Gifted Child Behavior Problems

Gifted children tend to be out of step with their peers because they develop, intellectually, at a faster rate than most kids. As a result, they perceive and react to the world differently. This can make it hard for them to understand and communicate and cooperate with everyone around them. When they are misunderstood by family, teachers and fellow students, the level of frustration, isolation and boredom they feel is frustrating and alienating. Encouraging gifted children to explain what they’re feeling and giving them a chance to interact with people who match their intellectual capabilities can reduce the challenges they face that lead to behavioral disorders.

Social

• Gifted children often perceive and react to events and encounters differently from other children. Many learn to read “and master the nuances of language” early, according to the Rhode Island Network for Educational Technology, Inc. (RINETI). They also tend to develop eclectic interests and pursue them intensely, which can make it difficult for them to interact easily with other children their age with whom they have little in common. As a result, they may prefer to spend time with older kids or adults than with children their own age.

  Gifted children can be skeptical and critical of people around them, which can make them seem intentionally argumentative, coming off as a “know-it-all” or bossy.

Classroom

• In typical classrooms, gifted children who aren’t challenged by the mainstream curriculum can become bored and, therefore, unruly, out of frustration or to amuse themselves, according to an article on the Teachers and Families website. Boredom can cause these children to be easily distracted and become impatient when they’re not called on frequently in class, or to resist doing memorization or repetitive tasks. They also tend to react poorly to criticism and fail to work well in groups, Teachers and Families says.

Home

• Gifted children tend to be intense, physically, mentally and emotionally. They react more to stimulation of any kind than many other children. This can manifest as an overly emotional response to a sad event, or irritability due to hearing, smelling or touch sensitivity. And, they tend to question authority, be impulsive and crave consistency, an article on the Support for Educational Needs of the Gifted (SENG) website explains.

  As a result, family members and teachers can view gifted children’s behavior as abnormal, mischievous, unreasonable or belligerent. What they may be suffering from is a heightened curiosity, intense perceptions or a level of intelligence that’s way ahead of his/her maturity level, SENG explains. The resulting frustrations can trigger “intense power struggles, arguments, temper tantrums, sibling rivalry, withdrawal, underachievement, and open flaunting of family and societal traditions,” the SENG article adds.

Misdiagnosis

• Because of their typically high energy levels and tendency to get distracted when not challenged, many children are misdiagnosed as having attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD), the Teachers and Families article says. But children with ADHD tend to be hyperactive and inattentive in all settings, while gifted children may exhibit this behavior in some but not all circumstances. For example, a gifted child can often sit reading, without a break for hours, whereas one with ADHD would not. “In the classroom, a gifted child's perceived inability to stay on task is likely to be related to boredom, curriculum, mismatched learning style, or other environmental factors,” this source explains.

Solutions

• Gifted children should be encouraged to express their feelings openly, so that others can learn to understand what triggers and how to react to these emotional displays, according to the article on the SENG website. This source also encourages therapists to discuss gifted children’s abilities, including test results, with them to help them build self esteem and self-evaluation skills. A better understanding of what gifted children go through can help improve diagnoses and responses. At school, adding accelerated learning classes or allowing these kids to study with older children can help them become more engaged and reduce their boredom/frustration levels.