Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. This asynchrony increases wtih higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching and counseling in order for them to develop optimally. (The Columbus Group, 1991)

This view suggests that gifted children are on a developmental trajectory that is outside of norms from infancy onward. They reach recognized milestones of development on a schedule that is unique to them, putting them out of sync with society’s expectations. In addition, they may be out of sync internally, with cognitive, social and emotional development on separate and sometimes quite different timetables.

The young gifted child may appear to be many ages at once. He may be eight (his chronological age) when riding a bicycle, twelve when playing chess, fifteen when studying algebra, ten when collecting fossils and two when asked to share his chocolate chip cookie with his sister. This variability in behavior is difficult for parents and schools to handle and difficult for the child as well. It is hard to “fit in” consistently when so much of the child’s environment is structured by chronological age, an age which may be for the gifted child the least relevant aspect of his development.1

So what does it mean to be gifted/special needs?

If Gifted = Asynchronous Development, then Gifted/Special Needs = Asynchrony Squared.

Gifted/special needs children develop in an even more extremely uneven manner. They are more complex and intense than their gifted agemates, and no single grade-level curriculum will meet their needs. These discrepancies are even greater than those of other gifted kids, making them even more vulnerable. In addition to having asynchrony between their intellectual and physical development, they have extreme asynchrony between intellectual development and the ability to express or use that intellect.2

1 Tolan, Stephanie. Giftedness As Asynchronous Development. Tip Network News, Spring 1994 <http://www.gtworld.org/asynchronous.html>

2 Singer, Lee. If Gifted=Asynchronous Development, then Gifted/Special Needs=Asynchrony Squared. From Uniquely Gifted: Identifying and Meeting the Needs of the Twice Exceptional, Kiesa Kay ed., Avocus Publishing: NH 2000