Asynchronicity

High intelligence is characterized by strong cognitive abilities, which among other things gives a high learning capacity and ability make sense of dynamics and logics. Tasks requiring cognitive abilities typically feel easier for gifted people to solve than their peers.

Motor development, for example, is often at the same level as other kids of their age. One of the asynchronies is therefore often that the child has greater cognitive expectations of themselves than their motor skills can fulfill. Emotional development, under which is self-regulation, is also an area where growth happens slower than cognitive development.

Gifted children can therefore for one moment seem mature for their age, the next moment seem much younger than they are, and then again for a moment show off completely age-appropriate competencies. This means that parents and teachers have to expect a broad spectrum of behavior from a highly gifted child. It can sometimes even be a paradoxical experience for the child and lead to a bidirectional and seemingly incompatible self-understanding: I am smart, because I can do many things my classmates cannot, but I am also stupid, because there are completely normal things that I cannot do.

Asynchronus development entails both being out of sync with yourself and out of sync with your peers and therefore also with what is expected of you in a classroom setting. It involves having strong emotions and an increased awareness while also being vulnerable because of all these developmental and psychological differences - for example due to being different from classmates.

Columbus Group, which consists of some of the world’s leading scientists and practitioners in the field, for this reason has asynchronous development as the core of their definition of giftedness:

“Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching, and counseling in order for them to develop optimally.”

At Gifted Institute we among other things base our work on this definition of giftedness. We find that seeing asynchronous development as a keystone in understanding giftedness is useful both when trying to garner support for gifted individuals as well as when working directly with them to improve their well-being and continued development.

By looking at Ken Wilbers four quadrants when trying to understand gifted children, adolescents, and adults, we see that both the performance quadrant and ”… inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different…” are central to getting to know gifted individuals.

Giftedness thus also has a performance element and, in some places, you can find the preconception that high intelligence only refers to high performance and the realization of an inherent potential for high-performance. This, when looking at the matrix, is a diminishment in what it means to be gifted. A complete understanding of giftedness requires an interest in all four quadrants, under which is the inner subjective experience of, for example, feeling asynchronous.

Asynchronicity is increased in twice-exceptionals; gifted people with learning disabilities or diagnoses. Here it is not only the motor or emotional competencies that are out-of-sync with the cognitive competencies (inter-domain asynchronicity), but also specific cognitive competencies that are out-of-sync with other cognitive competencies (intra-domain asyncronicity). The inner experience of confusing paradoxes is increased.

At Gifted Institute we are working with a wide variety of international actors who also include asynchronity in their work with gifted children, adolescents, and adults. We are, for example, very satisfied with our collaboration with Dr. Linda Silverman, whose research and work has had a great impact on the way we treat gifted individuals today: With great openness and curiosity for their inner life and a respect for their asynchronicity. Linda Silverman has sent us one of the articles she has written on the subject of asynchronicity and giftedness . The article is freely available on the institutes homepage, and we expect to add more over time.