Early Giftedness: Signs to Look Out for
Parents need to look for early traits of giftedness so that they can provide an effective and appropriate environment. Many a times, these traits have been over generalised to the population, making it hard to distinguish an average child from a gifted one. This article helps parents recognise and identify some of the early traits of giftedness that need attention before formal schooling.
Infants today are much more curious and alert than they have ever been in the past generations. It is not surprising to hear parents comment on how smart their very young child is and raving about their abilities. As annoying as it may get sometimes, this comes from the heart and this is what parents today are experiencing with their very young. Are children abler today than they were a few decades ago?
The answer is yes! And how so? Simply due to the exposure, experience, and availability of learning materials that help sharpen their minds at a faster pace. The fact is that by 3 years of age, a baby’s brain has reached close to 90% of its adult size. Each region of the brain develops and grows based on the stimulation that is provided, which sets a platform for learning. Today, most parents are able to provide the necessary stimulation for their child due to awareness and the easy access and availability of various learning materials, which help brain growth tremendously. Is that giftedness? Read on to find out.
Let me start with what is early giftedness. This would include advance abilities that may be prominent since after birth until before a child starts formal schooling. Various studies found that there is evidence of superior ability and precocious development early in life for gifted individuals. Research also indicated that giftedness could be observed in the first 3 years by rapid progression through the developmental milestones. How essential is early identification? Just as early identification of slowed development is crucial; it is just as crucial for advanced development. This is because early intervention promotes optimal development in all children regardless of whether they are delayed or advanced. So yes, early identification of gifted children would allow for their needs to be met and help them maximize their potential.
How do we identify young gifted children? As it is difficult to test very young children, parents are perhaps in the best situation to identify giftedness in their young child. Research has consistently shown that parents are more successful in identifying giftedness in the early childhood years. While there may be exception to the case, in most cases the onset of awareness that their child may be advanced occurs early in childhood.
How can parents identify advanced ability in their child? I will list the characteristics of two groups in early childhood – the toddlers and pre-schoolers; and infants. Systematic research over many decades has provided us with many characteristics that are distinct to young gifted children. Below are the most predominant traits that may be quite obvious in early giftedness. The list, albeit rather detailed, is neither exhaustive nor definite but most traits have been identified in the general young gifted population (up to around 6 years of age):
| Good memory | Exceptionally curious | High levels of energy |
| Subtle or mature sense of humour | Interested in abstract terms (time, space). | Wide knowledge base – usually avid sometimes self taught readers |
| Ability to come up with rare solutions | Interested in cause-effect relationship | Enjoyment of challenging puzzles |
| Use of advanced vocabulary, uses advanced grammar or sentence structure | Long attention span for activities of interest – may be deeply engrossed | Strongly motivated to do things that interest him/her, sometimes unwilling to work on other activities |
| Sees endless possibilities for various situations/ object uses | Streak of perfectionism – may be self critical | Advanced sense of justice and fairness |
| Great imagination, may be looked at as daydreamer | Highly developed powers of concentration | Able to transfers learning to new situations |
| Mostly prefer company of older children/adults | Prefers working alone, not too keen on co-operative learning | May have uneven development (cognitively way more advanced) |
| May have wide gaps in abilities or knowledge | Heightened sensitivity | May have advanced hand/eye co ordination |
| May have more imaginary friends than average peers children (also able to describe them in great detail) | May struggle with easy materials but thrive on complexity | May enjoy counting, playing with number concepts |
| Preference over factual books to fiction | May have leadership qualities (sometimes seen as being bossy) | May have advanced development as an infant |
What about infants? How do we look out for signs of giftedness in babies? There are some interesting indicators, which can be used to gauge if a child may be more advanced starting from infancy. As a rule of thumb, they appear to reach milestones at a rate of 30% faster than the average baby. Below are a few of the traits observed to be distinct in above average infants:
- Appears to require less sleep
- Needs almost constant stimulation when awake
- May get fussy if facing one direction for too long
- Very alert
- Very early response to caretakers
- Longer attention span and intense concentration
- May begin to mimic sounds earlier than other infants
- Advanced progression through developmental milestones (early walking, speech, etc.)
- Even if speech is acquired late (due to various reasons), will somehow speak in complete sentences and catch up with peers rapidly
- Tendency to be exceptionally sensitive to sounds, smells, textures, tastes. Because of this, they may cry vigorously in response to unpleasant or strong senses
- Strong desire to explore, investigate and master the surroundings
- Once mastered (toys and games), they will be discarded – moves on fast
- Very high levels of energy from the beginning (purposeful activity)
- Ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy very early.
It must be noted that not all gifted children will exhibit the same characteristics. Furthermore, none of the signs that appear in infancy alone is sufficient to indicate giftedness per se. However, as parents, if some of these signs are noticed, you may want to observe closely as a pattern may emerge. Therefore, each is worthy of noting to see if further signs emerge. What is most clearly indicative for gifted children that set them apart from average children is the intense, sensitive, and innate gift for learning.
Gifted children are born; you can’t “make” a child gifted. It must be noted that the vast majority of children in a population is not gifted. Only between 2 – 5% of children in any given population may fit the criteria of being gifted, that too by various estimates. Having said that, today there are really no average kids anymore! For example, it is often believed that a child who is able to read early may be very advanced and possibly gifted. While one of the distinct characteristics of gifted children is the ability to read early, the truth is that due to a lot of exposure & early learning (stimulation), the child’s brain may have developed a little quicker than peers. However, young children (gifted or average) are known for developmental leaps and stalls. At a later point, this child may learn at the same pace as other children, or may continue to outpace them. Therefore, all children with proper exposure and opportunities can thrive successfully; but with a gifted child, the leap would be multifold.
Gifted children are special children who need help as much as a child who has a specified developmental disorder. Just as an autistic child would require differential learning, a gifted child would benefit most from a special programme. Do note that gifted children sometimes have abilities that are not noticed let alone recognised. It is also possible that they may have a learning disability that may mask their gifts. Somehow, we tend to focus on the weaknesses rather than the strengths of children which is the reason not all gifted children are easily identified.
It is very important that, as parents, we look out for signs of giftedness in our children. The mainstream school curriculum is developed for the majority of children. And we know that “one size does not fit all”. Gifted children need a differential programme to cater for their educational needs. As parents we need to recognise if our child is gifted because she/he would need an individualised educational plan (IEP) to cater for their needs. This is an on-going process based on the progress of the child and would need educators who are trained to handle such children.
Regardless of the general environment, all children need stimulation and nurturance for healthy development. The brain adapts to its environment so for a gifted child whose educational needs are not catered for, it will adapt to the environment of being used to doing mediocre work. Without intervention, some would just go on performing averagely; some (especially the highly gifted) would get very frustrated and this may lead them to look for activities that stimulate and challenges them. The problem is when the “chosen” activity may not be a healthy one.
To conclude, parents need to look out if they have a gifted child, and be aware of how to raise such a child as parenting a gifted child may require a lot more effort especially during the growing years. It is always nice to have a child who is superior intellectually as a gifted child would be, but it needs to come with a lot of understanding and awareness on the parents’ side. I hope the article would help some parents out there determine if their child may be gifted and do the necessary to nurture the child’s gifts.