Regarding issues and myths, there may be a common conflation of the concepts of "giftedness" and "opportunity". As an example, people may say that a child is so gifted that they attended a particular school or camp... or accomplished a specific personal goal.

While Giftedness and Opportunity may sometimes align, people may need to understand that natural giftedness occurs in every demographic. Despite strong internal drive there is not a direct proportional correlation between giftedness and access to opportunity, connections, or financial resources to empower a student to achieve or accomplish their desired goals.

Example:
In addition to experiencing delays in achieving their personal goals when they reach out to potential mentors who subsequently decline support... unfortunately some gifted students also suffer the indignity of seeing their goals permanently thwarted when the potential mentor chooses to take the gifted student's original ideas and to support other children in accomplishing them. This undermines and invalidates a gifted child while affirming and boosting others; It may be one strategy utilized by schools to close achievement gaps and/or to close excellence gaps.

Summary:
In summary, where Giftedness may be nature, the provision of Opportunity is nurture:
- A lack of Opportunity does not equal a lack of Giftedness.
- An abundance of Opportunity does not equal Giftedness.
Fortunately, understanding this may help facilitate the provision of opportunity for talent development and achieving personal goals for gifted children. Especially for those who attempt to self-advocate for the support they seek.

NAGC List of Myths About Gifted Students:
More Myths on this NAGC webpage (backed up on the WayBack Machine, here.)