Do gifted children learn quietness?

Most people familiar with gifted children will have noticed that many of them are introverted. They prefer the riches of their inner worlds to the paucity of the outer world. Yet, how much of this is innate, and how much is learned behaviour?

As a young child, there was a marked discrepancy between me and the children around me. Looking back now, I see a gulf that was unbridgeable. At the time, I had no idea why the children were the way they were. Unsurprisingly, I thought of them as very simple creatures - though it appals me to write that childhood thought here, as an adult. Yet, I think it is important to introduce that thought - for perhaps many parents reading this, here, may have gifted children who are thinking that daily about the other children they meet. What effect does this disparity of mental development have on children?

One effect that could develop over time is the observed "introversion" seen in such children. If the other children don't understand when the gifted child speaks their mind, eventually such a child might very well learn not to speak their mind at all. A conditioned silence would develop which would be very hard to penetrate. Something of this kind happened to me as a child. I became an observer who didn't express the fullness of my thought: for I anticipated that such expression would be unwelcome. Perhaps the same phenomenon is unfolding in Ainan's life.

Did you feel this way as a gifted child? Do you think your gifted child feels this way? Is their reticence a learned behaviour? That is my theory anyway...your thoughts would be welcome.

(If you would like to read more of my gifted children, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and three months, a scientific child prodigy, Fintan, three and Tiarnan, thirteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The quietest child is often the brightest

We all know of the quiet one, in a classroom - the one who watches and says little, who smiles to themselves at some inner thought, who looks upon the world with wise eyes but refrains from comment. What kind of child is this? Often, this child is the most gifted in the room.

There is a positive correlation between intelligence and introversion that is quite marked. Indeed, beyond an IQ of 160 fully 75% of all gifted children are introverted. This is quite a preponderance and speaks of a matter that is little discussed: the very personality of gifted children can make it difficult for them to fit in a school environment that seems only to think of the extraverted child.

A school is a place of crowds and communal demands, group activities and team sports. A school is for those who like social interaction en masse, popularity stakes and trendy cliques. School is not for the thoughtful child who looks on a deep, inner world rich in thought and feeling. School is not for the gifted, therefore.

It is widely known, amongst gifted people, that schools rarely cater for gifted children educationally. Such children are often under-challenged and feel bored by the school experience, working way below their abilities. Yet, there is another issue that is just as important: school doesn't, generally, make way for the introvert, who is often gifted, as well. School expects extraversion, "joining in", a love of the crowd. Why is this so? Well, we should be aware of a statistic: extraverts outnumber introverts three to one, worldwide. This means that three quarters of teachers will be extravert and so expect their students to be similar. Many teachers will even try to impose extraversion on introverted kids, seeing their introversion not as a personality difference, but as some kind of anomaly or psychological problem needing a "cure". They will try to enforce social togetherness on such a child, try to "draw them out of themselves", make them participate. The typical introvert will find this a kind of social torture, adding to their issues with the school environment.

Is this purely theoretical speculation on my part? Not at all. I see these forces at work with my own child, Ainan. He shows the introversion typical of a child as gifted as he is: he prefers quiet reflection, to raucous social interaction and has been described, by his new teacher as: "a quiet boy who doesn't say much...but I have seen him talk to his friends". It became clear in conversation with her that, after Ainan's new Principal had become aware of Ainan's precocious scientific gifts, that an unexpected reaction had occurred. Instead of concerning themselves primarily with his intellectual development, a directive had gone out to check up on him socially - to see how he interacted with other children. His form teacher had been explicitly instructed to monitor his social behaviour against what appeared to be an extravert ideal of gregariousness. How odd. It seems that unless one is a natural "joiner" then one is somehow unacceptable. This is a perilous attitude to take when the majority of gifted individuals are natural introverts. There is, it seems, a lack of understanding that introversion is an acceptable way of being and not an aberration to be corrected.

Ainan is quiet because Ainan is thinking. Is this to be hammered out of him by an educational system which values extraversion but fails to recognize introversion as just as valid?

The introvert values their inner world; the extravert the outer world. Which is more important? Well, it depends on what your value system is. If you value the creative productivity of your society's most gifted...this will arise from introverted minds. If you value the social cohesiveness that comes from highly gregarious people relating to each other, en masse, then that is a property of the extraverted. The world is dominated, numerically, by extraverts. Yet, no society can afford to be without its introverts, for from them comes most innovations and creative works. Without introverts, the world simply would not be as rich and complex as it is today.

So, if you see a shy child who prefers to work alone on matters that interest them...let them be. Don't think you have to turn them into the "life and soul of the party": for nothing more abhorrent could be imagined by them.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and two months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, baby genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)