Being gifted means that you lead a charmed life and everything is easier for you, right? Not necessarily. Having talent and more abilities can make life more interesting and fulfilling, of course. However, gifted children face an extra set of challenges that may not be taken seriously by society.

• Feeling run over by their brains
  Sometimes, these kids get frustrated by roving minds that will not shut off and let them rest.


• Faced with too many choices and too little time
  They have a hard time selecting a career because their interests are so multitudinous and varied.


• Difficulty finding peers who understand them and have similar interests
  This can lead to stultifying feelings of isolation, loneliness and mental problems.

Giftedness is not simply about having a high Intelligence Quotient (IQ). A score of 100 designates an average level of  intelligence. For example, an IQ of 150 means that the child's mental capacity is at 150% of his or her chronological age (a 3-year-old with this IQ will think at the level of a typical 4.5-year-old. Teacher and parent observations should be used in addition to IQ and other test scores in order to determine admittance to gifted programs. Social, emotional and kinesthetic intelligences, etc. will likely not be assessed by any standard evaluation tool. In addition, poor attitudes towards testing, poor test-taking skills, language barriers, and more will adversely affect test scores.

Gifted kids have easier lives in many respects than the majority of their age cohorts. However, in the end, they are simply kids. So do not be surprised when a brainiac 3-year-old melts to the floor of a supermarket in a crying, screaming mess for whatever reason. These things are bound to happen on occasion. 

Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips for Raising Happy and Successful Children by James Delisle, 2006

Books on gifted children