Researching the Complexity of Giftedness

Well-meaning professionals each rely on their field’s specialized training when assisting gifted individuals.  However, they often lack the broader, more complete picture of how giftedness affects a person which would allow them to serve the population more holistically.  GRO believes that by exploring how the physiology of giftedness interweaves with the psychology and expression of giftedness, we can better understand how to support all areas of a gifted individual’s life. GRO also believes that it is quite possible that each separate professional area of research (education, psychology neuroscience, microbiome and more) is correct at the same time, but that they are more correct when taken together as a whole and more accurate when we understand how each area influences the other. GRO is committed to unwrapping the complexity of giftedness similar to how others unwrapped the complexity of dyslexia in the past.

Twenty years ago, a dyslexic student was likely to be labeled as “slow” in the education system.  Their self-confidence decreased in direct relation to their performance being measured by their unseen weakness.  Eventually, many would be diagnosed with anxiety and perhaps even depression. Fast forward to adulthood, and we may find them with stress-related illnesses as their bodies absorb a lifetime of challenge and misperceptions. This not uncommon scenario finally ceased when scientific research showed that dyslexic individuals simply process language differently than others, and in fact, dyslexics tend to not only be bright, they often have incredible visual spatial abilities that others do not.  In short,  physiological research provided an explanation for a range of impacts that educators, mental health professionals and medical doctors now benefit from understanding.

Please join us in contributing to GRO’s mission to promote a comprehensive and accurate understanding of giftedness through the research of gifted physiology.  We ask that you stretch as far as you can; there are many ways to give, and all gifts matter.  Our goal is to raise $100,000 this holiday season. Of course, it’s tax-deductible!