Some general difficulties that can be found in these children would be the following:
- they get bored at school
- they don't focus for very long on a particular activity
- their attention is often diverted
- they seem undisciplined
- they may have a lot of energy
- they are socially maladjusted
- Gifted children are easily frustrated by the speed of their peers and find it better to work alone. They don't like to work in a group with other peers because they either end up doing most of the work themselves or they are not satisfied with what others have done.
- They are perfectionists and set high goals for themselves, and when they work hard and fail to achieve those goals they become frustrated and feel disappointed in themselves. They become anxious because of the gap between what they imagined they should achieve and what they have actually achieved.
- Some gifted children have a strong sense of fairness and an extremely strong moral value system, and this can be a problem for them at times because they feel very affected by the incorrect things that can happen around them. It is all the more difficult for children to control these strong emotions as they are not yet mature enough to be able to manage them. That's why parents need to learn how to help their children manage their emotions.
- Given this, a teacher might think "this is a child with a learning disability." Indeed, there may be children with learning difficulties, but it is very important that the assessment is done by a psychologist with expertise in both gifted and learning disabled children, in order to differentiate between them as accurately as possible.
- Sometimes gifted children are asked not to talk about their abilities, and not to appear to be bragging, but this can make children feel unaccepted or that their abilities are actually a problem.
- Unfortunately, because of such problems, many gifted children become maladjusted adults who lose themselves. Their ability itself is not lost, but they fail to use their true potential. That is why it is important to help them early.
