Reframing the Understanding of Giftedness: A Comparative Analysis of Dabrowski’s Overexcitabilities and Sensory Processing Frameworks

Gifted education makes use of Kazimierz Dabrowski’s theory of Positive Disintegration, and more specifically his descriptions of overexcitabilities (OEs) to describe the heightened sensitivities and intense experiences often observed in gifted individuals. Whilst this approach of using these OE’s to describe gifted individuals offers a framework for understanding certain behaviours and reactions, these can be limited in addressing the diverse sensory and regulatory needs of gifted individuals as they (the OE’s) lack specificity with regards to the individual's response to sensory input and which possible sensory systems the individual is more reactive in. Therefore, using an Ayres Sensory Integration (ASI) framework, grounded in occupational therapy and neuroscience, may provide a more nuanced and empirically supported lens through which to view these behaviours, or characteristics.