The development of the whole child must be addressed, taking into account the interaction of emotional, social, cognitive, and physical factors. (Colangelo & Parker, 1981 Delisle, J.R., 1982 Gregory & Stevens-Long, 1986 Kaiser, Berndt, & Stanley, 1987 Schwolinski & Reynolds, 1985). Most address one aspect of development or an area of achievement or interest. She focused on the development of coping styles and the ways in which gifted children experience and express feelings.įew studies focus on a holistic perspective of the gifted child. She identified the perfectionist, the child/adult, the winner of the competition, the self-critic, and the well-integrated child. Roeper (1982) proposed five types of gifted children based strictly on the approaches gifted children use to cope with their emotions. Little has been done, however, to distinguish among groups of gifted children. Experience with gifted children in a variety of settings has served to increase awareness that the gifted cannot be seen as one group (Strang, 1962). Gifted children interact with and are influenced by their families, their education, their relationships, and their personal development. All gifted children are not affected by their special abilities in the same way. Personality is the result of life experiences and genetic makeup. They are not intended to describe anyone child completely.

These types are offered as a generalization to facilitate the task of identifying and guiding gifted children in all aspects of development. It can also be used to develop appropriate educational goals for the gifted. This model serves to increase awareness among educators and parents of differences among gifted children and provides guidelines for identifying gifted children. The matrix describes and compares the needs, feelings and behaviors of six different profiles of gifted children. The purpose of this article is to describe a theoretical model to profile the gifted and talented that differentiates gifted individuals on the basis of behavior, feelings, and needs. For example, creatively gifted, intellectually gifted, learning disabled gifted, and artistically gifted are among the different categories that have been reported. When they are differentiated, it tends to be on the basis of differences in intellectual abilities, talents, or interests rather than from a total or “gestalt” point of view in terms of behavior, feelings, and needs. Gifted children are usually discussed as an undifferentiated group. Also, tips on identification of each profile are included as well as information on facilitating the gifted and talented in the school and home. These profiles help educators and parents to look closely at the feelings, behaviors, and needs of the gifted and talented. After several years of observations, interviews, and reviews of literature, the authors have developed six profiles of gifted and talented children and youth.

Gifted student program