Many difficulties that young gifted children experience are derived from a socio-cultural environment that views expressions of giftedness as aberrant behaviour. By invalidating their ideas we invalidate them and minimize their potential for achievement.

This study examines various elements in the backgrounds of exceptionally gifted adults and seeks to uncover explanations for levels of life satisfaction, achievement, and self-actualization in people of unusually high abilities.

The configuration of traits of intellect, mental energy, and temperament with which Isaac Newton revolutionized the world of science were the consequence of a genetic lottery that occurred about nine months prior to his birth.

Being truly outstanding in any field may be associated with some type of abnormality. At what point does a brilliant computer programmer or engineer get labeled with Asperger's?

Advice to parents often does not take into account how higher levels of intelligence and depth of emotionality affect the whole child. The general lack of professional education regarding issues of giftedness can lead to wrong advice or even misdiagnosis.

Three categories: identified gifted students who have subtle learning disabilities, unidentified students whose gifts and disabilities may be masked by average achievement, and identified learning disabled students who are also gifted.

If the child is 'gifted' it would seem that one would want to find the right environment to take advantage of the gift rather than trying to force the child to adapt to what society considers 'normal' social settings i.e. regular school classrooms.

ADD in gifted students is difficult to assess because so many of the behavioral characteristics are similar to those associated with giftedness or creativity.

A disability often masks or inhibits the expression of giftedness, so that it is difficult to tell whether a person's abilities are outstanding enough to indicate giftedness.

No single kind of school can be wholly better for all children than another, because no school is adequate to meet all the pupils' needs all the time, and schools are far from being totally responsible for all children's learning.

Here you can find the latest research on parenting and educating these marvelous children, plus the best Internet and print resources to be found on the subject.

Talents that selectively facilitate the acquisition of high levels of skill are said to be present in some children but not others. The evidence for this includes biological correlates of specific abilities, certain rare abilities in autistic savants, and the seemingly spontaneous emergence of exceptional abilities in young children, but there is also contrary evidence indicating an absence of early precursors of high skill levels. An analysis of positive and negative evidence and arguments suggests that differences in early experiences, preferences, opportunities, habits, training, and practice are the real determinants of excellence.

One of the most frequently cited objections to gifted education concerns the use of tests--particularly IQ tests--in determining who gets into special programs. This seriously limited definition of giftedness discriminates against kids who may be poor test-takers yet who possess other talents and traits such as creativity, curiosity, leadership, and problem-solving ability.

Dedicated to furthering the awareness and understanding of gifted and talented individuals - including all types of giftedness from academically gifted to metaphysically /spiritually gifted persons and everything in between.

These common mis-diagnoses stem from an ignorance among professionals about specific social and emotional characteristics of gifted children which are then mistakenly assumed by these professionals to be signs of pathology.

Children with Asperger's Disorder often require much more intensive treatment and different classroom management, while a gifted child may benefit from interventions as simple as the opportunity to interact with appropriate peers.

Questions are raised continually as to what are the differences in brain mechanisms, if any, between (a) prodigies with certain musical or mathematical skills, for example; (b) persons with savant syndrome with similar skills and abilities and (c) the rest of us who function quite normally overall but lack some spectacular area of expertise.

High-ability students are typically at least as well adjusted as any other group of youngsters. Nevertheless, they face a number of issues that, while not unique to them, constitute sources of risk to their social-emotional development.

Due to some of the characteristics of gifted children (most notably their high levels of intelligence), however, gifted children often are not identified as LD or ADHD as accurately or as early in their lives as their non-gifted peers.

Due to some of the characteristics of gifted children (most notably their high levels of intelligence), however, gifted children often are not identified as LD or ADHD as accurately or as early in their lives as their non-gifted peers.

Giftedness can mask their special needs and their special needs hide their giftedness, they are often labeled as 'lazy', 'unmotivated', 'not trying'.

When giftedness is defined as asynchronous development, it is not limited by ethnic, gender, age, socio-economic, geographical or political boundaries, nor is it dependent upon recognition. In all cultures, there are children who progress through the intellectual milestones at a more rapid rate than their peers. While others look upon the gifted as being advantaged in a race for personal gain, the experience of being different in cultures that value sameness, coupled with acute awareness of the pain and suffering in the world, make the gifted feel distinctly disadvantaged. Gifted children do not see themselves as winners of the competition, but bearers of the burden to make this a better world for all. They only actualize their potential when they discover a unique role for themselves which requires their particular gifts.

Terman left a difficult legacy. On one hand, his work inspired almost all the innovations we use today to challenge bright students and enrich their education. As he followed the lives of intelligent kids, he also became their best publicist, battling a baseless prejudice. As a scientist, he devised methods for assessing our minds and behaviors, helping put the field of psychology on an empirical and quantitative foundation. He was one of Stanford's first nationally prominent scholars, and as a department chair for two decades, he transformed the psychology department from a languid backwater into an energetic, top-ranked program. He established the longitudinal method and generated an archive of priceless data. Longitudinal studies have "become the laboratory of the social sciences" and are growing in importance as the population ages, UNC sociologist Elder observes. On the other hand, as biographer Minton points out, the very qualities that made Terman a groundbreaking scientist -- his zeal, his confidence -- also made him dogmatic, unwilling to accept criticism or to scrutinize his hereditarian views. A similar paradox existed in his social agenda. Terman was a visionary whose disturbing eugenic positions and loving treatment of the gifted grew out of the same dream for an American meritocracy.