Quiz —What type of Gifted am I:

Question 1: How would you best describe your general mood?

A Bored and anxious

B Bored, frustrated, impatient and bipolar

C Anxious, guilty, impatient

D Burnt out, explosive, resentful, and self-abusive

E Powerless, frustrated, unaware and angry

F Enthusiastic, calm, and happy

Question 2: Answer honestly; where does your motivation come from?

A From the outside; seeking the validation of parents and teachers

B You have diminished motivation

C Your motivation is trumped by a strong need to fit in and appear average

D You feel you are not motivated, as there is no point (school has failed you)

E You have diminished motivation (connecting to a disability or disorder)

F From the inside, pure motivation to learn for or from no greater purpose than yourself, and you follow passions

Question 3: Are you creative?

A, C & E Not really

B, D & F Yes

Question 4: How would you best describe your sensitivity?

A & C Diminished feelings of self and right to your emotions

B & D Heightened sensitivity

E & F Average/ Healthy

Question 5: How would you describe your relationship with your parents?

A You are loved and accepted

B They want to change you, and don’t view you as gifted

C They view you as leaders or unrecognized, resistant, smart, and secretive

D They are angry with you, and view you as dangerous and rebellious

E Seen as average or below in ability, helpless, perceived as needing a great deal of imposed structure because of the disorder or disability

F They view you as capable, responsible, admired by parents and successful

Question 6: How do your peers view you?

A You are admired

B You are entertaining

C You are quiet, shy, or a good leader, compliant, successful, and smart

D You are judged, rejected, ridiculed, and seen as a future dropout and loner

E You are avoided, seen only for a disorder or disability, seen as helpless, weird and dumb

F You are accepted and admired

Question 7: Do you have flaws (not including physical perception)?

A No

B Lack of tact, flexibility, self-control, awareness, and acceptance.

C Lack of awareness of and understanding of my emotions, self-confidence and lack of acceptance.

D Lack of required counselling and intense support

E Lack of coping skills

F Lack of acceptance of feedback and help

Question 8: What is your relationship with failure and risk?

A I don’t take risks, and failure weighs me down with guilt

B This is a touchy subject for me

C I am unsure and confused on both topics

D It annoys me when others take stupid risks or fail, but it is a touchy subject for me

E I am usually prevented from taking risks in the first place, which eliminates failure altogether

F I take a healthy number of risks, and I accept failure

Question 9: How is your classroom behaviour?

A I accept and conform; I don’t like getting into trouble

B I correct teachers, question rules, and prefer a highly active and competitive approach

C Average (neither angelic nor disruptive) and ambiguous

D I have intermittent attendance, I don’t complete tasks, I have outside interests, I’m disruptive, and I zone out.

E I may be disruptive

F I am participating and tactful

Question 10: At school breaks, you feel...

A I feel responsible for others, and I am dependent

B I stand up for others, but I’m uncertain about social roles

C I have a large need to belong, but I’m secretive and I change friends

D I usually isolate myself

E I feel lonely most of the time

F I am accepted and supported by others, I have good social skills, I stand up for people and I accept others

Question 11: Are you confident in yourself?

A My parents and teachers tell me I’m great

B & E My confidence is quite low

C I’m insecure, decently confident in my abilities but not myself, I need to fit in

D I feel I see myself through a distorted lens.

F I’m not perfect, but I accept myself and am confident

Question 12: What are you like as a student?

A I easily impress my classmates, but I should be doing better

B I am inconsistent

C I don’t study – I’m a natural but I deny it, and half of me wants to drop out of advanced classes

D & E I’m inconsistent at best, below level at worst

F I’m independent, I set goals and follow through.

Question 13: What does your teacher think of you?

A My teacher loves me

B Teachers think you are irritating and you’re in a power struggle, but it’s only because they are wrong and close-minded

C They love me and view as a leader, but I don’t think I deserve it

D They are angry— see you as dangerous and rebellious

E You are viewed as helpless, below average, or seen only for a disability. Teachers impose a lot of forced structure, and it’s very frustrating

F You are admired and seen as successful

Question 14: Who or what is your biggest advocate?

A Teachers and grades

B Creativity-testing, parent and peer recommendations

C Gifted peer nomination, IQ tests and parent nomination

D Creativity testing, gifted peer nominations, prior teacher conferences

E Myself, and my Special Ed. Teacher

F Creativity and IQ testing, grades, and peer, parent, and teacher nominations

Question 15: Finally, what is your biggest need?

A Challenges

B Creative support and deeper connections

C Freedom, privacy, and deeper connections

D Support, and an individual programme

E E: Skill development, support, counselling

F Opportunities and facilitation

If you answered mostly:

A’s You fall most under the category of ‘The Successful’.

B’s You fall most under the category of ‘The Challenging’.

C’s You fall most under the category of ‘The Underground’.

D’s You fall most under the category of ‘The Dropout’.

E’s You fall most under the category of ‘The Twice Exceptional’.

F’s You fall most under the category of ‘The Autonomous’.

What now?

Extension

Extension work is one of the main things that keep gifted children motivated. Children such as these work very intently on realism, and they quickly identify something that there is no point in doing. Simple and tedious work that is behind their level can easily deter a gifted child from learning at all. Another great reason for lack of engagement is that because gifted children’s brains process things so fast, a regular pace of learning can feel like drip feeding and cause them to make a habit of zoning out in lessons. Extension courses will keep them happy with themselves and increase their self-esteem as well, as gifted children are often too hard on themselves. There is only so far you can go with work that is behind you, and when gifted children lack results because of insufficient material, they twist it into thinking it is their fault, and criticize themselves. As for Type 1 gifted learners, extension work will help them realize that life isn’t always going to be as easy as they are used to, which is a realization best to have early on.

Research

Research about gifted children should be done by all gifted students. Many of these children are suffering an identity crisis at young ages because they don’t understand themselves and most people around them can’t help them with that. Realizing that other people feel and think the same way you do makes you feel less alone, and removes the misconception from gifted children’s minds that they are crazy or stupid. Joining communities of gifted children and talking to gifted peers can ease the tough road that is navigating a gifted childhood. Such a big part of growing up is the need to fit in, and these children need this from somewhere.

Therapy

Therapy is often a required recourse for gifted children. This is because they may be categorised as neurodiverse and have to navigate life from a different perspective from their parents, teachers, and peers. If they are unguided, this may become confusing. Without this guidance, they may think there is something wrong with them. It is important to find a therapist who specializes in gifted children, because it is extremely easy to misdiagnose. For example, the restlessness that gifted children’s minds experience (because they often work at a much faster pace than average brains) can be mistaken for ADHD, and it is also common for them to be misdiagnosed with depression. The treatments after that will not benefit them in any way because of the incorrect diagnoses. Make sure the therapist is familiar with gifted children. Make sure too the counsellor is registered to conduct tests, because knowing your child’s IQ and EQ score can be very handy for groups like MENSA if this kind of thing is a goal for your child. And remember, that sentence said “if this sort of thing is a goal for your child”. Being pushed constantly into things they don’t want to do and being almost punished for being smart with pressure is one of the things that send gifted children to therapy. Either way, you can’t go wrong giving your child someone who understands them and a safe space to talk about the things they won’t discuss with you.