The Gift Izz

DEFINITIONS

Social meaning adapted from Merriam-Webstar (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social)
  1. relating to or involving activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other
  2. liking to be with and talk to people : happy to be with people
The family is generally regarded as a major social institution and a locus of much of a person’s social activity. It is a social unit created by blood, marriage, or adoption, and can be described as nuclear (parents and children) or extended (encompassing other relatives) adapted from http://www.ncsociology.org/sociationtoday/v22/family.htm

Gifted children may not be challenged enough when learning in a class with their same age peers but may have challenges to be friends or even to get accepted. From Davidson Institute, it was mentioned that asynchronous development, or uneven development, is often considered a core trait of giftedness, where the students may be college age intellectually but still only 10 or 12 years old in terms of their social skills.

GIFTED CHILDREN AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS

As a result, it can be difficult to make friends who share their interests or hard to know how to appropriately express themselves in group settings. Depending on the educational environment, these children may be labeled with problematic behaviors like being bossy, snobbish, anti-social, etc.

(https://www.davidsongifted.org/gifted-blog/types-of-problems-gifted-children-face/)

Below are some other links on giftedness and social

 

In trying to support your gifted child in making friends the link below has links to blogs of experience of gifted person and some tips on socializing for gifted children.

A paper was done in parenting the social emotional of the gifted and talented children XXXXXXXXX

FAMILY AS THE MAIN SOCIAL INSTITUTE

Gifted children treasure their family, especially when being supported as they find it that their family tends to be there for them most of the time, especially when others do not believe in them.

From Raisingchildren.net.au, for a gifted child, family is the safe place they are accepted, loved and valued for who they are. The thing a gifted child most needs to grow up happy and healthy family’s love and support. In a family, it is also the place where the gifted child learns to accept and value others for who they are too, although there might be a difference between what a gifted child can do and what other family members can do, as different individuals have different strengths, where a family can help a gifted child to recognize these by pointing them out; for example, the child’s sister might be good at martial arts and their brother might be a great gardener (adapted from https://raisingchildren.net.au/preschoolers/play-learning/gifted-talented-children/family-life)

From the time they can talk, gifted children are constantly asking questions and often challenge authority. “Do it because I said so” doesn’t work with these children. Generally, parents who take the time to explain requests get more cooperation than do more authoritarian parents. If these children are spoken to and listened to with consideration and respect, they tend to respond respectfully. As children get older, a family meeting can be a good way of sharing responsibility and learning negotiation skills. Family meetings can provide a forum where children have a voice as a family member and provide avenues for avoiding power struggles that otherwise can occur. It is important for gifted children to feel emotionally supported by the family–even when there are disagreements (https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED352776.pdf ).

The key to raising gifted children is respect: respect for their uniqueness, respect for their opinions and ideas, respect for their dreams. Gifted children need parents who are responsive and flexible, who will go to bat for them when they are too young to do so for themselves. It is painful for parents to watch their children feeling out of sync with others, but it is unwise to emphasize too greatly the importance of fitting in. Children get enough of that message in the outside world. At home, children need to know that their uniqueness is cherished and that they are appreciated as persons just for being themselves (https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED352776.pdf).

Please have a look at our blog to see about how the family social can help a child to talk in Talk…How? or  No clapping and birthday song PLEASE! helps them to calm down. As they have a strong social foundation from family, the child will go into society to socialize in a good manner.