The International Gifted Consortium (IGC), Reseach Center for Highly–Profoundly Gifted is the leading gifted organization and research center supporting giftedness and the distinct educational and developmental needs of highly gifted and profoundly gifted children, adolescents, individuals, and families since 2015.
Headquartered in Arizona, The International Gifted Consortium (IGC), Research Center for Highly–Profoundly Gifted is a transformational group of leading researchers and IGC Contributors from across the globe, who possess an experienced understanding of the continuum of gifted, gifted education, and gifted development. We serve the unique development of this often misunderstood population. Together, we educate teachers, school administrators, counselors, psychologists, pediatricans, and parents on the lived experiences and research-based understandings —to aid gifted identification and gifted education from an early age —and to support natural human development, potential, and well-being.
We are international experts in gifted education, development, and psychology — researching, educating, identifying, counseling, and supporting giftedness, and highly gifted and profoundly gifted individuals.
Founding Leader — — Vanessa R. Wood, Psy.D. Clinical Psychology M.A. Gifted Education
Vision
We envision highly gifted and profoundly gifted children
nurtured with fitting educational and developmental opportunities
that allows each to positively grow and develop; to flourish.
Global Mission
To collaboratively understand, identify, and support
the unique social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and altruistic-moral
development of giftedness
through the eyes of the highly–profoundly gifted.
Initiatives
Open-Access Research | Education-Outreach and Professional Development | Advocacy | Research-Based Programs
Open-Access Research
The International Gifted Consortium (IGC), Research Center for Highly–Profoundly Gifted collaborates with scholars, universities, and leading institutions across the globe including Johns Hopkins University and University of Antwerp.
We examine human development and potential. We study giftedness and the distinctly unique social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and altrusitic-moral development, developmental milestones, and life experiences of highly–profoundly gifted children, adolescents, young adults, and families.
We consider the relationship of advanced and asynchronous development, overexcitabilities (emotional, intellectual, imaginational, psychomotor, and sensual), and developmental potential.
We conduct and disseminate scholarly research on the gifted, highly gifted, and profoundly gifted population.
Prevalence of Emotional, Intellectual, Imaginational, Psychomotor, and Sensual Overexcitabilities in Highly and Profoundly Gifted Children and Adolescence: A Mixed-Methods Study of Development and Developmental Potential
How Can We Better Understand, Identify, and Support Highly Gifted and Profoundly Gifted Students? A Literature Review of the Psychological Development of Highly–Profoundly Gifted Individuals and Overexcitabilities
Unpacking Intensities: An Exploratory Study of Parents’ Perspectives of Overexcitabilities in Highly to Profoundly Gifted Children
Latest Research:
Access to Well-Being for Gifted and Highly–Profoundly Gifted School-Aged Children and Adolescents: An International Literature Review Study
Education-Outreach and Professional Development
The International Gifted Consortium (IGC), Research Center for Highly–Profoundly Gifted educates parents, teachers, school administrators, counselors, psychologists, and pediatricians on the research-based development and developmental potential of gifted and highly–profoundly gifted children and adolescents.
We present research findings, implications, and recommendations.
And, we provide research-based training and professional development workshops to all stakeholders.
Through Room With a View, The IGC podcast, The International Gifted Consortium, Research Center for Highly–Profoundly Gifted impacts families, stakeholders, and communities in over 69 countries.
Advocacy
The IGC advocates for research-based developmental and educational programs.
We support parents through IGC Ambassadors.
We build community through IGC Cohorts.
We inititate the global conversation on giftedness inclusive of the highly gifted and profoundly gifted population. Highly–Profoundly Gifted: Universal Understandings and Holistic Approaches.
The first-of-its-kind, international, research-based resource.
Researched-Based Educational Programs
The International Gifted Consortium (IGC), Research Center for Highly–Profoundly Gifted is developing research-based educational programs that support the development, developmental potential, and well-being of highly–profoundly gifted children and adolescents.
Why do we need to better understand giftedness?
Why do we need to identify gifted and highly–profoundly gifted children and adolescents?
Why do we need to meaningfully support gifted education and gifted development?
Because
—Giftedness is human development and potential. Including identifiable social, emotional, imaginational, cognitive, psychomotor, and sensual experiences and development.
—The advanced and often asynchronous development of gifted individuals is driven by greater-than-typical intensity, sensitivities, awareness, excitability. The term “overexcitability” refers to the greater-than-typical internal and external response of the nervous system.
—Often, overexcitabilities are expressed internally.
—Multiple high overexcitabilities have been documented in empirical research studies as the predominate profile in highly and profoundly gifted children and adolescents (Gallagher, 2022, Guilbault et al., 2024, Wood et al., 2024).
—However, giftedness is often misconceived as academic, school-based achievement alone without regard for the greater-than-typical emotional, intellectual, imaginational, psychomotor, and sensual development.
—Due to this mismatch in understanding and identification, many highly gifted and profoundly gifted children are not being identified or served.
—Tragically, many highly–profoundly gifted children are being misidentified in schools or misdiagnosed by practitioners who do not have training in giftedness or profoundly gifted individuals.
—Many highly–profoundly gifted children are overlooked completely.
—As such, the social, emotional, cognitive, physical, and altruistic-moral development of highly–profoundly gifted children, adolescents, young adults, individuals, and families is vulnerable and at high risk.
—This is a global systemic problem that must be addressed if we are to serve and support our education, our development, and our well-being.
the stakes are beyond our comprehension.
The International GIfted Consortium (IGC), Research Center for Highly–Profondly Gifted marks 10-years
