Kazimierz Dabrowski, a polish MD and psychologist who worked in Canada, developed a theory about gifted individuals. He defined five areas of what is poorly translated as “overexcitabilities”: sensual, imaginary, motor, intellectual and moral. Some people, he suggested, are born with an ability to take in more in one or more of these areas. Thinking of neuroscience today, we may say that they may have more receptors, more synapses, more white matter or perhaps less inhibitors, when it comes to these areas of the brain. We all know these kids: those who have so much energy they have to run around. Not because they are anxious, but because their bodies crave it. Kids who research things deeply, those who are more concerned than others about the wellbeing of peers, family members, pets and strangers or children who feel deeply- they become much sadder, much angrier but also much much happier than others do.
It isn’t easy to parent those children- they demand lots of attention, explaining and more buffering between them and the harsh parts of human experience. Those children “don’t fit the mold”, they may develop “a-synchronously” meaning that in some ways they seem precocious and in other ways they seem immature. They also tend to have a hard time at school, as school is often restrictive, arbitrary, slow and meaningless in ways that other kids can tolerate and they can not. Gifted children may be more prone to depression and anxiety because they feel the world more intensely. They are more prone to have trouble in school because they may feel there is something wrong with them because school seems so meaningless to them while others seem to find it tolerable. They may get in trouble for being fidgety, talking back at teachers or not “getting with the program” in general. these children may have a hard time socially because the quarrels and cliques, which are part of socialization for other kids, make no sense to them.
Dabrowski argued that children and adults who have “overexcitabilities” tend to be misdiagnosed. He thought they needed guidance and support on their journey to find beauty, meaning and a sense of justice rather than being told that they have Bi- Polar, ADHD or a learning disorder.
It isn’t easy to parent those children- they demand lots of attention, explaining and more buffering between them and the harsh parts of human experience. Those children “don’t fit the mold”, they may develop “a-synchronously” meaning that in some ways they seem precocious and in other ways they seem immature. They also tend to have a hard time at school, as school is often restrictive, arbitrary, slow and meaningless in ways that other kids can tolerate and they can not. Gifted children may be more prone to depression and anxiety because they feel the world more intensely. They are more prone to have trouble in school because they may feel there is something wrong with them because school seems so meaningless to them while others seem to find it tolerable. They may get in trouble for being fidgety, talking back at teachers or not “getting with the program” in general. these children may have a hard time socially because the quarrels and cliques, which are part of socialization for other kids, make no sense to them.
Dabrowski argued that children and adults who have “overexcitabilities” tend to be misdiagnosed. He thought they needed guidance and support on their journey to find beauty, meaning and a sense of justice rather than being told that they have Bi- Polar, ADHD or a learning disorder.
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I agree with Dabrowski. Furthermore, I have found that the diagnosis of “Autism Spectrum Disorder” very often includes children who fit Dabrowski’s definition of giftedness (having “overexcitabilities”). I believe that some of the children who are currently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder can alternatively be thought of as gifted children who, for a variety of reasons, did not use communication for the sake of meaning making when they were very young, so they missed out on some critical skills in relationships. Because meaning can only be created in the context of a relationship, these children struggle to make meaning of their own experience and of the world around them, often becoming anxious, frustrated and scared.
For some of those children even words themselves don’t seem meaningful as they failed to see the benefit in using them as means of communicating with other people. Today the treatment of choice for young children with all autism spectrum disorders is ABA Therapy. ABA is a kind of training, completely opposite to the treatment Dobrowski points to. Rather than providing the children with a much needed experience of creating common meaning with another person, ABA provides route practice of skills, with little attention to the child’s inner experience which he/she is so struggling to express. |
In therapy I strive to provide a space where the child’s experience is known. Often the child himself has a hard time articulating their experience- this is true especially for those who are now diagnosed on the “autism spectrum”.
In therapy I am present with those children through play, art, writing and talking about the world: its meaning, its beauty and its challenges. Together we develop a language which translates inner thoughts and feelings into communication. Through the therapy process a child "on the spectrum" can have an experience of a relationship being useful in the process of meaning making. A gifted child can have the experience of being seen as who she is, while her ideas and concerns are thought about in context of culture, morality and art rather than in the context of mental illness and disability. All this is true for gifted adults and adults who were labeled “on the spectrum”. |
