Imaginational Overexcitability

("Heavenly Nostrils" cartoon by Dana Simpson can originally be found HERE)

Gifted people often demonstrate some of Dabrowski's Overexcitabilities.  One of the categories is called Imaginational Overexcitability.  While in pre-school, my son had an imaginary friend named, Jelly-lo.  My child was a quiet boy while Jelly-lo was incredibly naughty.  My son was able to experiment with the world by talking about Jelly-lo's bad behavior and then asking about consequences.  While in the primary grades, my boy lived in a world of mice.  During his playtime, he was a teacher of a classroom of mice, and he blew a whistle to bring the imaginary class to order,  These mice played with my child and his real friends while on the playground at school, and the mice also went on adventures with my son and his real grandpa. Read below to see if any of Dabrowski's descriptions have made an appearance in your family's life.

IMAGINATIONAL OVEREXCITABILITY

Imaginational OE reflects a heightened play of the imagination with rich association of images and impressions, frequent use of image and metaphor, facility for invention and fantasy, detailed visualization, and elaborate dreams (Dabrowski & Piechowski, 1977; Piechowski, 1979, 1991). Often children high in Imaginational OE mix truth with fiction, or create their own private worlds with imaginary companions and dramatizations to escape boredom. They find it difficult to stay tuned into a classroom where creativity and imagination are secondary to learning rigid academic curriculum. They may write stories or draw instead of doing seatwork or participating in class discussions, or they may have difficulty completing tasks when some incredible idea sends them off on an imaginative tangent.

(This post was written by Tawnya Sherman)

See more about overexcitabilities at this website.