Contrary to popular belief, a child with High Intellectual Potential (HPI) can end up failing at school: in fact, more than a quarter of them don’t make the grade. A victim of DYS-synchrony between his emotional and intellectual development, he struggles to fit into the educational mold and may need tutoring…
The DYS-synchrony of HPI
Today, 2.5% of schoolchildren between kindergarten and 12th grade have an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of over 130. Of these 300,000 individuals in France, more than a quarter will not go on to the baccalaureate. According to psychologists, this academic failure can be explained by DYS-synchrony, a developmental mismatch between his intelligence and his affectivity.
Revealed by Jean-Charles Terrassier in 1981, he distinguishes two aspects of this DYS disorder: internal DYS-synchrony and social DYS-synchrony. The first leads to a certain clumsiness, akin to dyspraxia, and reflects an emotional immaturity when faced with the constraints of everyday life. The second refers to HPI children’s mismatch with school expectations, causing them to borrow characteristics of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), in order to combat boredom.
Precocity, poorly adapted to school
Traditionally, HPI children are both perfectionists and lucid about the extent of their knowledge. But when an adult, aware of their strengths and weaknesses, turns them into an asset for success, precocious children contemplate the possibility of failure, which gives rise to paralyzing anxiety during exams.
With their rapid, intuitive and abundant thinking, HPI children don’t see the point of the memorization and reflection methods taught in the early grades of school. As a result, when they’re asked to find the right answer and explain their approach at school, they run into difficulties.
Finally, there are the HPI children who desperately try to fit into the educational mold, by putting themselves at the level of others: the “ negative pygmalion” effect then consists in ignoring their knowledge and appearing as a mediocre student…
A support course for HPI
When they fail at school, HPI children may need support classes, but this help must not be built up in the traditional way: if it reproduces the school framework, it can only lead to an even more intense rejection of school.
To enable your precocious child to have as normal a schooling as possible, we strongly advise you to find him or her a suitable home. specialized support support courses, which don’t really apply to the content of the learning provided, but rather to organization, work management and the acquisition of methods.
Better still, with remedial support, he can learn how his brain works, understand his strengths and weaknesses, and develop his self-confidence and ability to succeed.
On the Ora-Visio platform, we have professionals specialized in DYS disorders and high-potential children: don’t hesitate to get in touch with them to discuss solutions to help your child. An interesting proposal, outside the school scheme, and therefore appropriate for combating the apprehension of HPI children.
