Darby's Advanced Learning - Overexcitabilities (Sensitivities)

Click through for more information and "Strategies" for coping with these sensitivities or Overexcitabilities: article from SENG

Overexcitabilities are inborn intensities indicating a heightened ability to respond to stimuli...Dabrowski identified five areas of intensity-Psychomotor, Sensual, Intellectual, Imaginational, and Emotional. "A small amount of definitive research and a great deal of naturalistic observation have led to the belief that intensity, sensitivity and overexcitability are primary characteristics of the highly gifted."

“One who manifests several forms of overexcitability, sees reality in a different, stronger and more multi-sided manner.” (Dabrowski, 1972, p. 7).

Strategies for Overexcitabilities

Psychomotor

Adults and peers want to tell them to sit down and be quiet! The Psychomotor OE child has the potential of being misdiagnosed as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Sensory

Sensually overexcitable children may find clothing tags, classroom noise, or smells from the cafeteria so distracting that schoolwork becomes secondary. These children may also become so absorbed in their love of a particular piece of art or music that the outside world ceases to exist.

Intellectual

Intellectually overexcitable people are also quite independent of thought and sometimes appear critical of and impatient with others who cannot sustain their intellectual pace. Or they may be become so excited about an idea that they interrupt at inappropriate times.

Imaginational

They may write stories or draw instead of doing seatwork or participating in class discussions, or they may have difficulty completing tasks when some incredible idea sends them off on an imaginative tangent.

Emotional

They are often accused of “overreacting.” Their compassion and concern for others, their focus on relationships, and the intensity of their feelings may interfere with everyday tasks like homework or doing the dishes.

All material on this page are quotations directly from Sharon Lind's article "Overexcitability and the Gifted" (Sept 2011) https://www.sengifted.org/post/overexcitability-and-the-gifted

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