Marching to the
Beat of a Different Drummer:
The Creative Underachiever

Creative children are at high risk for underachievement. Many students define creativity as synonymous with difference and nonconformity and often view their personal values in terms of opposition toward adults and uniqueness compared to peers.

This presentation will discuss the stresses these students voice, the frustrations they feel, the loneliness they describe, and the psychological defenses which prevent them from completing even creative projects for fear that the completed project will not be unique enough.   

This presentation will also focus on ways that families and teachers can identify the patterns of creative underachievement and on ways they can help these students in the prevention and reversal of their underachievement. 

Related materials include the AIM-TO test instrument for identification, the book, Why Bright Kids Get Poor Grades and What You Can Do About It, and the guidebook, Underachievement Syndrome: Causes and Cures.
Also visit the Parenting Article, Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer.

©2008 by Sylvia B. Rimm. All rights reserved. This publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author.