Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums GT Research Overexcitabilities in Gifted Children

Overexcitabilities in Gifted Children

By Lesley Sword

Kazimierz Dabrowski (1902 - 1980) was a Polish Psychiatrist and Psychologist who worked with creative adults and adolescents. He proposed the Theory of Positive Disintegration which maintains that crises and disintegration are necessary for psychological growth and the attainment of a personality ideal.

Dabrowski believed that inner conflict is a developmental rather than a degenerative sign ie advanced development requires a breakdown of existing psychological structures in order to form higher, more evolved structures.

Overexcitabilities play a central part in Dabrowski's theory of advanced development. Overexcitability is a sensitivity of the nervous system, an expanded awareness of and a heightened capacity to respond to stimuli such as noise, light, smell, touch etc.

The term �overexcitability� conveys the idea that this stimulation of the nervous system is well beyond the usual or average in intensity and duration.

Michael Piechowski, who worked with Dabrowski, explains the overexcitabilities as an abundance of physical, sensual, creative, intellectual and emotional energy that can result in creative endeavours as well as advanced emotional and ethical development in adulthood. He says that the overexcitabilities feed, enrich, empower and amplify talent.

Overexcitabilities are assumed to be innate: a genetic predisposition of the nervous system to respond more and more intensely to life's stimuli. This causes those with strong overexcitabilities to have more intense than usual experiences of life.

Overexcitabilities appear in five forms:

Psychomotor - surplus of energy: rapid speech, pressure for action, restlessness impulsive actions, nervous habits & tics, competitiveness, sleeplessness.

Sensual � sensory and aesthetic pleasure: heightened sensory awareness eg sights, smells, tastes, textures, sounds, appreciation of beautiful objects, music, nature, sensitivity to foods and pollutants, intense dislike of certain clothing, craving for pleasure.

Intellectual � learning, problem solving: curiosity, concentration, theoretical & analytical thinking, questioning, introspection, love of learning and problem solving, moral concern, thinking about personal and social moral values.

Imaginational � vivid imagination: creative & inventive, a rich and active fantasy life, superb visual memory, elaborate dreams, day dreams, love of poetry, music and drama, fears of the unknown, mixing of truth and fantasy, great sense of humour.

Emotional � intensity of feeling: complex emotions, extremes of emotion, empathy with others, sensitivity in relationships, strong memory for feelings, difficulty adjusting to change, fears and anxieties, inhibition, timidity, shyness, self-judgment, feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, heightened awareness of injustice and hypocrisy.

References
Piechowski, M. (1999) Overexcitabilities. In Encyclopedia of Creativity Volume 2. M. A. Runco & S.R. Pritzker Eds. Academic press. Pp325-334

~ ~ ~

Copyright 2002, Lesley Sword.
Properly attributed, this material may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This causes those with strong overexcitabilities to have more intense than usual experiences of life.


That's a quote from the above. A few of us here can relate to that.

I knew about a lot of the above but it's new for me to hear about the senses. I just took my DS to the eye Doctor and they said he is sentive to light. He is a picky eater. Maybe he is very sensitive to taste too.

My GD has traits of all of the forms of overexcitabilities - makes life very interesting and challenging.

Really great reference! Thank you

The over excitabilities list makes me understand more that these strong feeling/actions are just such apart of what they are born with. It gives me more understanding to accept my children's feelings and help them learn to deal. It less about being uncooperative.

Anybody have any tips for helping young kids deal with their overexcitabilities - especially the emotional?

I think girls like to talk about their day right after school and boys are better to do it at bed time. But see what works for your family.

I have a routine with my DS that we talk about his day before bed - just one on one. I try to listen, not judge and not give advice unless asked. (that' hard for me) Talking is a way of dealing with those feelings, making feelings smaller, talking helps feelings to be external, releasing some frustration.

I have a deal with my kids: they can come to me and say this is a Mommy listening time and I agree not to say anything unless they ask.

I think it helpful to understand they are not being bad. They just have not learned well enough yet how to do the right thing.

A book Children are from heaven has helped me. Especially the parts about sensitive children.

Ex.
how playground time was today?
"Not good"
why?
"There were too many kids in the football game and I couldn't even tell who was on my team"
Any ideas on how you could make it better?
"I could bring in my own football and get another game going"
That sounds like a good idea.

Any good books out there for the emotional overexcitability??

This one creates the most trouble at school.

I just came across this again and thought it might be helpful with some of the new people. check out the 1st post.

Also by Piechowski, "Mellow Out They Tell Me...If I Only Could". I just started reading it, but it goes through all the sensitivities and overexcitablities of Gifted children.

My DS9 has heightened sensitivities in just about every area. When he was little, 3-5, we had a special place set up in his classroom for him to go when he needed to disengage from the group. Too much stimulation and he would start to meltdown. The teachers would see him start to spiral and would gently suggest his safe spot. Now at age 9, he asks to be excused from class and he goes to the nurses clinic or sits outside the classroom.

Wow, thanks so much for posting this! DS has all of the psychomotor - doesn't sleep much and talks fast & constantly. Unless he is focused on the computer, he does not sit still & drives us nuts bouncing around the house. Plus he developed some blinking & now tics I'm monitoring. I'm going to share this w/DH so we'll both be a little more patient or at least understanding of his energy.

I love the idea of OE, but it worries me too. Many of the OE's can be considered part of 'sensory integration disorder' and treated by visits with a pediatric occupational therapist, which is sometimes covered by insurance, or even provided in school. There are several good books on DIY (do it yourself) therapy for SID, but none for OE's. So I like the idea of 'being more understanding' up to a point, but to me, if you kid is still miserable after cutting out the tags on their clothing
and finding tube socks that work for them, then I would urge people NOT to just 'be more understanding' especially if they are the 'understanding types' in the first place.

I am so pleased that I learned about SID before I learned about OEs because I am the understanding type, and need to take action a bit more often. Of course - being yelled at constantly as a child that I'm 'being too sensitive' was so painful - and yet - my cousins with the 'nice and understanding mom' are all jealous that I can (sometimes) make myself do stuff while they retreat. So who knows?

Lots to think about,
Grinity

I actually learned about OE's before I learned about SID. Bear has SID (I'm borderline) and both boys, as well as myself, have OE's. The way I drew the line was when it is a constant disruption to everyday life it is probably more along the lines of a disorder than simply and OE. I've actually read something pretty much exactly along those lines in one of the sensory processing books. They said something like, "Everyone has times when they have difficulty with sensory processing, it's when it becomes a complication to everyday life that it becomes a disorder." I'd say it's sort of a spectrum type thing.

I have three OE's: Imaginational, Emotional, and mild Intellectual.

See the orginal post- someone's post here made me think of this again. Hope this is helpful to someone. This changed my whole attitude about my son and I'm so greatful just to have read it.

Good bump. IIRC the overexcitabilities stuff doesn't seem to have much empirical support, although it's in vogue today among parents. I lump it in with Multiple Intelligences. But even if Dabrowski's theories may not be perfect or perfectly well-supported, he does get across the idea that intense emotions, etc. are normal in gifted kids, which is an important thing for many to hear, and is borne out by observation. Just realizing that such differences are not abnormal within the subgroup could help avoid a misdiagnosis.

These are in many ways harder for parents to understand and deal with than the "smarts" are. DS was the king of meltdowns until he was about 6. It's hard to understand how a kid that is so smart and so mature in so many ways can throw the grandaddy of all tantrums. Someone told me once that for every IQ point in excess of the norm, a child has an equally excessive EQ which is why so many of these kids have such a hard time getting a handle on their emotions. I have no idea if this is true or not but it helped me have more patience when my son was on the floor wailing.

My being more understanding means realizing my children are not being ridiculous. I can accept their feelings as real. Their giftedness makes them aware of things in a different way than some others. They feel emotions deeply. I might say even if ___ is so much for you, you have to deal with it appropriately. Sometimes we can avoid situations, other times we have to manage.

DH has a very difficult time dealing with DS7's OEs. He doesn't understand how he can be so intelligent yet so immature. I have to remind him that he's only a child, often. I am going to use the "every IQ point over the norm" next time we discuss it.

Thankfully for us, DS7's tantrums have become less and less, but when he does have one, it can be over the top.

Plus you are likely to be dealing with
1) Societal conditioning and expectations about what a 'real man' is and
2) Father/Son thing where Father's feel particularly responsible for Son's behavior in this area.

So perhaps if you can ask about your DH's relationship with his father, and 'manliness' in general you can help DH not be 'taken by suprise' when the fears start to rise. Some of it is just practical - my DH rembers all too well how the 'cry-baby' boys in his social group were treated.

As one gifted 5th grade boy once said: "It's hard to feel masculine when every deoderant I try gives me a rash!"

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Does anyone know anything about sensitivity to certain sounds and textures and if that would be classified as sensory oe? DD15 is a very picky eater, first of all, but also has problems such as not being able to stand the thought, sound, or feeling of chalk, the feeling of going barefoot in our garage, and other "odd" things like that. Many people obviously get the "nails on the chalkboard" sound occasionally, but a lot of not very strange sounds (opening the oven door, for example) send DD covering her ears and clenching her teeth and having her complain of a similar sensation. Loud noises effect me, but not her. She is a musician and get's very moved by music. Anyone know if this sounds familiar with your kids?

This actually sounds like a sensory integration disorder. OT can help to a degree with this, so she is more comfortable in her everyday environment.

I agree with aculady. Sounds like sensory issue, and maybe also auditory processing. OT helped our DD a lot with sensory and auditory issues. Noise canceling headphones could help if she needs some general relief. I find too that it is the type of noise rather than volume that is causing the problem.

As for textures with fabrics and foods, my DD is still very sensitive to all those things...

I'm not aware of having any disorders, but I have the very same problems with chalk, rough concrete, brick, sandpaper, and nail files. When I was younger I couldn't tolerate even the 'thought' of chalk and nail files. Chalk was always my number one creepy thing. I could touch it, but I didn't want to, esp. if it was broken and rough. I couldn't stand nail files until I was in my twenties. I still don't like to use them, but I don't avoid them like I did when I was younger.

I'm a picky eater, though not as much as I was when I was younger. Texture is a huge issue for me when it comes to food. I can look at textures of some foods and become so nauseous that I start to gag. Once that gets into my mind, it's very difficult for me to overcome.

Like Mom2MrQ, I have similar sensitivities to chalk. Just the thought of touching it gives me the "nails on a chalkboard" feeling. I also don't like being barefoot on concrete -- somehow it's very similar in feeling to the chalk.

I'm not sure whether it's OEs though, so I guess I'm not much help. DS9 has many sensory issues with texture, some that are more related to sound than feel. He hates the sound of twill pants rubbing together; he only likes heavy sheets because the sound the soft ones make is like fingernails on a chalkboard. He's HG(+?) (DYS) and has other issues that seem like OEs to me but I haven't done enough research to say that for certain.

My DD8 has a serious problem with anything velvet or corduroy--can't touch it, won't wear it, won't even hug me if I'm wearing it! She's now starting to bug out over long-sleeved shirts and the feeling of t-shirts on her neck (they feel "too velvety"). Would love to know of any resources for explaining/dealing with this kind of thing!

There is supposed to be a difference between Sensory Integration and OEs but I can't percieve it. Everyone in my family is affected by it and I sure was glad that OT is availible to help. Read that book about it abd call your local OT asking if they have anyone who works with kids on Sensory Issues.

http://www.amazon.com/Out---Sync-Ch...mp;ie=UTF8&qid=1296562523&sr=1-2

Grinity, I agree. The only difference between the sensory manifestations of OE and Sensory Integration Disorder (or Dysfunction) that I have ever been able to perceive is that OE is not a pathologized term, and SID is. It may be better for some people's self-esteem to describe themselves or their children as having OE related to giftedness than it is to say that they have a disorder of sensory integration related to their nervous system processing, but if the OE/SID is causing distress in daily life, then I think that considering it as pathological is really warranted, considering that there are therapies that can make it easier to handle.

The fact that SID/SPD happens in the non-gifted population, and in fact seems to be linked with many disorders such as autism, casts doubt (for me) on that part of the overexcitabilities theory. Of which I have other doubts.

What is OT?

OT stands for Occupational Therapy. It was an occupational therapist, A. Jean Ayres, who developed the theory of sensory integration (SI) and researched how sensory integration disorders impact on behaviors, task performance and higher level cognitive and perceptual skills. An SI trained OT is often the appropriate professional to consult when dealing with sensory integration disorder or what is now being referred to sensory processing disorder.

I think that the line IS blurred between OE and SPD. Sensory processing happens on a continuum and, like intellect, it is usually only the extreme ends that are different enough to be problematic. I really like Winnie Dunn's take on sensory processing: Living Sensationally: Understanding Your Senses is a great little read on the topic. Not OE oriented, it provides an overview of how sensory processing affects our behaviors.

DS5 has fairly severe SPD's. In his case, he is unable to process the input of his surroundings. Every second of every day, your body is accepting input ie: sights, sounds, smells, temperature. The brain is supposed to process everything, even those things that you are not aware of. For my son, this doesn't happen. The information goes in, piles up and overwhelms him, causing him to shut down.

DS8 has OE's to sound primarily. He is forever turning down the TV and covering his ears as the toilet flushes. But there isn't anything that signifigantly affects his day to day function.

While some may say that DS5 has the same thing as DS8 only in a more severe form, I find the two very different.

This OE theory really has a ring of truth to it. I was hoping anyone who has a deeper understand of this theory, and giftedness in general, would comment on the following lunchtime speculation of mine:

Our DD7 was identified as gifted and clearly has multiple OEs (emotional, imaginational, and intellectual). Assuming I can even make this distinction, I believe her brain, considered outside these OE forces, is otherwise normal or slightly above average in its ability to retain, organize and process information.

She demonstrates no inclination to pursue any particular body of knowledge or obvious talent for it when instructed to, despite her endless thinking and questioning, which we have often felt was more a reflex, even a burden to her, something she could not help just like her emotional OE. Those OE forces alone, I suspect, acting moment by moment from birth upon an otherwise normal or above average brain, forced her into higher functioning levels in certain areas (in her case language arts) at an early age.

But another child, whose brain can better retain and organize information (e.g. �smarter�), when imposed upon by these OE forces, gains a powerful tag team which often results in a child who is highly or profoundly gifted. And another child, who has a �smarter� brain but no OE forces, could with proper motivation and instruction achieve gifted levels in some areas.

So does any of this reflect current theories on giftedness or has my uneducated paddling landed me in the deep end with no water wings?

Sounds like gifted denial to me! And plain ole intellectual OE. I think the ability to organise and take to long term storage can be learned (or taught) and comes with time.

But really, doesn't your DD remember the words to some song you haven't sang since she was a toddler? Or some place she 'couldn't possibly' remember? Or giggle to the punchline of a joke from 3 years ago?
Or is all that behavior so normal for your extended family that you brush it off as 'no big deal?' - that's quite usual, you know.
I know my son used to pop up with those weird memories all the time.

But I like the idea that intellectual OE forces development in certian areas - forces feels like the right word.

((shrugs))
Hope that helps,
Grinity