Does the Setting Ignore–or Accomodate–Uneven Development?
Children who learn quickly sometimes have areas of uneven, or asynchronous, development. The gifted child is more likely than other children to experience a mismatch between intellectual and psychomotor development, language ability and reasoning development, or intellectual skills and emotional development (Terrassier, 1985). A gifted elementary school youngster might read at a high school level, for example, but will not be ready emotionally to deal with themes–such as those in books about war or the Holocaust. A gifted youngster might say to a stranger, not realizing his questions are inappropriate, “Are you married?” Or, “Do you have a new car?” Examples like this illustrate the mismatch of intellect and emotional maturity common to many gifted youngsters. A toxic setting ignores this mismatch and expects children to be even, or at least close, in their developmental levels, and expects emotions and academic performance to also be in sync. Children in such a setting will be consid
