Experience of giftedness<i>“eight great gripes” six years later</i>

Abstract

Building on the foundation of a previous study (Galbraith, 1985) of the “eight great gripes” of gifted children and adolescents, this article describes qualitative perspectives on giftedness among predominantly seventh‐ and eighth‐grade students attending a summer enrichment program. Students responded in writing to a probe (i.e. “What's it like to be gifted?”) designed to elicit their spontaneous perspectives on their experience of giftedness. Responses were compiled and analyzed as they relate to negative and positive perspectives on giftedness and to the needs of gifted children.