Millions of gifted children are failing to reach their potential--something Dr. Sylvia Rimm calls underachievement syndrome. Drawing on both clinical research and years of experience counseling families, Dr. Rimm has developed a "Trifocal Model" to help parents and teachers work together to get students back on track. It is effective for a wide…

Patterns of underachievement are described. Suggestions for helping both dependent and dominant underachievers to gain confidence and perform up to their capacity are given. (MT)

A theory is presented explaining some gifted students' tendency to underachieve after showing promise in younger years. It is argued that reductions from originally high levels of empowerment and support from parents may cause reduced academic effort and performance. Guidelines for avoiding this pitfall while empowering children are offered. (PB)

The stresses of underachieving gifted children and the reasons for those stresses are examined. These stresses include pressure to be brilliant, creative, popular, and good. Recommendations for dealing with underachievement syndrome are provided, and brief case studies of underachieving gifted children are cited. (JDD)

Underachievers generally lack internal locus of control, compete poorly, and undervalue effort. Many underachieving children who have adopted dependent or dominant defense mechanisms can be reached using the Family Achievement Clinic's Trifocal method. This multi-step process features assessment, parent-child communication, identification of the…

Acceleration may be an effective intervention in some cases of underachievement by gifted students. Lack of challenge is the primary indicator for consideration of accelerative options. Acceleration is not appropriate for all gifted students, and an adjustment period is common in successful acceleration. Brief case studies illustrate acceleration…

Curing the problem of underachievement requires a sizeable investment of time and effort and depends heavily on sufficient family and teacher awareness of their respective roles as well as the role of peers to plan for prevention and early intervention. (MSE)

The paper considers pressures on bright children and the relationship of such pressures to underachievement. It gives specific suggestions on the prevention of underachievement to both parents and teachers. Pressures often felt by gifted children include pressures to be brilliant, to be creative, to do something spectacular, to find oneself, to be…

The new edition of this text provides updated views, events, and research findings, including a study of extraordinarily successful career women, more attention to gifted education in rural areas, counseling of gay students, and suicide prevention. Chapters have the following titles: (1) "Gifted Education: Matching Instruction with Needs"; (2)…

This book provides parents with guidelines on how to determine if their children are unusually gifted and how to prepare them for school. Recommendations are provided to ensure that gifted children are sufficiently challenged in the classroom, while reducing emotional stresses to which intellectually gifted children are often prone. Specific…