Using the word "Giftedness"

Debbie has had many long conversations with researchers, parents and adults about the word “Gifted”.  It is a troubling word. It implies that someone may be “better than” or to have a “gift” that someone else does not have. 

Yet the word "gifted" is associated with the school system/educational opportunities, and the word connected to most English-language resources.  Therefore, we chose to use the word “Giftedness” for this website.  More information will be coming soon about why we also use the words “Multi-Exceptional” and “Neurodiversity” in relation to giftedness.

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To understand giftedness, we need to also understand that it is “different”.  Not “better than”, but different. Giftedness is understood through assessments and lived experience as “more”. More intensity, or learning more quickly, for example.  These things can be an advantage in a competitive world or in classrooms or families where there is a focus on “high achievement”.  However, it can also be a challenge, for example when children or adults are trying to learn to filter out the high levels of stimulation that their brains are sending them to focus on the task at hand. Or when gifted folks would like to “be normal” and not feel pushed to “use their capacity”. The focus for this website is on accepting all experiences of gifted folks, and not focusing on “high achievement”, but rather the holistic, lived experience of giftedness with all of its complexities.

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Debbie has also heard a lot from parents and gifted adults that this word, “Gifted”, is uncomfortable.  They do not want to say it applies to themselves or their children.  They do not want to imply that they are saying someone is “better than”, and people around them do not know what it means or how it can be troubling.  Debbie’s favourite quote as she was learning about giftedness was a parent saying their child had been “afflicted with giftedness.”  This described the lived experience of her family as they were searching for a “good fit” in the education system and community for their children to be understood and supported.

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Debbie has also learned from scholars and elders that in some communities, such as some Indigenous communities, it is not acceptable to think of only some members of the community as having “gifts”. Rather, all members of the community have their own gifts, and those gifts are supported, shared and celebrated within the community as a whole. The word “Giftedness” on this website is used with respect as a way of recognizing diversity, knowing that this may not be a good fit for all communities.