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Starting from an early age, some gifted children show evidence of spiritual sensitivity. These children understand the universality of spiritual concepts such as forgiveness of others, develop spiritual self‐awareness through asking questions and finding spiritual problems to solve, develop a systematic philosophy of life and death, or are seekers of the transcendent in the universe, other people and themselves. Spiritual sensitivity encompasses those children who develop knowledge of spiritual concepts and examine belief systems in advance of age peers, those who act from a desire to relieve the suffering of others and those who show evidence of transcendent or mystical experiences. This article explores the concept of spiritual sensitivity, examines the role of asynchrony in the development of spiritual concerns, and offers examples of how gifted children experience these concerns in their everyday lives. Notes An earlier version of this paper was presented at the National Association for Gifted Children forty‐third annual convention, Indianapolis, IN, Friday, November 1, 1996. In order to protect confidentiality, all names and identifying details have been changed for all examples used in this article. In some cases, children described are composites of several children; in other cases, parents have given permission for the description of their child.
Deirdre V. Lovecky (Sun,) studied this question.