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• Gifted children come from all different racial and ethnic backgrounds, as well as economic status.
• Ability to comprehend material several grade levels above their age peers.
• Surprising emotional depth and sensitivity at a young age.
• Strong sense of curiosity.
• Enthusiastic about unique interests and topics.
• Quirky or mature sense of humor.
• Creative problem solving and imaginative expression.
• Absorbs information quickly with few repetitions needed.
• Self-aware, socially aware, and aware of global issues.
• Rapid Comprehension: An advanced ability to learn and process information rapidly, combined with a need for constant mental stimulation; profoundly gifted students often work at a different pace than neurotypical peers–going far ahead or pausing to dive deeply in areas of interest.
• Intuitive Understanding of the Basics: Difficulty concentrating on tasks that are not intellectually challenging, including repetitious materials or rote tasks; profoundly gifted children often need less practice to master an idea or concept.
• Tendency toward Complexity: A need to understand the “big picture” of what they are learning; they may ask endless “why” questions or prefer to learn whole-to-part rather than part-to-whole.
• Need for Precision: An appreciation for nuance and a need for precision in thinking and expression; they may often respond to questions with “that depends…” and they may struggle with multiple choice assessments that ask them to make definitive decisions without an extensive contextual background to questions.
• High Expectations: A tendency to hold themselves and others to high standards, which can sometimes present as perfectionism or a very defined sense of justice; this may lead to challenges when understanding rules set by others or interacting with same-age peers who don’t hold the same standards.
• Divergent Interests: A vivid imagination and niche interests may make it difficult to connect with same-age peers; profoundly gifted students may seek out older children or adults who share their interests, or they may connect with younger children who are flexible in their thinking and engage in imaginational pursuits.