There are several things that parents and educators can do to help reduce the amount of vulnerabilities within the gifted child. These include:
Parents are also encouraged to find resources and materials about giftedness and to help their students to have challenging academic experiences without the pressure of requiring or expecting too much from them. One good resource for parents is the National Association of Gifted Children (2008) website ( http://www.nagc.org/). This resource has a plethora of information and resources in order to help parents, as well as educators, see that gifted children are able to reach their fullest potential without experiencing severe negative consequences. Listed in the table below, parents and educators will find other helpful resources that will be an valuable source of information as they are working with their gifted students.
- Recognize that a gifted child's emotional and social development will not always match his or her intellectual development. Before responding to your child's emotional outburst or concluding that your child is socially or emotionally immature, stop a moment to remind yourself of your child's chronological age.
- Understand that asynchronous development creates special needs. For example, gifted children need emotional support as do all children, but they also need advanced intellectual stimulation. A gifted four-year-old who can discuss black holes still needs comforting hugs.
- Recognize that gifted children may not get their emotional, social, and intellectual needs met by the same peers. This means that they may be able to socialize to a degree with children their own age, but may also need opportunities to interact with other gifted children, older children, or even adults. Parents should make every effort to provide these opportunities. (Bainbridge, 2014)
Parents are also encouraged to find resources and materials about giftedness and to help their students to have challenging academic experiences without the pressure of requiring or expecting too much from them. One good resource for parents is the National Association of Gifted Children (2008) website ( http://www.nagc.org/). This resource has a plethora of information and resources in order to help parents, as well as educators, see that gifted children are able to reach their fullest potential without experiencing severe negative consequences. Listed in the table below, parents and educators will find other helpful resources that will be an valuable source of information as they are working with their gifted students.