gifted and great social skills?

[meowee]

Spinoff from the other thread I started... does anyone have a DC who is gifted and who has wonderful social skills? I'd really like to hear your stories or what your DC is like.

[eilonwy]

By most definitions, my son has incredible social skills. Then again, he's very extroverted, he needs to be interacting with lots of people in order to feel good, so that's what he does. His favorite people to play with are 7-11 year old girls, but anyone will do; on the playground, my son is the only small child who isn't afraid of large teenagers sitting on equipment. He talks to adults, he talks to other kids, he plays games and helps them to start trouble. All in a day's work for Bean.

[oldcrunchymom]

My daughter has excellent social skills, unlike her brother. My kids are like night and day in that regard.

[cutic]

My dd who just turned 30 months has great social skills when it comes to interacting with adults. She chooses the person she wants to talk to, it may be an absolute stranger, comes close, sits next to him/her and starts talking/gesticulating and so on. In spite of the fact that she speaks only Polish right now and we live in California she can keep this person interested for quite some time. Unfortunately, this doesn't go towards children, she dislikes most of her age peers and avoids them when she can.
It is hard to say for me if this comes from the fact that she is sensitive and has had bad experiences, she way yelled at, pushed and hit by some or if this comes from the fact that she is not understood by them (although, I think, she understands what they say).

[mcsarahb]

My DD is only 2, but she is polite to an extreme and loves strangers. She will go up to someone on the playground and kind of smile at them until they notice her, then say "Hi! What's your name? My name is *. I'm 2!"

Hmm...I don't know if those are good social skills or not, actually, now that I write them.

[meemee]

i think one of my dd's abilities IS social skills. she somehow 'feels' people who need touching and even as a baby would lunge out of my arms as a baby and touch and smile at people. many many of them said they were having a really hard day and her touch and smile really made them smile.

her first thank you was at nine months which my neighbour and neighbours friend heard and told me.

she loves reaching out to adults specially and yaks with them all the time. its because of that she spends many a happy times talking to them about what they are doing like how to install a sprinkler system at 2 or why they are in a wheelchair, or why they choose a unicycle over a bicycle. she is outgoing to a point that she will tell a stranger all our happenings at home including the check i bounced.

BUt she has a thing about people and wont go near ones even i find gives me the creeps - whether they are quiet or super friendly.

she is super friendly and loves v. crowded events like friday rock concerts in the park, fairs and parades and be a participant and just not an observer. she somehow from the age of one has always done something to get a sizeable crowd to watch her. if there is a stage anyway she will always go on there. her first public performance was at 2 when she asked the organizer if she could perform on stage in a children's talent contest.

her best friend is a homebody and my dd always goes over to visit on the weekends to get him out of the house so his mom can get out too. he is gifted but v. shy and opens up to only a few people - his parents, grandma and us. somedays it fails so we end up playing soccer or kiddie pool in the backyard.

[loraxc]

I dont know if I would exactly say DD has great social skills, but she is VERY outgoing and friendly, to the point where I sometimes am exhausted or embarrassed by it. : She loves to meet new people and is a total extrovert, which doesn't seem to be the norm for gifted kids. However, she is more drawn to adults and older kids than children her own age.

[LadyMarmalade]

Has anyone had the experience that their child *used* to have good social skills, but then as their giftedness manifested itself in bigger ways, their social skills became extremely asynchronous?

My son had awesome social skills as a toddler. Now it's a different story. He's better at the moment than he was a year ago, but his social capabilities seem to fluctuate.

[catgirl]

I constantly have adults telling me what great social skills he has. He's a natural with adults, very warm and friendly and outgoing. He calls his friends and then has long conversations with their mothers - "Well, how is Andrew enjoying camp?.......oh.......ha ha.....well, it was so nice talking with you today!" It's hysterical, but then he tends to ignore the kids and just happily play with their toys. He tends to be bossy with kids, and to hang out with older kids and assume they like him as much as he likes them, which is not always the case, especially if they go to school and tend to have grade-based social expectations.

[darien]

Originally Posted by LadyMarmalade

Has anyone had the experience that their child *used* to have good social skills, but then as their giftedness manifested itself in bigger ways, their social skills became extremely asynchronous?

My son had awesome social skills as a toddler. Now it's a different story. He's better at the moment than he was a year ago, but his social capabilities seem to fluctuate.

Oh yeah. As a toddler, everyone commented on how "friendly," "mature," and "well behaved" Taro was. At 18m, he "hosted" his first playdate, going around and handing everyone toys and cheerios.

At 9, he's still fairly well mannered and behaved, but can be be a bit of a prig about it (commenting derisively on the other kids' behavior, for example : ). He doesn't TRY to hurt anyone's feelings, but he doesn't mince words, even when he should. When he was fed up with his buddy's videogame playing, for instance, Taro told him "I don't understand why you want to waste time sitting in front of that."

How I miss the old days!