High Abilities or Giftedness: Having High Potential Does Not Mean Being Good at Everything

A child enthusiastically explains how the planets work, asks questions that surprise adults and quickly learns everything that involves astronomy. At school, however, he loses materials, takes time to copy and becomes disorganized when faced with activities with many steps.

Another creates drawings with an unusual wealth of detail, but finds it difficult to read and write. A third solves advanced math problems, although she still needs help dealing with frustrations typical of her age.

Given these differences, some people ask: “But, if this child has high abilities, how can he have so much difficulty?”

The question arises from a mistaken idea: that giftedness would transform someone into a kind of superhuman, capable of learning everything on their own, mastering all areas and solving any problem in life.

It's not like that.

High abilities or giftedness indicate the presence of significantly high capabilities or potential, but do not eliminate human needs, specific difficulties, differences in maturation or the importance of educational and emotional support.

What are high abilities or giftedness?

Terminology and criteria vary between theories, institutions and countries. Expressions such as “high abilities”, “giftedness”, “high potential”, “giftedness” and “high ability” are not always used identically.

Some models emphasize general intellectual ability. Others include academic performance, creativity, engagement with specific tasks or talents such as music, art, mathematics and psychomotor skills. Therefore, there is no single universally accepted definition that can bring together all manifestations of the phenomenon.

In this article, we use “high abilities or giftedness” as an umbrella expression for significantly high capabilities, potential or performance in one or more areas, considered in relation to the person's age, opportunities and context.

Contemporary literature on talent development highlights that these capabilities can be specific to certain domains. It also distinguishes potential from realized performance: having a high capacity does not, in itself, guarantee exceptional production.

Development depends on the interaction between skills, teaching, opportunities, motivation, practice, socio-emotional support and cultural conditions. This understanding is supported by the model presented by Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius and Worrell (2011), according to which different areas of talent have their own development trajectories.

The child, therefore, should not be seen as a ready-made product. It has potential that needs to find challenges, mediation and appropriate conditions to develop.

Giftedness is not excellence in all areas

This is perhaps the most important understanding of the entire topic: a very high capacity in a certain domain does not guarantee the same level of performance in all others.

The child may demonstrate excellence in areas such as:

• verbal reasoning;
• mathematics;
• sciences;
• music;
• visual arts;
• creativity;
• spatial thinking;
• investigation of specific themes.

Even within one of these areas, the profile can be uneven. Someone can understand complex mathematical concepts and make mistakes due to inattention. May have advanced vocabulary, but have difficulty organizing a written text. You can create original solutions and still need help to plan, start and complete an everyday activity.

A systematic review analyzed 658 publications and selected 15 studies on the neuropsychological profile of children identified as intellectually gifted. Compared to other children, the group showed, on average, advantages in some functions, such as language, mathematics, attention, verbal working memory, cognitive flexibility and social problem solving. However, performance was similar in several other skills, including planning, inhibition, visuospatial processing and visual working memory. The authors also highlighted that intellectually gifted children may have learning difficulties and poor academic performance (Bucaille et al., 2022).

It is important to correctly delimit this result: the review mainly investigated intellectual giftedness, defined by intelligence measures. Its conclusions should not be automatically generalized to all forms of high abilities, such as artistic, musical or psychomotor talents.

What the results reliably demonstrate is that high intellectual capacity does not produce uniform superiority in all cognitive functions. Reasoning, language, motor coordination, autonomy, executive functions, social skills and emotional regulation do not need mature at the same rate.

Recognizing these differences does not diminish a child's potential. On the contrary: it allows you to offer support exactly where it is needed.

What signs can attract attention?

There is no list capable of identifying a child with high abilities or giftedness alone. However, some behaviors may warrant closer observation:

• quickly learn content that interests you;
• ask complex or unusual questions for their age;
• establish original relationships between ideas;
• present intense and persistent curiosity;
• demonstrate especially efficient memory on certain subjects;
• create solutions different from those taught;
• become deeply involved in specific projects or themes;
• master certain content before formal education;
• present differentiated artistic, scientific or academic production;
• losing interest when faced with repeating already mastered content.

These indicators need to be analyzed over time, in different activities and contexts. A curious child is not automatically gifted, just as high grades, advanced vocabulary or early reading do not alone confirm identification.

The opposite is also true: average grades, disorganization and school difficulties do not rule out high abilities.

When high potential and difficulties coexist

The coexistence between high abilities or giftedness and a disability, neurodevelopmental disorder or specific difficulty is called double exceptionality.

It may involve, for example, combinations with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, motor difficulties or sensory deficiencies. This is an especially heterogeneous group, in which forces and difficulties can interact in very different ways.

In some situations, high capacity allows the child to partially compensate for difficulties with reading, attention or communication. The problem remains, but it may take time to be noticed.

In other cases, the difficulty becomes so visible that it obscures the potential. The child becomes known only for what he cannot do, without opportunities to demonstrate reasoning, creativity or advanced knowledge.

Performance may seem contradictory: she performs a complex task at one point and is unable to perform an activity considered simple at another. This variation should not be automatically interpreted as laziness, manipulation or lack of effort.

The assessment needs to look at both dimensions. You should not use difficulty to deny high skill nor use high skill to deny necessary support.

Do all gifted children have emotional problems?

No. This is another generalization that needs to be avoided.

Just as it is not correct to imagine a child being perfect in everything, it is also unscientific to say that all people with high abilities are anxious, hypersensitive, perfectionists, lonely or emotionally maladjusted.

A systematic review found, in general, equal or greater socio-emotional adaptation among intellectually gifted children when compared to their peers, although the authors identified methodological limitations and differences related to the characteristics of the samples (Francis, Hawes and Abbott, 2016).

Another review concluded that the literature does not support the existence of a stable and universal non-cognitive profile that differentiates all intellectually gifted children and adolescents from other people (Tourreix, Besançon and Gonthier, 2023).

This does not mean ignoring individual difficulties. A specific child may suffer from isolation, fear of making mistakes, pressure to perform, misunderstanding from peers, or lack of adequate challenges.

Suffering must be welcomed when it exists, but not assumed just because the child has high abilities.

How should identification be carried out?

Identification should not depend on a single test, school note or isolated printout.

A thoughtful process can bring together:

• teacher observations;
• reports from the family and the student himself;
• analysis of productions and projects;
• learning history and interests;
• performance assessment in different situations;
• educational instruments;
• psychopedagogical assessment;
• psychological or neuropsychological assessment;
• participation of other professionals, especially in the face of possible associated difficulties.

Intelligence tests can offer relevant information about certain intellectual abilities, but an isolated result does not describe the whole person nor does it necessarily include artistic, creative, motor or specific talents.

When psychological tests are used, they must be applied and interpreted by legally qualified professionals in accordance with the standards of the country in which the assessment takes place.

More important than just asking “what was the result?” it is understanding how people learn, in which activities their potential appears, what barriers interfere with performance and what support they need.

What can families and schools do?

A child with high abilities does not simply need “more activities”. Delivering a greater amount of the same exercise can turn capacity into tiredness or punishment.

It needs qualitatively appropriate challenges.

At school, some inclusive pedagogical practices include:

1. Check what the student has already mastered: Before insisting on repetitive exercises, the teacher can assess whether the learning objectives have already been achieved.
2. Go deeper, rather than just anticipate: Investigative projects, open problems, comparison of hypotheses and authorial production allow you to explore the content with greater complexity.
3. Offer guided choices: The student can select themes, presentation formats or research paths within clear pedagogical objectives.
4. Teach organization and self-regulation: High reasoning ability does not require instructions on planning, time management, review and division of tasks.
5. Encourage contact with peers of interest: Projects, workshops and study groups can reduce intellectual isolation without removing children from their class.
6. Plan individualized support: In double exceptionality, planning must simultaneously contemplate the development of potential and support for difficulties.

In the family, it is important to offer opportunities without turning interest into an obligation. A child who likes music does not need to have all of their time occupied by classes and competitions.

Those who learn quickly continue to need to play, rest, make mistakes, ask for help and develop autonomy.

It is also healthy to praise strategies, curiosity, persistence and the ability to revise ideas, rather than continually repeating that the child is a “genius”. When identity becomes tied to the obligation to be brilliant, any mistake can be experienced as a threat to one's own value.

The role of psychopedagogy

Psychopedagogical support, respecting the professional responsibilities of each country, can contribute to understanding the relationship between potential, learning, performance, motivation and educational context.

This work can investigate why a child who thinks in an advanced way avoids writing, does not complete activities, becomes disorganized or loses interest in school. It can also help you develop study strategies, planning, metacognition and self-regulation.

In cases of double exceptionality, coordination between professionals becomes especially important. The objective of a careful evaluation It is not choosing between seeing the talent or the difficulty, but understanding how both participate in the functioning of the person.

Understand so as not to abandon

Saying that a child has high abilities should not mean placing them on a pedestal. It also shouldn't mean leaving her alone under the justification that “she learns anyway”.

Potential is not self-sufficiency.

A person with high skills remains a whole person: they can learn quickly in some areas, need more time in others, feel afraid, make mistakes, become disorganized, ask for help and build their path gradually.

Proper support does not create a superhuman. It allows someone to develop their talents without having their difficulties ignored and receive support without having their capabilities diminished.

References

BUCAILLE, A. et al. Neuropsychological Profile of Intellectually Gifted Children: A Systematic Review. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, v. 28, no. 4, p. 424–440, 2022.

FERRÁNDIZ, C. et al. What Works for Inclusive Gifted Education? An Umbrella Review of Acceleration, Enrichment, and Ability Grouping. Frontiers in Education, v. 11, 2026.

FRANCIS, R.; HAWES, D.J.; ABBOTT, M. Intellectual Giftedness and Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Literature Review. Exceptional Children, v. 82, no. 3, p. 279–302, 2016.

RIZZO, L.; PINNELLI, S.; MINNAERT, A. Twice-Exceptional Students: A Systematic Review to Outline the Distinctive Characteristics Through a Multidimensional Lens. Frontiers in Education, v. 10, 2025.

SUBOTNIK, R. F.; OLSZEWSKI-KUBILIUS, P.; WORRELL, F. C. Rethinking Giftedness and Gifted Education: A Proposed Direction Forward Based on Psychological Science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, v. 12, no. 1, p. 3–54, 2011.

TOURREIX, E.; BESANÇON, M.; GONTHIER, C. Non-Cognitive Specificities of Intellectually Gifted Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Journal of Intelligence, v. 11, no. 7, article 141, 2023.