General Indicators of Giftedness

Gifted students exhibit many of the following characteristics in various degrees and combinations:
• Intense responses to stimuli
• Emotionally and physically sensitive
• Think and learn quickly
• Advanced vocabularies
• Outstanding memories
• Avid readers
• High energy levels
• Highly developed sense of humor
• Curious, ask many questions
• Feel different from others
• Wide range of interests
• Tell imaginative stories
• Empathy for others
• Advanced sense of justice and fairness, global awareness
• Comfortable with abstract thinking and concepts
• Long attention spans and concentration on things of interest
• Understand relationships among unrelated ideas
• Transfer concepts and previous learning to new situations
• Great imaginations; frequently daydream
• Dominate peers or situations
• Critical of themselves and others
• Interact well with older children and adults
• Individualistic; like to work alone, resisting group work
• Dislike routine or low-level details and tasks
• Highly verbal, frequently interrupting others
• Prefer complex ideas and tasks
• Solve problems using ingenious methods
• Open to new ideas and experiences
• Want things (and themselves) to be perfect

Adapted from: Webb, James T., Meckstroth, Elizabeth A., and Tolan, Stephanie S., Guiding the Gifted Child, 1994, Great Potential Press, Scottsdale, AZ. www.giftedbooks.com; Albuquerque Public Schools Gifted Handbook, 2002; Winebrenner, Susan, Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom, 1992, Free Spirit Publishing, Inc., Minneapolis, MN.