ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the various aspects of giftedness and relate it back to the author's four case studies examining just how the normal characteristics of giftedness can become problematic. It delves into the specific social-emotional aspects of giftedness and interplay between a gifted child's brain and social-emotional skills. Although giftedness is often defined by the child's intellectual development, there are additional unique characteristics in the areas of social and emotional development that are important to understand. Examination of the attributes of gifted children in school, through peer relationships, and through their management of their emotions demonstrates how the very aspects of giftedness can become the heart of the problem. The nature of giftedness is at the root of some of the more typical problems gifted children face with regard to developing healthy peer relationships.
