What actions can parents, teachers and counselors make to help these gifted children at risk?
- Become more aware of the characteristics, needs and issues of gifted children.
- Advocate for appropriate services to address the lack of challenge and the issues so many gifted children and adolescents face.
- Parents, develop an awareness of your gifted child’s characteristics.
- Counselors, get training on the intellectual, social, and emotional issues of gifted children and adolescents.
- Educators, re-examine your own attitudes and beliefs about gifted children and adolescents, especially those who are highly creative and may be comfortable in their nonconformity.
To be fully prepared to effectively work with gifted people, counselors should:
- Have a strong knowledge of the characteristics of gifted children.
- Be aware of the resources available for gifted children: support groups, parent organizations, educational opportunities, etc.
- Be creative in the approach to counseling.
- Be aware gifted children have exceptional abilities. It is easy to be fooled by exceptional intellect and interpersonal abilities.
- Be an advocate and expand your role as counselor by educating others involved with the child and coordinating services for them.
- Many gifted children are in denial of their giftedness, so help them know and understand the construct of being gifted.
- Family Issues, it is crucial that the parents have a strong involvement in the counseling process.
- Once the counselor has first assisted the client in identifying specific areas of giftedness, the process can then move forward in helping the gifted child identify areas of deficit. Facing these deficits will be the most challenging aspect.
- Taking a proactive instead of reactive approach
Counseling children at risk for suicide:
There are several factors that counselors, parents and teachers should understand to precipitate earlier and better suicide assessment and intervention among the gifted. Know the risk factors and signs of this clinical depression. Keep in mind that when assessing suicide with the gifted population, you are dealing with potentially manipulative individuals, possessing well developed defense mechanisms.
Parents:
Parents who suspect that their child is depressed can intervene in several ways. One is to reduce or eliminate their child’s consumption of sugar and caffeine, which destabilize moods. A second is to increase the child’s level of exercise, especially if he or she has not been recently active. A third is to encourage the child to maintain social relationships.
Provided is a website with tips on picking the right counselor for your gifted children.
http://www.sengifted.org/archives/articles/tips-for-selecting-the-right-counselor-or-therapist-for-your-gifted-child
For all:
Listen and accept the concerns of gifted students as valid. Assure them they are not alone, and help them join a group where they fit in, such as an organization that supports a social cause or a club that encourages creativity.