Affective development of gifted students with nontraditional talents

Children, whose talents and gifts exist in those domains distinct from the intellectual, academic, and athletic realms should still be considered gifted. They are especially talented in one or more areas of human pursuit although their talent is reflected in domains unique from those customarily served by schools; and their social and emotional development appears to be unique. Such young people are in particular danger for generalized school failure, for the manifestation of a variety of social and emotional problems, and are at risk for underdevelopment and occasionally even denial of their talent. Case study data are used to examine this conundrum and its potentially negative effects on individual student's emotional self‐development. Included are explorations of several interventions for enhancing affective growth among a group of students that is triply different from their peers.