School Counselors and Gifted Kids: Respecting Both Cognitive and Affective

Abstract

Exceptional intellectual ability may not come to mind as a possible contributor when school counselors learn about a student's problematic behavior. Likewise, high-ability students probably do not come to mind first when schools are anticipating counseling needs. Nevertheless, scholars who have focused on giftedness have referred to various concerns that might come to the attention of school counselors, including gifted students' inattention, timidity, difficulty with transitions to new contexts, discomfort with a high level of classroom activity and large numbers of people in one place, smells and noise and visual stimuli, crying and general intensity of feeling, and a high energy level (Tucker & Hafenstein, 1997); questioning authority, debilitating self-consciousness, and preoccupation with others' expectations of them (Mendaglio, 2007); and sensitivity to criticism and extreme self-criticism (Silverman, 1993). Sometimes the aforementioned behaviors are inappropriately viewed as pathology (Webb et al., 2005) when they may actually reflect characteristics and concepts associated with giftedness, such as heightened sensitivity to environmental stimuli (Mendaglio, 2007); intensity (Daniels & Piechowski, 2009); or intellectual, sensual, emotional, psychomotor, or imaginational over-excitability (Piechowski, 1999). All of these can potentially exacerbate challenges related to personal, family, and school transitions, including those related to developmental tasks (National Association for Gifted Children [NAGC], 2013a). In addition, given the inherently asynchronous development of gifted youth, their cognitive development is likely to far outpace social and emotional development (Alsop, 2003). However, their cognitive attempts to control chaotic situations and their own intense emotions may be ineffective, leaving them to feel out of control emotionally (Jackson & Peterson, 2003). Definitions How gifted is defined continues to generate controversy among gifted-education scholars (e.g., McBee, McCoach, Peters, & Matthews, 2012), including, for example, about whether achievement is essential. In this article, the term gifted refers to exceptionally high intellectual capability regardless of commensurate academic performance. Therefore, both high achievers and underachievers with high ability are considered gifted. The NAGC (2013b) definition of giftedness includes direct reference to more than just academic performance: outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains (p. 1). The inclusion of aptitude suggests that potential, based on measured ability, should be recognized and addressed by appropriate services. According to Peters, Matthews, McBee, and McCoach (2014), the traditional criterion of an IQ of 130 or above, or 2.5% of a normal distribution, may reflect long-standing diagnostic practices. However, states and school districts in the United States differ in the proportion of students involved in educational services for gifted students, and only 32 states mandate either services or identification or both (NAGC & Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted, 2011). Peters et al. noted that definitional terms are open to interpretation and argued that arbitrarily established percentages of targeted students should not drive programming. Services should instead reflect student needs (e.g., domain-specific needs) that are not being addressed in classrooms in a specific school context. If informal school district, educator, or school counselor definitions of gifted are limited to high academic achievement, a good fit in school, and visible parental support, adult school personnel may believe that high ability precludes individual and family difficulties and negative life events (Peterson, Duncan, & Canady, 2009). …