Gifted, creative and highly sensitive children | Heidi Hass Gable | TEDxLangleyED

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Published 2015-03-10

Being “gifted” often feels far from a good thing, when you’re the one living it. And yet the myth persists that “gifted” is an elitist and privileged label in education. That “those kids” will be fine without any extra programs or supports. After all, what’s the worst that can happen – they get bored? In reality, many of our most vulnerable learners are those “gifted” kids who know they just don’t “fit it.” In our rush to identify and label children for purposes of funding and organizing our educational services most efficiently, we’re missing the ground level, actionable and everyday needs of an entire grouping of needy kids. Our most gifted, sensitive and creative students are our canaries in the coal mine; they are more sensitive to the world around them and the reactions we see in them can teach us what our education system needs to be, believe, include and stop. As is often the case, what is necessary for some is beneficial to all.

Heidi approaches our education system from multiple perspectives. First and foremost, she is the mother of three amazing, gifted, creative and/or highly sensitive children! Heidi also spent almost six years as president of the City of Coquitlam‘s District Parent Advisory Council, attending countless advisory committees and working to build relationships between parents and teachers. And finally, she has worked with many passionate educators as an edtech consultant – participating in technology planning, facilitating dialogue and implementing technology to support student learning, communication and relationship building. She is an idealist, geek and deceptively social introvert.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

All Comments (21)

@benfrank8649 6 years ago

I tested as gifted as child. I was indeed the class clown. Rather than being in a gifted program, I was in a behavioral classroom, for problem kids basically. I barely graduated high school, but now I’m in a neuropsychology doctorate program. Finally, I enjoy school.
@VeronicaKulchitskaya 4 years ago

God when she said "that childs sense of self has been compromised. There's anxiety and there's existential crises" the floodgates opened
@lidu6363 7 years ago

„I am gifted but I would rather apologize for it than brag about it. Why is that?“ Instant like. Why does our society give us the feeling that we should be average and conventional?
@sOupira 4 years ago

I'm crying watching that because that's all I've ever wanted when I was a kid. And yes I "swallowed" a lot of myself to fit in.
@Irene-eu4iz 6 years ago

Average IQ is 100. If a kid has an IQ of 70, they get special education. So if a kid has an IQ of 130, don’t they deserve a special education, too? It’s cruel to force highly intelligent kids in with the general population. It’s a soul crushing experience that has life long effects :( (I’m aware that IQ isn’t a perfect measure, but it illustrates my point here.)
@CeliaTyree 7 years ago

Hugs to all the fellow gifted ex-children here, hope you are doing great.
@watchingthebees 3 years ago

I’m autistic and gifted. I’m crying so much by watching this, you’re such an amazing mother! I wish I had a mother like you. My dream is to create my own method of education and have my own school, because I see how our current school system deeply fail us
@J.Moyine 5 years ago

It's very easy to spot a gifted child because there's absolutely nothing ordinary about them. In a crowd of millions, they'd always stand out like a sore thumb. The way they create, the way they take in information, the way they interact with their environment and family members, and their ability to do things at a level that are far far beyond their years. They are highly sensitive, deeply curious, extremely intense, emotionally intelligence individuals that notice things that most others are oblivious to, and they are ALWAYS misunderstood by the vast majority, and are mostly deemed to be an anaomoly for the most part. (however they also tend to be the game changers and artistic geniuses that propel the world forward). They're extraordinary prolific at their chosen pursuit and are often multi talented (hence the over activity and hyper creativity that they have to manage on a daily basis) they are OBSESSIVE and insanely driven at perfecting whatever task is at hand, and they're easily overwhelmed by people, external stimuli, and need an awful lot of time and space alone to ponder, reflect, re-gather their energies and make sense of the world around them, and manage the mammoth and EXTREMELY overly active world inside of them. Being a gifted child has been an endless struggle for me (especially regarding relationships with other people which are especially tough because most people are always operating at a levels of consciousness and understanding that is so narrow and colourless that it feels like I'm drawing blood from myself just to be able to communicate with them) but it comes with advantages that I would never ever trade, regardless of the difficulties and pain that is endured. I could go on and on with this topic but the gifted child is a particularly special kind of individual that is just far too complex (in terms of their needs and the ways they draw meaning from life) to sum up in a paragraph, let alone several books!
@tylerb7194 8 years ago

I don't know that I'm gifted, but I know that I'm intelligent. School was never enough for me. I disliked the dynamic and the monotony. The huge groups of people making it impossible to focus. Even now it's difficult in college. But there is no other dynamic. And it is truly unfortunate.
@pratikshasonkar2023 3 years ago

Having been a senstitive child myself, and often termed "too intense", deeply emotional, i could relate so much to the "sense of self" concept that she talked about. More people need to watch this. Thanks.
@jillianfrost4570 8 years ago

I am a gifted student in 5th grade and it makes me happier to know that I am not the only who is embarrassed by it
@moderngrandma 8 years ago

We must also attract GIFTED TEACHERS and allow them to mentor gifted students. When I was teaching, students would self-select to be (or not to be) in my classes which promoted excactly what you describe. As goes our political climate, so goes our educational one...thanks for having the courage to share your journey and your story.
@fantasylovemagic 2 years ago

Got homeschooled by our gifted mom. She then found structure for neuroatypical kids where we were understood and supported by gifted and Asperger teachers. Thank you mom ♥️
@kameecollins9505 7 years ago

This was me growing up. It's me now. The expectations for me were so high because of the "gifted" label, but no one wanted to recognize the other parts of me. The highly sensitive, emotional, anxiety-riddled part of me that was either derided or ignored. Now that I have a daughter who exhibits the same behaviors I recognize in myself, I truly hope that I am able to nurture her highly sensitive nature so that she sees it as a strength and not a weakness.
@mireyabenedetti5586 5 years ago

"he had to swallow so much of himself and do what he was told..." ugh...my heart breaks. Glad to hear things ended up going well. Thank you for this video.
@stellasmith4473 8 years ago

Being exceptionally gifted fucking sucks. It has close to zero pros. I got diagnosed with autism and depression by some "psychiatrist", while no one I'm close to thinks I have it. Besides I'm not driven to learn for school, because I love learning things but when people force me to do so, my whole motivation fades away.
@muttinking7276 7 years ago

When i passed my schools "gifted" test everyone expected more from me and it sucks
@fallingwidstyle 6 years ago

I wish someone had noticed that I was "gifted" when i was at school. Watching this ted talk made feel complete in the sense that I'm not alone with my way of thinking and that there's nothing wrong with me.
@eleanornelson5810 8 years ago

I am highly gifted but I was never recognized as one when I was a child. Now I have a daughter who is also highly gifted. Only by helping my daughter struggle with her giftedness have I been able accept how different I am. I am so glad she is growing up now rather than in the 60s but it could be so much better for her. I hope I can help and support her in the ways she needs rather than in the ways the "experts" advise. Thank you for giving this talk.
@damaspiderqueen 4 years ago

I'm a child of the 80's, I was a poor kid with a single parent. Overlooked by the system, I wasn't identified as highly gifted until I was 28. It wasn't great being that misunderstood kid. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. It was pretty lonely. I'm just glad at least these days things are changing.