Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted

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Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted

• Presenters
• Marilyn Lane Nora Ho

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Section 4 Social and Emotional Development

• 41
• Actions to meet the affective needs of gifted
  students are ongoing.

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Demands of Giftedness

• To seek order, structure and consistency
• To have ones intelligence responded to
• To seek out mental peers
• To have thinking time
• To be outstanding in some areas but average in
  others

• To focus on or devour a subject
• To be creative or inventive
• To question generalizations and authority
• To concentrate, to be totally absorbed
• To resist routine drill
• To work alone

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A reluctance to take risks
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A Discomfort With Competition
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An Unwillingness To Participate
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Defensive, Disruptive Behavior
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Causes of Stress in GATE Students

• Interpersonal- interactions with others
• Lack of intellectual challenge
• Lack of common interests
• Rejection by peers and adults
• Heightened sensitivity to problems
• Conflicting or excessive expectations from others

• Intrapersonal self imposed
• Setting impossibly high standards
• Irrational beliefs
• Fear of failure
• Fear of success
• Multipotentiality too much to do too little
  time!

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Outside Influences

• Conformist School Culture
• Home Environment
• Expectations of Others
• Family Relationships
• Peer Relationships

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Social and Emotional Needs

• Security
• Identity
• Belonging
• Purpose
• Competence

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Security

• Awareness of feelings
• Caring
• Protect/Comfort
• Trust
• Personal Responsibility

• A Safe Environment
• Anticipation
• Expectations
• Choices/
• Consequences

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Identity

• Self-Awareness
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Physical Self
• Listen

• Managing Emotions
• Love/Honor
• New Roles
• Heroes
• Celebrate Who I Am

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Promoting Sense of Identity

• Build positive self-images by talking about
  the positive qualities you see in them.
• Focus on the discrepancy between beautiful person
  inside and their behavior or the person they
  present to others.
• Discuss with them the characteristics they most
  admire in adults.
• Have them discuss their values and those
  characteristics they value in themselves.
• Help them make realistic assessments about
  themselves

• Point out their dependable strengths or hidden
  talents.
• Have them talk about the myths others might
  believe about them.
• Teach them ways of handling put-downs.
• Help them see that they have choices in how they
  want to deal with their feelings. Help them
  express feelings in acceptable ways.
• Find ways to convey a sense of caring.

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Gifted Males

• NEED
• Encouragement to feel and express emotions
• Someone to listen and to empathize
• Explanation about gender stereotyping and
  expectations
• Encouragement to follow own interests
• Help to find interest-based groups
• To be careful of stress and overload

• FEEL
• Need to suppress emotions
• Peer pressure to conform and fit in
• Bullied because considered too feminine or
  nerds
• Must try to meet expectations of others

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Gifted Females

• NEED
• Interaction w/positive female role model
• Affirmation of assertive behavior
• Validation that women can have career/life
  choices and enjoy them (balance of roles)
• Identity is who we are what we do
• Accept that intelligence is valued and
  intelligence is power

• FEEL
• Choose between being smart and being popular
• Identity is body image
• Voiceless

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Path to Excellence

• We must start our children down the path to
  excellence very young. Learning is cumulative
  all children, including the gifted, develop to
  their full potential only when their special
  strengths are identified and supported throughout
  their lives.

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Building the Bridge Critical Social Skills for
the Gifted

• Classroom survival skills
• Friendship-making Skills
• Skills for Dealing with Feelings
• Skills for Dealing with Stress
• Skill Alternatives to Aggression
• Planning Skills

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Belonging

• Social Skills
• Empathy
• Differences/
• Commonalities
• Opportunities for
• Service Learning
• Traditions
• Connectiveness
• Responsibilities

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Purpose

• Interests/Passions
• Problem Solving
• Goal Setting
• Relevance
• Organization/
• Study Skills
• Vision/Values

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Accessing Critical Resources

• People Skills
• Decision-Making Skills
• Problem Solving Skills
• Time Management
• Technology
• Social Activism/Control

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Building Personal Power

• The Right Reasons for Learning
• Work that is meaningful and challenging
• Serves higher human needs and values
• Satisfies craving for knowledge

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Lighting the Personal Fire

• Share your passion
• Help set personal goals and ways to achieve them
• Determine needs and interests
• Support self-initiated activities
• Speak the language of encouragement
• Facilitate work in area of interest
• Provide opportunities for challenge

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Making Being Gifted O.K.

• Understanding my giftedness
• Validation from people who matter
• Support and enthusiasm
• Gender issues
• Knowing my place in the world
• Its okay to make mistakes and ask for help.

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Competence

• Decision making
• Choices/options
• Mistakes/expectations
• Respond to intelligence
• Celebrate!

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Celebrating Success

• Attaining Goals
• Quality Work
• Friendships
• Self-Knowledge

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At-Risk BehaviorsWarning Signs

• Self-imposed isolation
• Shifts in school performance
• Rigid compulsive behavior
• Extreme perfectionism
• Eating disorders
• Self-depreciation

• Substance abuse
• Depression or continual boredom
• Frequent mood shifts
• Inability to control or express anger
• Withdrawal into a fantasy world
• Unusual fascination with violence
• Preoccupation with death

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Masked At-Risk Behaviors

• Good grades not a good indicator
• Underachievement could be straight As
• Perfectionism Anxiety
• Passive aggression

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Minimum Standards 41One Year Approval

• Teachers, parents, administrators, and counselors
  are provided with information and training
  regarding the characteristics of gifted learners
  and their related social and emotional
  development.
• Gifted students are provided awareness
  opportunities of career and college options and
  guidance consistent with their unique strengths.
  At the secondary level this includes mentoring
  and pre-college opportunities.

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Commendable Standards 41Two Year Approval

• Teachers are trained and knowledgeable regarding
  social and emotional development of gifted
  students, and incorporate techniques to support
  affective learning in their classrooms.
• Guidance and counseling services appropriate to
  the social and emotional needs of gifted students
  are provided by trained personnel. Referral
  services to community resources are made when
  appropriate.

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Exemplary Standards 41Three Year Approval

• Ongoing counseling services by teachers,
  principals, and counselors are provided and
  documented as appropriate.
• Teachers and guidance personnel are trained to
  collaborate in implementing intervention
  strategies for at-risk gifted students.
  Intervention options can take place in school, at
  home, or in the community.

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Section 4 Social Emotional Development

• 42
• At risk gifted students are monitored and
  provided support (e.g., underachievement,
  symptoms of depression, suicide, substance abuse).

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Minimum Standards 42One Year Approval

• Teachers are trained to recognize symptoms of
  at-risk behavior in gifted and talented students
  and to refer them to appropriate school
  personnel.
• Counselors and administrators are trained to make
  appropriate referrals to internal and external
  agencies when needed.
• Gifted students considered at-risk receive
  counseling and support services and are not
  dropped from gifted programs because of related
  problems.
• Information and support are made available to
  parents regarding at-risk students.

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Commendable Standards 42 Two Year Approval

• The district develops a plan for teachers to
  work in collaboration with guidance personnel
  regarding at-risk intervention strategies.

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Exemplary Standards 42Three Year Approval

• At-risk gifted students are provided with
  specific guidance and counseling services that
  address the related issues and problems, and
  include development of an intervention plan.

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Advice for Being Gifted from Gifted Children

• On dealing with being gifted
• Be quiet and read!
• If you are depressed
• Work on or develop a hobby.
• When you feel life is futile
• Go to sleep.

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When you switch from feeling talented to feeling
like a failure

• Try to do your best.
• Dont be serious about yourself.
• We all have limits.
• The basis for all successful learning is
  self-discipline.
• Most defeats in learning something or changing
  something are temporary.

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When you want to get along

• By understanding yourself, you can relate to
  others.
• Learn to listen to others.
• Relax!
• Find a person who takes an interest in you, who
  wants to help.
• Learn to do things peers value BUT dont give up
  on yourself.

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Make your own decisions and take your own
initiative no matter what!
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Critical Attitudes

• Its OKAY to be Gifted.
• Its OKAY to Make Mistakes.
• Expectations for Success
• Excellence, not Perfection
• Self-Responsibility
• Effort means Progress

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Emotional Wellbeing

• Feel comfortable with oneself
• Feel right about other people
• Meet the demands of life

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Fostering Emotional Wellbeing in the Classroom

• One looks back with appreciation to the
  brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those
  who touched our human feelings. The curriculum
  is so much necessary raw material but warmth is
  the vital element for the growing plant and for
  the soul of the child..
• Carl Jung

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Special Needs

• Case study Blaine

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Characteristics of Gifted/Autistic Youth

• Poor social skills and understanding of social
  cues
• Savant abilities
• Autistic individual who shows signs of giftedness
  (approximately 10 of autistic population)
• Preference for routine
• Low IQ
• Generally their giftedness will occur in areas
  other than intellectual
• Creative abilities
• Artistic and musical
• Extreme possessiveness of unusual objects
• Hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli

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Instructional Strategies for Autistic/Gifted Youth

• Use hands-on kinesthetic activities
• Teach to their strengths
• Use physical, verbal, and visual aids to signify
  transition
• Infuse social and communication skills into the
  academic programming
• Provide structure and routine
• Include parent(s), clinical professional(s), and
  student when determining educational programming

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Characteristics for Gifted/ Emotional-Behavioral
Disabled Youth

• Defiance
• Aggression, violence, peer and adult conflict
• Loneliness
• Withdrawal, depression, isolation, low
  self-esteem, self-rejection
• Stress
• Hyperactivity, impulsivity, distractibility, and
  anxiety
• Socialization problems
• Immaturity, criticism, humiliation
• Underachievement

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Instructional Strategies for Gifted/
Emotional-Behavioral Disabled Youth

• Incorporate multidisciplinary activities
• Provide supportive, sensitive and positive
  home/school environments
• Alleviate conflict and shape a positive
  self-concept
• Create intellectually challenging activities
• Make modifications to enhance learning atmosphere
• Match methods to gifts/talents and disabilities
• Utilize inclusion, modeling, cooperative
  learning, and authentic learning

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Characteristics of Gifted/ADHD

• Inattentiveness
• Impulsive/hyperactive conduct
• Eagerness
• Compassion
• Fidgetiness
• Minimal need of sleep
• Strong-mindedness since early childhood
• Difficulty with lengthy assignments

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Instructional Strategies for Gifted/ADHD

• Incorporate cooperative learning activities that
  allow the student to take a leadership role
• Teach organizational skills
• Stress appropriate social skills
• Utilize communication sheets with parents
• Create short, intellectually challenging
  activities
• Provide hands-on kinesthetic activities
• Differentiate the curriculum

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Characteristics of Gifted/ Aspergers Syndrome
Youth

• Poor nonverbal communication skills
• Lack of coordination
• Exceptional memory
• Normal to high IQ
• Poor sense of time
• Inflexibility
• Difficulty transitioning between tasks
• Inability to explain their feelings and those of
  others
• Poor social skills

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Instructional Strategies for Gifted/ Aspergers
Syndrome Youth

• Establish a daily routine
• Avoid sarcasm
• Teach students to deal with sudden change
• Develop social skills
• Provide a rubric when asking essay questions
• Develop an IEP that addresses students strengths
  and weaknesses
• Include parents, clinical professionals, and
  student when making decisions about educational
  programming
• Provide hands-on activities
• Arrange the room so that the gifted/AS child is
  near few distractions

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General Characteristics of Gifted/Learning
Disabled

• Intelligence
• Ingenious problem-solving skills
• Poor social skills
• Exceptional memory
• Frustration
• Quick conceptualization of ideas
• Advanced abstract reasoning skills
• Academic achievement below academic potential

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General Instructional Strategies for
Gifted/Learning Disabled Youth

• Develop social skills
• Establish a daily routine
• Differentiate the curriculum
• Encourage cooperation among teachers, parents,
  administrators, and student
• Allow for multiple program options
• Develop strengths so that student can compensate
  for disabilities
• Design activities to engage the learner in
  real-world learning
• Build self-esteem

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Special Needs

• Revisit Case Study Blaine
• See Guidelines for Appropriate Diagnosis

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Kids Who Are Different