We have talked about how to identify a gifted children, their needs and how the environment affects them, but something that has not been raised yet is: which are their emotional needs?Do they feel the same as the other kids?
Well, as gifted children's thinking is extremely complex and deeper than other children, so are their emotions. They experiment these feelingsmore intense.
Some of this intensity is reflected in the following ways:
As the intensity of feeling: positive feelings, negative feelings, both positive and negative feelings together, extremes of emotion, complex emotions that seemingly move from one feeling to another over a short time period, identification with the feelings of other people, laughing and crying together
In the body: the body mirrors the emotions and feelings are often expressed as bodily symptoms such as tense stomach, sinking heart, blushing, headache, nausea
Timidity and shyness
Strong affective emotional memory: they remember the feelings that accompanied an incident and will often relive and "re-feel" them long afterward
Fears and anxieties: feelings of guilt, feelings of being out of control.
Related to the interpersonal feelings: empathy and concern for others, sensitivity in relationships, attachment to animals, difficulty in adjusting to new environments, loneliness, conflicts with others over the depth of relationships
It can appear the feeling of inadequacy and inferiority due to a critical self-evaluation and self-judgement.
Sword, L. K., & Director, G. (2003). Emotional intensity in gifted children. Retrieved September, 30, 2005. http://www.giftedservices.com.au/handouts/Emotional Intensity in Gifted Children.doc
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