Is giftedness a disability?

Is giftedness a disability ? The question cannot be easily answered. This is because giftedness is seen most often as a skill and not as a difficulty.

However, there are cases in which giftedness causes obstacles in a person’s life, especially in childhood, when personality and social interaction begin to develop. Understand more about this topic in this post .

What is giftedness?

Giftedness is a relevant issue. So much so that the Ministry of Education,  MEC , launched a booklet with guidance on the topic.

According to the publication, “giftedness is a rare phenomenon and there are few children and young people in our schools who could be considered gifted. What can be emphasized is that if conditions are really inadequate, it is unlikely that the individual with the greatest potential will be able to develop it ”.

Giftedness is a rare phenomenon, noticed in few children and young people (Photo: depositphotos)

Faced with this reality, it is important to know that a gifted child needs the right conditions to develop , otherwise, their skills can be wasted.

And those who think that giftedness is related only to empirical or technical knowledge are mistaken. There are different types of endowment that involve not only cognitive, but also socio-affective and even psychomotor areas.

Characteristics of giftedness

Giftedness can be seen mainly in the preschool phase. According to the MEC booklet, the most relevant characteristics of gifted people are: high degree of curiosity, good memory, focused attention, persistence, independence and autonomy, interest in different areas and topics and rapid learning.

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In addition, gifted children also have: creativity and imagination, initiative, leadership, advanced vocabulary for their chronological age, rich verbal expression, ability to consider other people’s views, ease of interacting with older children or with adults and ability to deal with abstract ideas .

Finally, the other skills of the super adopted children are: ability to perceive discrepancies between ideas and points of view, interest in books and other sources of knowledge, high energy level, preference for new situations, sense of humor and originality to solve problems .

Where does giftedness come from?

According to neurologist Leando Teles in an article published on his website , giftedness has a genetic influence . “Intelligence shows 80% similarity between identical twins and about 40-50% between non-identical twins. This means that there is a large component of the genetic code, but there are also 20% of environmental issues involved ”.

The expert also warns that genetic does not always mean inherited from parents, but rather from random and independent genetic mutations. And he recalls that: “ intelligence is the result of our genetic code and environmental factors, such as nutrition, the occurrence of harmful exposures in the development phase, etc.”.

How to deal with giftedness?

Parents and teachers must know how to deal with gifted children in order not to harm their intellectual and social development. For this, it is necessary to take into account your interests and implement activities that stimulate your skills .

A gifted child needs the right conditions to develop (Photo: depositphotos)

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In a school environment, it is necessary to adapt the curriculum to avoid redundancies or unnecessary information , as the gifted student will certainly have mastery over the most basic subjects.

Therefore, giftedness is seen by some professionals as a disability, as it is necessary to shape the environment to face the learning challenges of a child with this profile.

Education managers need to dedicate themselves to the stimulus and parents also have to know how to deal with issues related to giftedness. In specific cases, it is important to find out what the children’s level of knowledge on each subject is, in order to avoid repetition.

A good way to deal with gifted children is to present them with situations that provoke the use of various skills , in this way, you will be helping to stimulate creativity and problem solving.

Another relevant factor is that the gifted child can make his choices , always closely monitored by those responsible and, from an early age, be presented to his cognitive conditions.

This discovery is important for the gifted child to be interested in his special condition and to make the best choices related to his abilities. Another crucial factor is that she receives encouragement and praise about his characteristics, but avoid labeling him as gifted.

This condition must be seen as natural, so that it does not disrupt the child’s social life or create discouraging situations.

Extra stimuli for giftedness

In addition to the traditional school environment, gifted children need extra encouragement. For this reason, the participation of parents and people who live close by is crucial.

Extracurricular activities are welcome, but remember not to overload your child’s schedule. If she already has an endowment in music, try to include her in private lessons, as well as in other areas, such as sports, science, communication, dance, etc.

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Specialist talks about giftedness

The neurologist Leandro Teles’ website deals with the topic. It brings some myths related to the subject and some of them we bring now. Look.

Percentage of gifted people: it reaches 5% of the entire world population. That is, there are not a few people who have gifted characteristics;

Profile of gifted people: there is no defined profile for those who have this skill. It includes people of all ages, sexes, races or socioeconomic profiles;

Gifted notes: those with high IQs are not always gifted. For example, people who are gifted in the field of music do not always score well in math. Like great sportspeople, they don’t always do well on patterns;

Gifted is not a genius : although the two characteristics can stand out, they are not always related. A genius is a person who has made a generous contribution to society. A gifted person is highlighted in his skills;

A gifted person is always behaved: the neurologist Leandro Teles also demystifies this belief. Giftedness has nothing to do with quiet, silent behavior. They are often extremely loud and agitated;

Gifted people have a guaranteed future: if the child is well stimulated, he will certainly be very productive in his professional life. However, this is not automatic. She has to receive the right attention to know how to direct her skills.

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Phase to identify a gifted child : this discovery occurs in the first years of life. The pre-school phases are essential for this and relatives, guardians and the school must be prepared to deal with giftedness.

 

by Abdullah Sam
I’m a teacher, researcher and writer. I write about study subjects to improve the learning of college and university students. I write top Quality study notes Mostly, Tech, Games, Education, And Solutions/Tips and Tricks. I am a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence or virtue.

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