Gifted Children with OCD and the Challenges They Present

Parenting a gifted (higher than normal IQ) child is difficult enough, but parenting a gifted child who has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can be overwhelming. One reason for this feeling of being overwhelmed is the lack of information for this combination. There is information about giftedness and there is information about OCD. The two combined in one child are lumped together in a category called twice exceptional. This is not very helpful because OCD kids do not have the same problems as ADHD kids or Autistic kids. Lumping them all together gives parents of these children misinformation and leads to them feeling that they are alone in their struggles. What parents truly need is an understanding of both aspects of their child and how best to help one without hurting the other.

The first step is to define the characteristics they make up the gifted child's personality. Most gifted children lack challenge mentally, which leads to a lack of motivation to start and finish tasks. The gifted child cannot stand memorization and repetition which leads to academic frustration and a child that gives up academically. These children can even fall behind the normal child academically even though their brain power is far more advanced. Gifted students are often extremely sensitive and therefore have uncontrollable emotional outbursts.

They are highly self critical and perfectionistic which leads them to think that they are not intelligent at all. Gifted children, suffering from low self-esteem, will often say they wish they were as smart as their peers when actually they are far more intelligent. Gifted children think outside of the normal box. In fact, if they are forced to function, and think, inside the box they stop thriving. They have a strong need to fulfill their curiosities and often want to do this independently. Gifted children like to have control of their environment. Parents of gifted children are often left with a lack of understanding of their child; and wondering why, if this child is so smart, they cannot function in a normal environment at home or school.