Understanding
Social Emotional Needs
of Gifted Learners
Intensity,
Overexcitabilities, and Perfectionism
By Michelle Miller
www.gtlady.com
S
Intensity
The gifted experience
S
Intensity
S Experience
S Physicality
S Affect
S Thought
S Imaginings
Quote from a gifted and intense
adolescent
“We are not “normal” and we know it. It can be fun sometimes
but not funny always. We tend to be much more sensitive than
other people. Multiple meanings, innuendos, and selfconsciousness plague us. Intensive self-analysis, self-criticism,
and the inability to recognize that we have limits make us
despondent. In fact, most times our self-searching leaves us
more discombobbled than we were at the outset.”
Overexcitabilities
Definition
and
Management Strategies
S
Kazimierz
Dabrowski
Theory of Emotional
Development
Theory of Positive
Disintegration
Overexcitabilities
Positive
Disintegration
Evolution of advanced human
development
Overexcitabilities
Expanded awareness and
a heightened capacity to
respond to stimuli of
various types
The Five Overexcitabilities
Psychomotor
OE
S Surplus of energy
S Rapid speech
S Enthusiasm
S Impulsivity
S Competitiveness
S Misdiagnosed as ADHD
Suggested Strategies for
Managing Psychomotor OE
For Teachers
S Provide time for spontaneity
and open-ended, free-wheeling
activities.
S Allow students freedom to
move
S Assign action-related tasks
S Set clear goals with clear
action-oriented means to
achieving them
For Students
S When faced with sitting for an
extended time, find a way to get
rid of excess energy. Run up and
down stairs, jump up and down,
etc.
S Find outlets that do not distract
others. Tap a straw or pipe
cleaner instead of a pencil, stand
up, bob knees, squeeze clay
S Exercise vigorously daily
S Write racing thoughts on sticky
notes or a keep a journal
Sensual OE
 Sensory pleasure: sight,




sound, taste, touch,
smell
Appreciation of artistic
beauty
Overeating
Overindulgence
Needing to be the
“center of attention”
Suggested Strategies for
Managing Sensual OE
For Teachers
S Use color and artistic
representations during
instruction
S Provide opportunities for
students to “be in the
limelight”
S Notice overindulgence and
discuss healthier options
For Students
S Create time to dwell in a sensual,
soothing environment
S Visit museums, jewelry stores,
gardens or music performances
S Carry a favorite texture, dab a
small amount of scent on your
wrist, wear a favorite color
S Keep a journal to describe intense
sensory experiences
Intellectual OE
S Probing
questions/curiosity
S Problem solving
S Concentration
S Metacognition
S Analytical thinking
S Introspection
Suggested Strategies for
Managing Intellectual OE
For Teachers
S Model how to find the answers to
questions
S Encourage the passion to
analyze, synthesize, and seek
understanding
S Help students act on their
intellectualized principles
S Teach tolerance.
S Provide resources for projects
and problem solving
For Students
S Find puzzles and games that
challenge you.
S Find people with similar
interests.
S Join a debate team, math club,
science club, or academic
competition
S Conduct experiments
S Read non-fiction
Imaginational
OE
 Free play of





imagination
Dramatization
Use of image and
metaphor
Creativity
Elaborate dreams and
fantasies
Vivid visual recall
Suggested Strategies for
Managing Imaginational OE
For Teachers
S Help students differentiate
between their imagination and
the real world by having them
place a stop sign in their mental
videotape, or write down or
draw the factual account before
they embellish it
For Students
S Write about the great stories
in your head.
S Find appropriate times to
daydream: On the bus,
walking home from school,
etc.
S Encourage use of imagination to
S Use your imagination to help
S Invite creative suggestions or
S Express yourself: Draw,
learn and solve problems
interpretations during class
solve problems.
dance, write poems, etc.
Emotional
OE
 Intense emotions
 Physical expression of
emotion
 Compassion and empathy
 Inhibition
 Self-evaluation/selfjudgment
 Fears, guilt, anxiety
 Strong attachments to
others
 Strong affective memory
Suggested Strategies for
Managing Emotional OE
For Teachers
For Students
S Accept all feelings, regardless
S Give words to complexity and
of intensity
S Teach how to anticipate and
prepare for emotional and
physical responses
S Remain calm
S Be aware of emotional
triggers
S Be sympathetic
depth of an emotion
S Learn how to anticipate your
emotions
S Find outlets for your emotions:
Writing, talking with friends and
family, exercise, etc.
S Embrace the intensity of your
emotions
Perfectionism
Definitions
and
Management
S
Perfectionism as Pursuit of
Excellence
Healthy Perfectionism
S Drives high effort and
accomplishment
S Gives students pleasure from
concentrated effort
S Allows students to adjust
their work level as the
situation requires
Maladaptive or “Neurotic”
Perfectionism
Maladaptive Perfectionism
S Prohibits students from
appreciating their competency
or the adequacy of work
S Causes stress and anxiety
S Can result in
underachievement
Characteristics of Neurotic
Perfectionism
S Stay up all night working then
turn it in late
S Get sick over grades
S Cheat
S Sweaty palms and accelerated
heart rate before tests
S Compulsively compare scores
with others
S Procrastinate
S Work alone
S Argue about test scores
S Avoid new experiences
S Are overly precise
S Feel dissatisfied or guilty
about good work
Managing
Perfectionism
 Praise effort not the end






result
Help students set SMART
goals
Discuss and model
mistakes
Share stories of successful
people
Help students identify fears
Teach to manage work with
calendars and timelines
Teach Yoga, breathing, and
relaxation
References
Daniels, Susan, and Michael M. Piechowski. Living with intensity: understanding the sensitivity,
excitability, and emotional development of gifted children, adolescents, and adults. Scottsdale, AZ: Great
Potential Press, 2009. Print.
Davis, Gary A., and Sylvia B. Rimm. Education of the gifted and talented. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall, 1985. Print.
Elliott, Miriam, Jan Goldberg, and Caroline Price. Perfectionism: what's bad about being too good?. [Rev.
and updated ed. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Pub., 1999. Print.
Mendaglio, Sal. Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration. Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press, 2008.
Print.
Rimm, Sylvia B.. Underachievment Syndrome: Causes and Cures. 6th print. ed. Watertown WI: Apple
Publ, 1990. Print.
Silverman, Linda Kreger, and Leland Baska. Counseling the gifted and talented. Denver, CO: Love Pub.
Co., 1993. Print.
"The ‘Over-Excitable Gifted’: Managing Talent and Five Forms of Excitability ." Jobs, Career
and Recruitment Platform. Connecting Recruiters and Job Seekers. Find Recruiting Jobs.. N.p., n.d. Web. 5
Jan. 2013. http://www.recruiter.com/i/the-over-excitable-gifted-managing-talent-and-five-forms-ofexcitability/.g.
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