ABSTRACT
The social and emotional lives of gifted children are wide and deep, and the journey toward self-understanding is the most essential part of teaching and learning. Yet educators tend to think of the social-emotional aspects of giftedness as issues to be addressed, problems to overcome, or roadblocks to thriving. In moments of frustration, as teachers and parents, they might forget about one of the most essential components of giftedness—asynchronous development. Emotional intensity in the gifted is, as sword so poetically described it, “vivid, absorbing, penetrating, encompassing, complex, commanding—a way of being quaveringly alive”. Many of our gifted students carry a reservoir of compassion.
