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Category: Over-excitabilities
Adult Giftedness
Jennifer Harvey Sallin

Gifted Adults & Second Childhoods: Revisiting Essential Stages of Development – Part 2

This article examines how Eriksonian psychosocial stages show up across the gifted lifespan—childhood through elder years—highlighting challenges like mistrust, shame, identity confusion, intimacy issues, and the need for generativity, and it recommends gifted-specific therapeutic, educational and community supports to facilitate healing and growth.

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Jennifer Harvey Sallin February 10, 2023
Education & Homeschooling
Mark Hess

Slow Down, Gifted Kid!

A teacher reflects on gifted children’s rapid thinking and sensitivity, arguing they are often told to ‘slow down’ while their intensity, curiosity, and compassion deserve understanding. He traces development from childhood into adolescence and urges adults and educators to nurture, not suppress, gifted learners’ passion and emotional needs.

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Mark Hess November 17, 2022
Over-excitabilities
Megan Champion

For Mothers of Neurodivergent Children, Community is Crucial

A mother recounts early struggles raising neurodivergent twins, describing overwhelm, isolation, and guilt. She outlines a four-step process—awareness, validation, connection, transformation—and shares how founding Mothers Together and her podcast provided community, support, and personal growth for parents of neurodivergent children.

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Megan Champion August 14, 2022
Counselors & Counseling
Gail Post, Ph.D.

The Interface of Overthinking, Anxiety, and Shame Among Gifted Children

Gifted children often feel different and socially isolated, which can lead to overthinking, anxiety, and shame. Parents can help by creating shame-free environments, validating feelings, teaching coping skills like mindfulness and rehearsal, building calming toolkits, fostering independence, and seeking professional support when needed.

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Gail Post, Ph.D. January 13, 2022
Over-excitabilities
Matthew J. Zakreski, PsyD.

Helping Them Climb: Gifted Kids in Therapy

Gifted children often experience intense, frequent, and long-lasting emotions that adults misunderstand. Therapists, teachers, and parents should listen, validate, and join their feelings rather than dismiss them. In the author’s case, supporting a grieving, angry teen led to productive action—an environmental club—and improved functioning.

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Matthew J. Zakreski, PsyD. April 13, 2021
Over-excitabilities
Dr. Katie Coggin and Dr. Kim Freed.

Voices from the Village: A Teaching Community Developing Identity for Gifted Readers

This article explains how picture books can help gifted children understand and embrace Dabrowski’s five overexcitabilities—intellectual, sensual, imaginational, psychomotor, and emotional. It offers strategies for parents and educators and curated children’s book lists to support each overexcitability and foster positive identity development.

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Dr. Katie Coggin and Dr. Kim Freed. March 11, 2021
Communication
seng_derek

This is How Boys are Tough

Mark Hess argues gifted boys often experience intense empathy and sensitivity that, when guided, can develop into meaningful leadership. Using classroom examples, he suggests social-emotional lessons delivered in boy-friendly ways help boys belong, practice compassion, and redefine toughness as emotional courage and kindness.

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seng_derek June 9, 2019
Over-excitabilities
Terry Friedrichs, Ph.D., Ed.D.

Could you please just act normal?

In this classroom vignette, a teacher observes three gifted sisters, focusing on Lucy’s relentless energy and high abilities. The essay contrasts highly gifted intensities with typical gifted students, reflecting on how intense cognition and behavior can appear unusual yet be normal expressions of exceptional ability.

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Terry Friedrichs, Ph.D., Ed.D. January 7, 2019
Over-excitabilities
seng_derek

Director’s Corner: Fire Chasers – Intensities to the extreme

This piece describes ‘fire chasers’—people with intense, multiple overexcitabilities who pursue experiences, ideas, and challenges relentlessly. It cites historical examples, notes the emotional and physical strain of such intensity, and suggests their passion, if focused, can achieve extraordinary outcomes despite struggles.

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seng_derek June 28, 2015
Over-excitabilities
Paula Prober

100 Words of Wisdom: Paula Prober

People resemble ecosystems—meadows, deserts, oceans, each valuable. Gifted individuals are like rainforests: complex, sensitive, intense, and creative. They can contribute significantly, but require acceptance and encouragement. Instead of cutting them down, we should nurture their curiosity, idealism, sensitivity, and insight to appreciate their lively minds.

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Paula Prober February 27, 2015