The Social World of Gifted Children and Youth

Abstract

The young people about whom this book is written share mainly the fact that, in one or more cognitive/academic domains, their development is advanced. Aside from this characteristic, however, they are as diverse as any group one can find—diverse in ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds and experiences, diverse in family composition and family dynamics, and diverse in aptitudes and creativity. They are just as diverse in motivation, energy, confidence, temperament, and social skills. Finally, they are diverse in the asynchronies they exhibit—some advanced in all cognitive domains (though seldom equally advanced in all) and others in only a few; some exhibiting maturity in social skills and emotional self-regulation at a level commensurate with their mental age and many somewhere between mental age (MA) and chronologi- cal age (CA) in this respect; some only age-appropriate in fine and/or gross motor skills; and so on. Complicate this with their degree of advancement or giftedness, gender-related issues, age-related issues, and educational experience as well as peer groups, and it is easy to see that any generalizations about social issues need to be tempered by significant caution!