Akron, OH - 05-03-2007 - They’re in many classrooms and on many playgrounds across the country. The kids considered gifted/talented. They are divergent thinkers who see the world differently, not perfect little superhumans. They are children. Being led to believe you must always be right, always get A’s, always know how to be organized and well mannered leaves no room to learn and grow. In many cases it can cause these children to place inordinate amounts of pressure on themselves. Recognizing the need, Child Guidance & Family Solutions developed and implemented the GIFT program, which helps gifted/talented children develop healthy social and interpersonal skills alongside other gifted/talented children, while helping their families learn how to deal with giftedness and all it entails. The GIFT program is an eleven-week program for gifted/talented children, ages six through thirteen, and their families from June 12th thru August 21st.

The GIFT program was one of the first to include a child component, providing group services for gifted/talented children and their families since 1991. Designed to promote healthy social and emotional development while avoiding anxiety, depression and social inappropriateness, which can be caused by societal pressures, GIFT addresses common issues of gifted/talented children and families in a comfortable, caring group setting.

Although gifted/talented children may develop faster cognitively, they sometimes display different emotional and social development than their peers. Linda Silverman, Ph. D., states in her book on common problems associated with giftedness, titled Gifted Education: A Developmental Approach, that “if (gifted) children are cherished by their parents, they come to cherish themselves and feel secure…Then something happens: they meet other children.” Gifted/talented children may feel excluded by others’ inability to relate, understand and accept, possibly inhibiting social and emotional development during the critical early years. One thirteen-year-old boy from Portage County explained how the GIFT program helped him deal with these issues. “I learned useful ways to handle stress, manage anger and value myself. I realized that there were other kids just like me and I made a friend.”

Many gifted children are prone to heightened sensitivity, emotional intensity and reactivity, which can create uneven intellectual and emotional development. Addressing these needs provides gifted children and families with strategies to deal with and avoid perfectionism, competitiveness, unrealistic appraisal of their gifts, rejection from peers, confusion due to mixed messages about their talents and parental and social pressures to achieve. Child Guidance & Family Solutions’ GIFT program works with gifted children and families to develop necessary social and emotional tools that aid in the development of emotional and social competence. A former family group member from Medina County expressed how much the GIFT program has helped them become more unified by understanding their child’s giftedness and learning how to constructively guide their gifted child. “I had doubts that this would be useful – I was wrong. Now, I understand my child and his behavior much better. I learned that his sensitivity and intensity are common among gifted children. The GIFT program made me realize that we are not alone, there are other families just like mine.”

The achievements and intellectual pursuits of gifted children are directly related to their emotional needs. The GIFT program utilizes psychoeducational groups to address uneven social and emotional development. Ideally, gifted/talented children learn social and emotional skills best through discussions, activities and interactions with other gifted/talented children. Parent group opportunities, which run concurrently with children’s program, educate parents and loved ones on the social and emotional needs of gifted children and promote healthy development in families. In previous years, families have continued meeting after the conclusion of the program.

Child Guidance & Family Solutions has remained Summit County’s leading provider of behavioral and mental healthcare to adults, children and families for close to 70 years. The Agency provides treatment and prevention services to over 4,000 children and 1,000 adults yearly and employs 150 professionals and support staff. Their counselors and case managers are also on-site in numerous area school districts. For more information on the GIFT program, call Deborah Megyes, program coordinator, at (330) 753-1096. For general information on Child Guidance & Family Solutions’ services, visit cgfs.org or call its central office at (330) 762-0591.