Ellen Winner notes that one of the most salient characteristics of gifted children is that they insist on marching to the beat of their own drummer. They generally don't need people to model tasks for them, engage their attention, provide motivation, give them advice, or offer other kinds of the instructional "scaffolding" that most pupils require "The discoveries they make about their domain are exciting and motivating, and each leads the gifted child on to the next step," writes Winner. "Often these children independently write rules of the domain and devise novel, idiosyncratic ways of solving problems."
Later on, Winner describes the gifted as "inveterate nonconformists."
As the Monitor's Amelia Woodside notes, Clara's husband, Robert Schumann, attempted to persuade her to give up music to become a full-time wife. Much to the benefit of her audiences, she would have none of it.
Ellen Winner cites studies showing that, while academically gifted boys tend to be more popular than average, gifted girls tend to be less popular.
"What is seen as leadership in a boy is seen as bossiness in a girl," Winner writes. "Perhaps this is because the traits of independence and achievement displayed by the gifted violate the stereotype of the girl so much more than that of the boy."
Life is clearly more socially difficult for the gifted girl, but most gifted children report feeling some degree of social isolation. What's more, school psychologists often mistake their gifts for mental illness, most often attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, or various mood disorders.
