When Giftedness becomes a Disability

Pat Burgess, QAGTC
To the uninformed, giftedness may seem a sort of special privilege, but to the gifted individual, often it feels like a distinct disadvantage. It is painful to be different in a society that derides difference. (Silverman, 1993, p3)
Giftedness may become a disability to a child when:
  1. their IQ is too high (Exceptionally gifted children),
  2. the gifted child is treated as a normal child,
  3. something happens to demotivate the student, causing them to underachieve,
  4. the child is Gifted and Learning Disabled or,
  5. the gifted child is diagnosed as Learning disabled. (ADD or ADHD)
Each of these situations has been substantially researched and the implications well documented. North American and Australian research suggests that highly and exceptionally gifted students may be socially rejected by their classmates because of their reasoning capacities, values, interests, and the way they view the world may simply be too different for the child of average ability to understand. Failure to provide the necessary challenge and experiences causes them to be disadvantaged due to inappropriate learning content and styles. If this continues for any length of time, it can lead to great distress and even depression. This is obviously a disability, affecting future learning. This paper gives examples of the above problems and how to avoid some of them. It also provides a list for comparing and contrasting characteristics for giftedness, ADD and ADHD.

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