Extremely and profoundly giftedness

“So, what is the difference between giftedness and this form of extreme giftedness?” It’s a question we get a lot. Well – this can be as big as the difference between a child with Down syndrome and a regular high school student. Although giftedness and extremely and profoundly giftedness (IQ 140+) has its similarities, there are many differences, such as:

  • Intensity of living: the overexcitabilities Dabrowski wrote about are more common as the IQ gets higher
  • They are quicker and have more extremes than other forms of gifted children; e.g. they might speak in sentences before their first birthday
  • An asynchronous development: whereas their interests are way beyond their age, they can still behave like true children
  • A very hard time to find true peers. About 2% of children is gifted, only 0,37% has an IQ of 140 or up: the difference between 20 gifted to 4 extremely gifted on a high school of 1000.
  • They tend to feel so different they have a higher risk at depression and a higher risk at underachieving
  • 60% of those with IQ 140+ drop out of their school or job (for IQ 130-140 this is ‘only’ 30%)

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