Gifted Adolescents

1. Gifted Adolescents Are Their Needs Being Met?

2. What is giftedness? • Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education (1993):

3. “Children and youth with outstanding talent perform or show the potential for performing at remarkable high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment. These children and youth exhibit high performance capability in intellectual, creative, and/or artistic areas, possess an unusual leadership capacity, or excel in specific academic fields. They require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the schools. Outstanding talents are present in children and youth from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor.” (p. 26)

4. The Columbus Group, 1991(theorists, practitioners, and parents) • “Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching and counseling in order for them to develop optimally.”

5. Adolescents can be gifted in different areas and by varying degrees. They may have learning disabilities or deliberately mask their intellectual abilities to “fit in.” There are advantages and disadvantages:

6. Advantages: higher comprehension than their peers (and some adults), advanced language abilities, being highly creative, quick thinking, having an endless supply of energy, a high concentration level, and the ability to think at an adult level. • Disadvantages: sometimes find it difficult to relate to their peers, monopolize conversations, solve problems uniquely which may conflict with what the teacher has prescribed, are easily bored, may finish work very quickly, are easily distracted, get so involved in a project they miss deadlines, or say rude or embarrassing things because they lack the tact that usually accompanies higher level thinking (Strip, 2000).

7. Gifted or Smart? • Learning Speed and application of concepts • Questioning Style • Emotional Outlook • Level of Interest • Language Ability • Concern with Fairness • Self Image It is important to note that a gifted adolescent may not exhibit every trait, and that just because a child exhibits one or two of these traits, it may not mean he or she is gifted (Strip, 2000).

8. Learning Speed and application of concepts • Smart adolescents build fact upon fact, benefit from practice, follow directions and understand class information • Gifted adolescents process information differently, dislike drills, can apply information they learned to other situations

9. Questioning Style • Smart adolescents ask questions that have answers and may prefer that facts are in a sequential manner • Gifted adolescents ask questions that may not have easy answers. They enjoy complexity and are comfortable with ambiguous answers

10. Emotional Outlook • Smart adolescents are able to talk about their emotions and get over an upsetting event fairly quickly • Gifted adolescents can experience deep emotion, and it affects the other areas in their lives

11. Level of Interest • Smart adolescents-when interest is shown, they ask questions and are curious. They finish their projects and work hard to please others • Gifted adolescents-show intense curiosity. They may get so deeply involved in a project, they may not finish on time or they may dream up their own projects or assignments.

12. Language Ability • Smart adolescents acquire new words easily, but choose words typical for their age group. They take turns in conversations. • Gifted adolescents have advanced vocabularies, enjoy wordplay and often talk over the heads of their peers. They tend to dominate conversations. However, there are also quiet gifted students.

13. Concern with Fairness • Smart adolescents have definite opinions about what is fair • Gifted adolescents show an intense concern about fairness and on a much broader scale. They will debate the fairness of a situation.

14. Self Image • Smart adolescents tend to have a high self esteem. Perfectionism is rarely a concern. • Gifted adolescents also tend to have high self esteem, but some feel they don’t “fit in”. May be extremely critical of themselves and perfectionistic. (Strip, 2000) It is important to note that a gifted adolescent may not exhibit every trait, and that just because an adolescent exhibits one or two of these traits, may not mean he or she is gifted.

15. Typical Adolescent vs. the Gifted Adolescent • Typical Adolescent Behavior: • Conflicts with the family exist • Some concern about body image • Vacillation between lethargy and excessive physical activity • Fad behavior with strong loyalty to peers • Dating and emergence of a sex drive • “At-Risk” behaviors can be tried

16. In addition to what typical challenges adolescents face, gifted adolescents struggle with: • Impatience • Competing expectations

17. Six Personality Profiles: Type I: The Successful • 90% of gifted students in school programs • Have learned the system • Learning is easy and test scores high • Eager to please • Tend to become bored and are satisfied with going through the motions • Dependent on teachers and parents for directions • Typically have high self esteem, are well liked, and do achieve

18. Type II: The Challenging • Many school systems fail to identify this group • High level of creativity, but may appear defiant or sarcastic • Questions authority and may challenge the teacher • Sometimes challenge peers • Sometimes, creativity and sense of humor appealing to peers • Considered “at risk” for drug addiction or delinquent behavior if proper interventions not implemented by middle school

19. Type III: The Underground • Tends to consist of middle school girls • To fit in, girls deny their talents and may appear to lose all interests in previous passions • Gifted boys tend to go underground in high school • Tends to be anxious and insecure • Seem to benefit from being accepted as they are at the time

20. Type IV: The Dropout • Angry and feel rejected • Have interests outside the regular school curriculum and fail to receive support in those areas • Benefits form both individual and family counseling • Requires a close working relationship with an adult they can trust

21. Type V: The Double-Labeled • Both gifted and challenged in some way • Typically overlooked because they don’t fit the “mold” of a typical gifted student. • May have sloppy handwriting or such disruptive behavior that their work goes unfinished • Tend to lack self confidence • Typically perceived as average or given remedial assistance

22. Type VI: The Autonomous • Have mastered the system • They make the system work for them rather than being satisfied working in the system • Strong, positive self-concepts and are successful • Well liked and typically hold leadership roles • Set goals • Express needs and feelings appropriately (Betts & Neihart, 1988)

23. Challenges for the Gifted Adolescent • Depression • Peer relations • Lack of Motivation • Self Concept • Perfectionism • Stress

24. Depression • Perfectionism • Sensitivity • Social Isolation (Neihart, 2003)

25. Peer Relations • Invests heavily in friendships • Perfectionism-with such high standards, very few people measure up. Student may be perceived as stuck up or conceited • Others feel threatened (Strip, 2000)

26. Lack of Motivation • When expectations of others too high, it’s easier to drop out • A way of rebelling, avoids the possibility of failure, and can help gain acceptance from peers • An attention seeking device • Sign of depression (Webb, Meckstroth, & Tolan, 1994)

27. Self Concept • Studies have been mixed • Most generally favor gifted students

28. Perfectionism • One of the most pervasive traits • Goals set according to mental age instead of chronological age • Become afraid of failure • perfectionistic teachers and parents and competitive peers • Introverts tend to be strong perfectionists. Introverts represent half the gifted population (Schuler, 2002)

29. Stress • Feeling out of place with surroundings-a “lack of fit” • Expectations too high • Desire to solve the world’s problems • Parents overly intense or disconnected • Involved in too many activities • Bored • Lonely

30. Responses to Stress • Some become hyper • Some become clingy • Some demand constant support and reassurance • Some appear bored and apathetic • Some develop school phobia

31. Coping Strategies: least acceptable to most acceptable • Act like you don’t know as much • Act like a “know it all” • Disguise true abilities by adjusting words and actions • Don’t participate in programs for gifted/talented students • Get involved in the community where age isn’t an issue

32. Coping Strategies continued • Excel in areas outside of school • Have friendships with adults • Participate in gifted and talented programs • Make friends with other gifted students • Help peers do better in class

33. Strategies for Supporting the Gifted Adolescent • Helpful to know the “Eight Great Gripes of Gifted Kids” (Delisle & Galbraith, 2002): • No one explains what being gifted is all about • School is too easy and too boring • Parents, teachers and friends expect us to be perfect all the time • Friends who understand us are few and far between • Kids often tease us about being smart • We feel overwhelmed by the number of things we can do in life • We feel different and alienated • We worry about world problems and feel helpless to do anything about them

34. Supporting and Working with Adolescents in the Three Domains of the ASCA Model: • Career Domain • Academic Domain • Personal/Social Domain

35. Van Tassle-Baska (1998) recommends three types of counseling: • Life as well as career planning • Academic planning that matches the learner’s needs • Psychosocial counseling

36. Career Domain • Gifted and talented students require career counseling that is appropriate and comprehensive • Traditional definitions of career and career counseling should be broadened—taking a life span approach that regards potential and creativity • Career counseling should be multidimensional (Greene, 2002)

37. Career Domain and Multipotentiality • Junior High: • Discuss work that is meaningful and valuable • Discuss how values pertain to work • Facilitate volunteer work in area of interest • Provide “shadowing” opportunities • Decide on a few extracurricular activities

38. Career Domain and Multipotentiality • Senior High: • Seek appropriate vocational testing • Encourage visits to a few college classes • Set up opportunities for volunteer work • Explore paid internships • Ensure curriculum is aligned with student’s career goals • Provide guidance that aligns student’s career with deeply held values • Introduce student to uncharacteristic career models

39. Career Domain and Early Emergers • Students with extremely focused career interests are early emergers. These students show an early commitment to a career area and are passionate about it. It is important to identify these students and facilitate their growth.

40. Career Domain: Interventions for Early Emergers: Junior High • Provide support and encouragement • Allow for alone time • Provide job shadowing opportunities • Provide opportunities for volunteer work • Allow student to decide if he/she wants to participate in social activities

41. Career Domain: Interventions for Early Emergers: High School • Continue to support and encourage time alone • Facilitate opportunities for internships and work experiences in the areas of interest • Seek career guidance from a qualified professional • Create a detailed plan for training and education for the chosen career. Be sure to include a financial plan • Explore options for higher education and include visits • Find a mentor for the student in the area of interest

42. Career Domain: Promoting Development • Remind students that their career choices are limitless • Use leisure activities to continue to build areas of interest • Focus on values during career counseling • Facilitate group sessions with other students who have multipotentiality to provide support (Colangelo, 1997)

43. Academic Domain • Help partner the gifted adolescent with a teacher who has traits that are conducive to a positive relationship with the student. Those traits are: • Self-confidence • Resourcefulness and flexibility

44. Academic Domain: teacher traits for mentoring continued • Creativity and openmindedness • Trusting attitude • Cultural knowledge • Technical knowledge • Stamina • Subject matter competence and skill • Sense of humor • Real interest and love for gifted students (Strip, 2000)

45. Academic Domain: counselor support • Help students understand that it’s okay to fail • Teach students ways to cope with stress. An effective method is changing negative self talk. • Help students learn to reward themselves for hard work and achievements • Teach them not to blame others, but be responsible for own behavior

46. Personal/Social Domain • Counseling strategies for students: • Individual counseling either in school and/or private practice • Group counseling either in school and/or private practice • School programs and grouping options

47. Personal/Social Domain: Counseling Strategies for students continued • Help gifted students adjust to their gifts • Proactive approaches to address issues gifted students face • Discussion with gifted adults to help students adjust to their gifts • Coping strategies • Role-playing

48. Personal/Social Domain: Counseling Strategies Continued • Video therapy and cinema therapy • Mentorships • Journaling • Higher education workshops and/or classes • Bibliotherapy (Reis & Moon, 2002)

49. References • Betts, G.T. & Neihart, M. (1988). Profiles of gifted and talented. Gifted Child Quartley, 32(2), 248-253. • Buescher, T., & Higham, S. (1985). Young Adolescent Survey: Coping Skills among the Gifted/Talented. Unpublished instrument. Evanston, IL: Center for Talent Development, Northwestern University • Colangelo, N. (1997). Counseling gifted students: Issues and practices. Handbook of Gifted Education, 353-365. • Delisle, J. & Galbraith, J. (2002). When gifted kids don’t have all the answers: How to meet their social and emotional needs. Minnesota: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc. • Frederickson, R. H. & Rothney, J. W. M. (1972). Recognizing and assisting multipotential youth. Columbus, OH: Merrill.

50. References • Greene, M. J. (1994). Career counseling for gifted and talented students: The social emotional development of gifted children. Texas: Prufrock Press, Inc. • Keer, B. (1991). A handbook for counseling the gifted and talented. Alexandria, VA: American Association for Counseling and Development. • Marshall, B. C. (1981). Career decision-making patterns of gifted and talented adolescents. Journal of Career Education, 7, 305-310. • Neihart, M. (2003). Gifted children and depression: The social and emotional development of gifted children. Texas: Prufrock Press, Inc. • Reis, S. M. & Moon, S. M. (2002). Models and strategies for counseling, guidance, and social and emotional support of gifted and talented students: The social and emotional development of gifted children. Texas: Prufrock Press, Inc.