Why do gifted adults fail

A recent qualitative case study by Tucker and Hafenstein with five young gifted children provided evidence of the existence of the five overexcitabilities in these children via manifestations of behaviors associated with the overexcitabilities.

These young children displayed the behaviors listed in Table 3. These results support the work of Dabrowski , and may serve as a guideline for possible behaviors of other gifted students with special needs. It seems possible that some underachievers may exhibit one or more of these overexcitabilities. In other words, they may not identify a student as an underachiever unless performance in at least one major content area is at least one year below grade level.

Although this may be a suitable method for identifying underachievers from the general school population, such an age performance discrepancy will only identify the most severely underachieving gifted students. When a gifted student is performing at grade level in those subject areas, there may be cause for concern. The criteria for identifying students as learning disabled usually involves identifying a significant discrepancy between ability and individual standardized achievement test scores.

In some states, the achievement test scores must be at least two years below grade level in at least one subject area in order to identify the student as learning disabled. The probability of identifying a young gifted student as learning disabled using such a method is minuscule.

Using a similar identification method to identify gifted underachievers presents the similar problem of under-identification. For example, Sara, the young girl described in the earlier case study was identified as gifted in the primary grades because of verbal precocity, high IQ scores, and advanced performance in all content areas.

She began to have difficulty in reading as she grew older, and reading became more challenging. In first grade, she had been reading at a third grade level and in third grade, she was still reading at a third grade level. Unfortunately, she was not identified as learning disabled, or even as an underachiever at that time.

By fifth grade, she was slightly below grade level in reading and beginning to have difficulty in mathematics as well. She was later identified as having a learning disability despite working at or only slightly below grade level. Although conducting case studies and qualitative research on underachieving gifted students has become quite popular, very few researchers have attempted to utilize true quasi-experimental designs to study the efficacy of various interventions.

Most of the interventions reported in the literature Supplee, ,Whitmore, were designed to effect immediate results with a group of acutely underachieving gifted students. Ethically, it may be difficult to have a true comparison group in such studies because the researcher must withhold treatment that he or she believes is valuable for underachieving gifted students.

The documented effectiveness of most interventions designed to reverse underachievement in gifted students has been inconsistent and inconclusive Emerick, The most well known educational interventions for gifted are either part-time or full-time special classrooms for gifted underachievers e. Butler-Por, ; Supplee, ; Whitmore, In these classrooms, educators strive to create a favorable environment for student achievement by altering the traditional classroom organization.

Whitmore designed and implemented a full-time elementary program for gifted underachievers. Supplee instituted a part-time program for gifted elementary underachievers. Both programs stressed the importance of addressing affective education as well as the necessity of creating student-centered classroom environments. However, neither study used a control or comparison group; therefore, the results of their studies may not be generalizable to the entire population of underachievers.

Emerick investigated the reasons that some students are able to reverse their academic underachievement without the assistance of formal interventions. Her qualitative research study examined the patterns of underachievement and subsequent achievement of 10 young adults.

In addition, participants were most likely to develop achievement-oriented behaviors when they were stimulated in class and given the opportunity to pursue topics of interest to them.

In a recent study, researchers used self-selected Type III enrichment projects as a systematic intervention for underachieving gifted students. This approach Renzulli, specifically targets student strengths and interests in order to help reverse academic underachievement Baum et al. In a qualitative study of this intervention technique, five major features of the Type III enrichment process contributed to the success of the intervention. These factors were the relationship with the teacher, the use of self-regulation strategies, the opportunity to investigate topics related to their underachievement, the opportunity to work on an area of interest in a preferred learning style, and the time to interact with an appropriate peer group appeared to improve achievement.

Almost all of the students who completed type III investigations showed some positive gains in either behavior or achievement during the course of the school year. Eleven of the 17 participants showed improved achievement, 13 of the 17 students appeared to exert more effort within their classes, and 4 of the 17 students showed marked improvement in their classroom behavior.

The results of this research suggest that flexible student-centered enrichment approaches may help reverse underachievement in gifted students. These interventions should be considered in view of the populations that were involved in the studies. None of these interventions, for example, focused solely on high potential students with other exceptionalities such as learning disabilities or physical disabilities who were underachieving in schools.

We do not know how many students with special needs underachieve nor do we really know how many students with special needs have hidden talents and abilities. It is time for further research and inquiry in this area so that students with special needs who are underachieving in our nation receive more attention and programmatic interventions. Then, educators should develop appropriate intervention strategies that address the specific area of need exhibited by the student in question.

When we differentiate treatments to meet the needs of underachievers, we will more effectively combat the problem of underachievement within our schools. UConn A-Z. Sally M. Reis, Ph. Professor Department of Educational Psychology D. Characteristics Which Hamper Identification as Gifted Frustration with inability to master certain academic skill Learned helplessness General lack of motivation Disruptive classroom behavior Perfectionism Supersensitivity Failure to complete assignments Lack of organizational skills Demonstration of poor listening and concentration skills Deficiency in tasks emphasizing memory and perceptual abilities Low self-esteem Unrealistic self-expectations Absence of social skills with some peers Characteristic Strengths Advanced vocabulary use Exceptional analytic abilities High levels of creativity Advanced problem solving skills Ability to think of divergent ideas and solutions Specific aptitude artistic, musical, or mechanical Wide variety of interests Good memory Task commitment Spatial abilities.

Intellectual overexcitability behaviors-curiosity, asking probing questions, concentration, problem solving, theoretical thinking Imaginational overexcitability behaviors-fantasy play, imaginative thinking, daydreaming, dramatic perception Emotional overexcitability behaviors-concern for others, timidity and shyness, fear and anxiety, intensity of feeling Psychomotor overexcitability behaviors-marked enthusiasm, rapid speech, impulsive actions Sensual overexcitability behaviors-sensory pleasures, appreciation of sensory aspects of experiences.

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 4th ed. Baum, S. Gifted Child Quarterly, 32, To be gifted and learning disabled: From definitions to practical intervention strategies. Early detection in children is important. The most important thing is for them to achieve well-being and happiness.

Being extremely intelligent does not always guarantee success or happiness. There's another side of high IQ that we don't always talk about. Psychology Personality Psychology. Gifted adults are highly sensitive. Believe it or not, they often feel excluded from society as a whole. Additionally, they tend to feel uncapable to accomplish their goals.

Heylighen, F. Gifted People and their Problems. I have no idea why, as I have never approached her and kindly invited her inside my home to see the small changes I made when she had come over to return a key she had to my house from her friend who had sold it to me. Yes I was hurt but we just ignore each other and I continue to politely wave to her husband when he sits on his porch and stares at my home, which is on a beautiful lake that he enjoys watching.

I keep my home tidy and I am quiet. I would certainly like to have me for a neighbor! I am not even sure I would believe her! Thank you, Elsa but it is in fact true. I realize that the neighbor informing me is an instigator, but we all share a very tiny area and the setting is intimate. I have suffered from a complete lack of charisma all my life. My mother used to be quite puzzled and called me a loner. The rest of the females in my family had better bonding qualities with other women than I ever did.

I honestly think I may have been one of those women accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake in a past life. I have Neptune trine ascendant, that attracts stalkers and has a kooky, other worldly attraction that I battle. Animals and children absolutely love me, so that is kind of cool. One of my male friends came to visit me, he brought a bunch of leftover box lunches from a business meeting to give me. Even he could pick up the subtle cues invisible but obvious to a sixth sense.

I was listening to an interview with Alex karpovsky who was raised similarly to me. In fact, there is a current push in new child development theory to not tell your children how smart they are. Many of the kids in the talented and gifted class like me excelled in elementary school but petered out in middle and high school behind the kids who tried. Hiding behind their vague special status. I listen to interviews with creative people and it is less about talent than discipline, drive, neurosis, and work which brings out their best qualities.

Schools take their talented kid pool which is a collection of some of the most disorganized children and puts them into free form classes, and later free form purposeless liberal arts colleges.

They begin with no internal sense of discipline and are not taught study skills and stamina to do the work to hone their craft. Kids who focus so much on being talented but are lazy and fearful or not helped a little along those way become a waste like me. And working no matter what extreme depression or addiction they go through. My best friend who is trying to do the Hollywood thing tells me a different story. When it comes to show business it seems that even the people who she met who are talented, driven, ideal candidates still might not make it.

And it takes luck, connections, perseverance, etc. I myself think you also have to appear to your generation at the right time. There are other privileged people making indie movies. Her chart probably interacts with various mundane moments, I. I think america was ready for a controversial female millennial voice.

Like me. I also think focusing on one thing and sacrificing your personal life and sanity to it is the key to success. What is charisma exactly? This is yet again one of the reasons why so many talented people never get noticed. There are some extraordinary performers who get away with not being excellent.

Then there are amazingly talented people who just find it really hard to try find the connections, or to have courage to even go audition for singing or instrument lessons. The shy ones have to be so many times better than the confident ones just to get the same opportunities.

I now believe the whole success thing probably depends on luck and self-confidence. And I was the one asking the question originally. Having to feel not good enough is enough to make an individual be unhappy and depressed.

Your email address will not be published. Emotional periods, external events that affect us negatively or even situations of harassment known as bullying. Sometimes they are just passing periods that are nothing more than little bumps in the road that are quickly sorted out but sometimes they have a greater effect on someone's studies.

Especially in cases of bullying, it is very important that parents and teachers detect it early and take appropriate measures. A fear of failure, a lack of self-confidence and procrastination may have a deeper reasoning, but the fact is that some students need more attention than others, especially if they are going through some tough times.

Now that you know the possible reasons why your child is failing school, it's time to get a hold of the situation and get your kid's school life back on track. Share on:. By Mary Smith. Updated: December 4, Why is my gifted child failing at school?