Challenges of Gifted Individuals: Living With Giftedness

This article is part of a series on Giftedness . Before proceeding, read the preceding articles:-

1.      Understanding Gifted Individuals – Overview

2.      Characteristics of Gifted Individuals

3.      Harnessing Potential of Gifted Individuals 

4.      Challenges of Gifted Individuals: Living With Giftedness 

Challenges of Giftedness and Possible solutions

Introduction

Living with giftedness comes with its fair share of challenges. If not dealt with, these challenges can swallow up giftedness and subject the gifted individual to unending suffering. Below are some challenges of giftedness and suggested solutions.

1.      Ignorance of giftedness in kids

One of the greatest challenges of giftedness is ignorance. Lack of information on the subject of giftedness imposes a huge burden on its carriers. In school going kids, giftedness can hide behind good performance in class only to interfere with their progress later in life when lack of its expression results in under-performance. On the other hand, giftedness can be masked by poor performance in class where a gifted kid has a learning disability. In this case, consequences can equally hamper their progress and realization of their full potential later in life.

Solutions

·         Creating awareness of giftedness among parents and teachers

·         Offering accessible testing services

2.      Optimal utilization of potential is frustrated in regular school

Intellectual ability of gifted learners is way above that of their peers. They’re quick thinkers & fast learners and are therefore easily frustrated in regular school as teachers mostly instruct using methods that cater for the average student. Gifted learners consider these methods as slow, boring and time wasting, which explains their frustration. Failing to engage them at their intellectual level leads to under-utilization and wastage of their potential.

Solution

·         Setting up learning institutions for gifted learners with special programs focused at developing their full potential.

3.      Social alienation

The brain of a gifted person is a factory of ideas. Hence, the average person may struggle to keep up with them during conversations; or their wealth of ideas may be too overwhelming for the average person. For this reason, non-gifted people may find interactions with their gifted acquaintances too intellectually demanding hence desert them in pursuit of simpler and general conversations with other non-gifted people. On the other hand, gifted people find average conversations boring, non-engaging and time wasting. As a result they become socially alienated and their social growth is hampered. 

Solutions

·         Identifying other gifted individuals and forming clubs where they can meet regularly and socialize with like minded peers

·         Awareness and appreciation of giftedness can help each group i.e. gifted and non-gifted warm up to each other’s social needs and arrive at a compromise in conversations and other social interactions.

4.      Under-utilization of potential in the typical work place leading to lack of motivation

Typical work environment poses numerous challenges to gifted individuals. Some of them include; routine and non-demanding roles that require little creative and critical thinking, slow implementation of their ideas and concepts by management etc. – For the gifted people, regular work environment saps their motivation and turns them into under-performers. This is because they thrive in challenging roles that are intellectually demanding. To them, fixing problems produces motivation and satisfaction. 

Solution

·         Engage them in roles that are complex and non-routine. Optimal utilization of their brain power is all they need to keep motivated and performing. Gifted individuals are a rich resource for any organization and if placed in the right roles, they can propel organizations to great success.

5.      Intense strengths and weaknesses

While strengths are supposed to be admired, this is not the case for gifted people in a non-understanding and unappreciative environment. Often people perceive them as overbearing, pushy and forceful and a gifted person who is not aware of their own giftedness can become overly self-conscious and lose their self-confidence.

In the same way, their weaknesses present themselves in equal intensity attracting outrage from the society. This leads to self-condemnation and negatively affects their self-esteem.

Solutions

·         Coaching gifted persons on characteristics of giftedness to create self-awareness and self-appreciation.

·         Creating awareness of giftedness in the community to rally support for gifted people.

6.      Perfectionism

Gifted people want everything flawless and perfect. There are two downside to this; one being they can become action-less for fear of starting something that might not meet standards/expectations (*read – their own standards/expectations*). Or they can slow down progress by dwelling so much on perfecting a single action at the expense of other actions on the process. 

Solutions

·         Gifted individuals should formulate SMART goals.

·         They should pursue excellence rather than perfection. 

7.      Existential depression

A number of factors trigger depression in gifted persons commonly known as existential depression. Three of these factors include; build-up of hurt and pain of rejection as a result of being different, feelings of powerlessness for knowing solutions to problems and not being in a position to do anything about it and lastly, frustration when the high standards they set for themselves and other people are not met.

Solutions 

·         Self-knowledge – It helps a gifted individual to appreciate himself/herself and understand why he/she is different from others. It also enables them to exercise tolerance with people who reject or isolate them for being different. To shield their emotions from the pain of rejection, they should shift focus to what makes them tick and pay no attention to undesirable and conflicting encounters.

·         They should keep themselves occupied with what their abilities/potential can achieve and avoid dwelling on what is beyond them.

·         They should set realistic and achievable goals.

8.      Multi-talented

Majority of gifted individuals possess multiple abilities. A blessing indeed, but in some cases it can be very overwhelming. Because they’re good at almost everything, choosing what to pursue can be confusing making them hesitant in developing their gifts hence the common tag ‘jack of all trades and master of none’.

Solution

·         They require mentor(s) to guide them through self awareness, personal growth and nurturance of their gifts. With proper guidance and counseling they are able to reach/realize their full potential and reap the full benefits of their multiple talents/gifts.

9.      Highly sensitive

Gifted individuals easily get hurt for they’re more aware of the happenings in their surroundings than the average person. They easily absorb both positive and negative energies in their interactions with people, which is emotionally damaging.

Solutions 

·         Gifted Individual: Put your happiness and emotional well-being first. Anything that threatens to rob you off these two or create emotional imbalance is not worth your attention and should be flushed out immediately.

·         Society: Be a little more sensitive; it goes a long way in fostering strong relationships not only with the gifted individuals but with the non-gifted as well.

NOTE: This refers to high-sensitivity not over-sensitivity.

Conclusion

Challenges of giftedness are many and diverse. This list contains a few picks and will keep on growing. Overcoming challenges of giftedness clears the path for nurturance and harnessing. Look out for more articles on harnessing and nurturing giftedness coming soon. 

Series

1.      Understanding Gifted Individuals –Overview

2.      Characteristics of Gifted Individuals

3.      Harnessing Potential of Gifted Individuals 

4.      Challenges of Gifted Individuals: Living With Giftedness