Sorry, I can't answer the question posed in the title of this post. I'm fairly sure that the question can't really be answered at all. And the more research I read about this issue, the more convinced I am that it's important not to generalise and stereotype on the topic of giftedness and social skills. I do believe that often giftedness in children brings with it many social and emotional challenges but I do not believe that giftedness equals lower levels of emotional intelligence. Read full article
Yvette Vignando talks about research that indicates giftedness is not necessarily associated with low levels of Emotional Intelligence, or social problems. Is there a bigger issue? Do parents, teachers and peers of gifted children need to become more appreciative of intellectual diversity? Read full article
In Part 2 of this interview Yvette Vignando interviews authors of 'Smart But Scattered' about how parents can work with their children on emotional control, especially once their children are teenagers. Guare and Dawson also discuss strategies for working with your child's school. Read full article
In Part 1 of this interview Yvette Vignando interviews authors of 'Smart But Scattered' about how parents can recognise the need for and help their child develop higher level 'executive' skills such as organisational skills, planning, and time management. Read full article
In this interview with Dr Cheryl Dissanayake, founder and director
of the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, there is valuable guidance on parenting a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Dr Dissanayake also discusses early intervention, parenting programs, giftedness and social and emotional development. Read full article
Bright, sensitive, competitive kids and those recognised as gifted and talented can face a series of emotional challenges as they grow up. Their own high expectations and those of parents or teachers might also start to make them self-conscious or risk averse about their talent. In this article Verity Leatherdale writes about some excellent ideas from Helen Dudeney from the Australian Gifted Support Centre. Read full article
