emotional OE involves intense connectedness with others; the ability to experience things deeply; fears of death, embarrassment, and guilt; and emotional responsiveness.

Piechowski suggested that the OEs or “original equipment” are basic components of giftedness shared by many types of gifted and creative individual. 

The overexcitabilities may be regarded as the actual psychological potential of the creative person.

Piechowski stated, “The OEs contribute significantly to the creator’s drive, vivid sensory experience, relentless searching, power to envision possibilities, and the intensity and complexity of feeling involved in creative expression.”

Piechowski and Colangelo (1984) emphasized that the OEs are not specific domains of talent or prodigious achievement. “Rather, they represent the kind of endowment that feeds, nourishes, enriches, empowers, and amplifies talent.”

This is telling us that the overexcitabilities of gifted children are the actual source of energy, intensity and emotions that power the creative process for these kids. It is the OEs that will enable them to actualize their creatively.

This is a key point to keep in mind when the gifted children in your classroom show their overexciteabilities in disruptive ways. It is easy to get irritated and frustrated, but with practice, it gets easier to redirect children from an empathetic stance. It is imperative to find ways to guide the OE of children in ways that will help them realize their potential.

“You’re NOT Normal!”

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…there is a general ambivalence in our schools and in society about gifted children, and they are often criticized for the very things that make them what they are (sensitive, intense, etc.).  Both at home and at school, they hear, “You’re too sensitive! You’re too intense!  You have a strange sense of humor! Do you always have to be creative?  Why do you have to question every rule?”  What is a child to make of criticisms like these?  He may believe these messages and decide that something is wrong with him.     Webb, et. al. (2007)  A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children.

You may appreciate your gifted child’s advanced abilities, but it can be difficult and challenging to have a child that is always outside the norm.  Parenting books describing “normal” behavior for most children usually don’t fit gifted children.  They seem to be on a developmental path all their own.  Many gifted children reach developmental milestones much earlier than most children.  They may have one or more subjects in school that they are learning much faster than those in the middle of the learning curve.  Gifted children often process logical thinking and abstract ideas at a younger age.  And, they react to stimuli with more sensitivity.

To help and support a gifted child, it is vitally important to realize that they ARE thoroughly different, they are not just smarter than other kids.  Next, you must understand HOW they are different, because gifted children are vastly different from each other as well.

Oftentimes a gifted child is far above the normal development curve in one or more areas.  If you are to follow traditional advice in parenting books, you will not find help in the section that speaks to your child’s chronological age.  Your child may be ahead in some academic areas, at grade level in others and maybe behind in social and emotional development.  This is the definition of asynchonous development.

If you seek help from educators who are not experienced with giftedness, they may say,

 ”Your child is a child first, and the giftedness is secondary and only a part of him.”  But the giftedness is integral to the child; it affects everything he thinks, feels, says, and does.  It is a key to who he is. A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children, James T. Webb, Ph.D., et.al., (2007).

You cannot separate out the gifted aspects of your child.   They are not a child with gifted tendencies, they ARE a gifted child with a complex set of unique traits and special needs.  All of which do not fit neatly into the normal development curve.  

Once you fully accept that your child is gifted and that they will always be unique, you can see them for the wonderful, amazing child that they are.  Together, you can embark on a journey of self-discovery and learning together.


Life is a Path, not a Destination

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I want, most of all is for my children to enjoy the NOW, to enjoy the process of learning and becoming, to enjoy each other NOW, and every NOW in the future and to be prepared to meet change as it happens without worrying about the future.

They will encounter things that we could  never dream of. We need to focus on their education in new ways than the educators of our past. Just learning the basic subjects is no longer enough. Being a fast learner, a talented person, or a gifted intellectual is not enough. We need to embrace a path of mastery and creativity. We need to become more adaptable, flexible, adventurous and resourceful. We need to make sure we make connections with each other and teach our children to do the same.

We need to take on the challenge of developing a new mind and to guide our children, who may be much further along that path than we are, to do the same. And, we need to guide them to live a life of balance.

Each family has the ability to more consciously create a family legacy that is of their own choosing and one that will insure the future happiness and fulfillment of everyone in their family.

As we do – we become better people and our children benefit – we can’t lose.

[excerpt from my Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented State Conference presentation: Don't Fence Me In - Mastery, Creativity, and Adventure in the Home Education of Bright Children]

Adventure, some examples

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Nature is a great context for adventure!! For us, one of our long-term adventures is getting out on nature hikes and we’re working our way up to camping. We have managed to do nature hikes for a couple years. We spend the days out at the parks and riding bikes. I think we managed to get past the stage where I thought we were going to have to buy a screen house to stay at the park for the day – to avoid bugs. That almost happened last year.

Camping may be an easy way of life for many of you, but for us it will be a big deal. I camped a lot as a kid and never had a complaint, even when my girl scout camp got hit by severe storms and was flooded. But MANY years later, with children, I feel differently. You get used to a certain level of comfort and security. And, I’m not going to say who, but a couple of us have extremely severe arachnophobia, or really, anything that crawls – phobia. Being from Iowa, then going up north in Minnesota, we can also come down with – big-animal phobia.

We are working our way up to camping for the day, then into the evening. Maybe give it a try at home or at campgrounds near home.

In terms of adventure, dealing with the emotional aspects, takes the most time and attention for all of us. Talking about fear, anxiety, worry, taking risks, being prepared in the face of the unknown, having confidence in yourself and others is an important exercise. Increasingly I take the opportunity to discuss these issues in relation to all of life’s experiences, and what we need to learn and do to cope with these feelings. I refer to the hero’s journey, since our children are into knights, Star Wars, Harry Potter and myths.

Hopefully, it will all serve as a good opportunity to normalize these challenges in life and realize that all of life is an adventure.  Even if you don’t know what is coming next, you can still be confident and know you can survive and thrive. 

Going on small adventures in our lives helps us to experience our feelings in a safer environment, we can practice our responses, discuss them and normalize them. Then, the bigger unexpected events in life will not be quite so overwhelming.

[excerpt from my Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented State Conference presentation: Don't Fence Me In - Mastery, Creativity, and Adventure in the Home Education of Bright Children]

New program for parents of gifted kids in Rocky View, CA

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The Rocky View Action for Gifted Children Foundation was formed by a group of interested and motivated parents to support the needs of highly capable students in the Rocky View School District in southern Alberta, Canada.

RVAGC advocates for gifted children and will provide supplementary educational materials that schools cannot afford, but which are necessary for these students to meet their distinctive intellectual needs. The Foundation will also support teachers and administrators as they pursue professional development training to better serve highly capable children.

RVAGC is interested in providing additional enrichment opportunities for gifted children in the district, while providing networking, support and information to parents.

RVAGC will work with the school district on behalf of the highly capable children to expand their gifted education offerings from K-12 in the regular classroom, while advocating for eventual congregated settings. We will continue to work with the District to help find the best solutions for all its children.

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