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Child prodigies. (Fink! Still at Large)

Author: Paul J. Fink
Date: Aug. 2002
From: Clinical Psychiatry News(Vol. 30, Issue 8)
Publisher: International Medical News Group
Document Type: Article
Length: 1,239 words

Full Text:
Child prodigies who master an entire lifetime of intellectual achievement in the short span of a childhood have long mesmerized
lesser mortals. But the intellectual achievements of child prodigies may exceed their ability to cope with the psychological
consequences of their extraordinary gifts, leaving them at risk for behavior problems, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and
depression.

Discussion Question: How do the behavioral problems of these rare children mirror--or diverge from--those of less gifted yet still-
troubled children their own age? Have you ever encountered in your practice a child prodigy? Which strategies can help these
children transition from extraordinary childhood to ordinary adulthood?

Recognize Their Difficulties

Intellectual prodigies are endowed with abilities that may take awhile to be recognized by others. However, these children may be
quite aware of their specialness at a very young age (see Phyllis Greenacre's "The Childhood of the Artist" from "Emotional Growth:
Psychoanalytic Studies of the Gifted and a Great Variety of Other Individuals, 1971).

Their gifts are not necessarily a source of pathology, but can lead to an uneven development. Prodigies can become so immersed by
the unique way that they experience spatial relations, shapes, colors, numbers, etc., that they inhabit this alternative world every bit
as much as the real world. The kinds of factors that usually have such an important impact on development, such as early object
relationships, may have a diminished impact.

One possible result is a difficulty in relating with parents and peers. A consequence may be a growing sense of aloneness and even a
depressive mood. Narcissistic personality disorders may be an adult outcome.

Parents can be helpful to the prodigy, but on occasion their own difficulties contribute to the development of problems. For some
parents, the child is the repository of their own unfulfilled dreams. In living through the child, they place an enormous burden on the
youngster.

Charles Goodstein, M.D.

Tenafly, NJ

Intellectual and Social Mismatch

Child prodigies may have very strong cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills, but these very strengths may leave them less
socially mature than their peers. Their gifts may place them on the fringe of their peer group. When one of them goes to MIT at age
12, there's going to be a mismatch between their intellectual and social abilities during interactions with the other students.

Adults may even get confused about what the child is capable of doing. They may think that the child should be good in all areas.
They need to respond more maturely than that. The gifted child is going to have varying levels of ability in different areas, and those
differences need to be recognized.

Above all, these children need help like other children in making the transition from childhood to adulthood. Every aspect of their lives
doesn't have to be affected by their gift--they need respect as people and not as oddities. Yet parents, teachers, and coaches should
be aware of possible warning signs that all is not all right with such children--distraction, unhappiness, acting out--in addition to
understanding their situation and treating them normally
Karen Monroe, M.D.

Revere, Mass.

Personality Plays a Role

I have seen several of these children. One was a boy who could quickly and correctly multiply two four-digit numbers in his head but
had trouble feeling comfortable with others; he was not autistic but was very insecure. He psychologically undermined himself,
stopped studying, and didn't do things with other kids. His parents were conflicted, too, over whether they were asking too much of
him or not providing enough stimulation for him.

On the other hand, I had another patient who was intellectually and athletically gifted, and he was quite a friendly, generous, and
modest person whose therapy didn't take long--he just wanted to understand why others envied him.

The personality of a gifted child may play an important role in his or her development. In addition to a warm family environment, being
thoughtful of others and having little hubris can go a long way for these children, just as they can for any healthy child.

Baer Max Ackerman, M.D.

Plano, Tex.

Dr. Fink: Prodigy is an unfortunate and nonscientific term that can range from a child with special talents, a child of very high
intelligence and/or abilities, or a genius--that is, someone who has extraordinary capabilities that seem to be beyond genetics or any
level of special training or effort. Mozart was a true genius, going well beyond whatever musical talents his father may have had.
Although he was pushed and encouraged by his father, Leopold, it was after his special abilities were recognized, supposedly around
the age of 4.1 have never had a genius in my practice.

For children with special talents, their fate is the same as children with special defects. The way they are raised, how special they are
made to feel, and how much their lives are normalized are critical questions in trying to determine if they will have problems.
Unfortunately, the attribute itself cannot predict how the child's personality will evolve over time. Is the child pushed to practice? Is all
the child's time and energy consumed with training? Are the parents preoccupied with capitalizing on the child's special talents?
These are but a few of the questions that need to be reviewed. Under the best circumstances and without efforts to exploit, push, or
force the child into premature adulthood, there is no reason to believe that a child needs to have behavioral problems because he or
she is specially gifted.

Children who have exceptionally high IQs are subject to boredom if the proper level of stimulation is not provided. In some instances,
the high IQ is only discovered after the child's behavior deteriorates as a result of the boredom.

Prodigies and children with special talents need to be discovered and encouraged. If the talent is art or music, the child will require
exposure to instruments and media. The special ability can be encouraged without becoming all consuming. It is a fine line that
parents must walk to help the child achieve a level of normality in terms of a broad education, proper socialization, and a balanced
self-esteem.

Some children who are constantly told that they are special develop an arrogance that is intolerable and may provide them with a life
of alienation. How they survive depends on so many variables that there is no single pathway that would allow us to predict how they
will turn out. In my opinion, the real secret to helping a special child achieve a rewarding adulthood has to do with the guidance and
ego strengths they achieve as they grow. The transition may be difficult. For example, Shirley Temple Black was an extraordinary
little actress who went on to achieve in an extremely difficult enterprise, politics.

This raises the issue of judgment. How can we make judgments about other people's lives? Are they successful adults? In psychiatry,
we make judgments on the basis of symptomatology or personal pain. We can never know until a person becomes a patient. We can
conjecture, we can make educated guesses, but we should nor venture into gossip.

What is clear regarding special children is their need for special parents who can provide all the normal variants of childhood and
adolescence while at the same time helping the child nurture the talent or capability.

DR. PAUL J. FINK is a psychiatrist and consultant in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., and professor of psychiatry at Temple University in
Philadelphia.

Fink, Paul J.

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2002 International Medical News Group

http://www.imng.com/
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Fink, Paul J. "Child prodigies. (Fink! Still at Large)." Clinical Psychiatry News, vol. 30, no. 8, Aug. 2002, p. 15. Gale Academic
OneFile, https://link-gale-com.ledproxy2.uwindsor.ca/apps/doc/A90794696/AONE?u=wind05901&sid=AONE&xid=c7bb57b9.
Accessed 29 Sept. 2020.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A90794696