Characteristics of Giftedness

 

"...There are certain qualities of the gifted experience that transcend age, nationality, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, occupation, interests or talent domain: good problem solving, abstract reasoning, thriving on challenge, curiosity, vivid imagination, intensity, sensitivity, complexity, perfectionism. Gifted people not only think differently, they feel differently. Giftedness is a different way of being, and these differences affect one throughout the lifespan."

Click here for more comments from Dr. Linda Silverman, Director of the Gifted Development Center.

 

"The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this:
A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.
To him...
a touch is a blow,
a sound is a noise,
a misfortune is a tragedy,
a joy is an ecstasy,
a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god,
and failure is death.
Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create - - - so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating."
-Pearl Buck-

Recognizing the Characteristics of Gifted Children
ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children (1985) cites three types of characteristics of gifted children: general behavioral, learning, and creative characteristics.

More information can be found at Characteristics and Behaviors of the Gifted