title: [Detect the "high potential" child (gifted). Longitudinal retrospective study on 19 children during 18 years in a rural general practitioner office].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The authors wish to propose a possible procedure to general practitioners and pediatricians, in order to detect and accompany "high potential" children who they are brought to follow.
  
  
  METHODS
  It is a retrospective longitudinal study which permitted to follow 19 "high potential" children (tested using an IQ test, because of relational or scholar difficulties) during eighteen years of practice, in a general practitioner office. The gathering of clinical data was carried out using the health record of the child and longitudinal notes about pregnancy and neonatal period, about psycho motor development, the schooling, the centers of interest and the activities of the child. The ages of psycho motor acquirement were compared to the ones of the literature.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average age of our sample at the moment of the IQ test was 9 years and 9 months with a majority of boys (16) compared to girls (3); 14 of the children were followed to middle school and 8 to the high school. We highlighted on the one hand significantly precocious development of postural and locomotive acquirement (p <0.001) and of cognitive and linguistic acquirement (p < 0.05) compared to standards of French scales of child development. On the other hand, we noticed cognitive and relational behavioral characteristics specific to the mental functioning of these children. We noticed an important percentage of very precocious relational difficulties (73%) from as soon as preschool and moreover confirmed neuro-psychomotor troubles (22%) and aggressive or anxious behavior troubles (21%) correlated to scholar disengagement beginning in middle school for 50% of them.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The forward detection for the precocious attainment is a marker of high potentiality which should draw doctor attention in preparation for prevent eventual learning and behavioral troubles, to provide moral assistance to the parents in their relationships. In case of possible difficulties (psycho-emotional, social, scholar), it's desirable to confirm the precocious attainment by using an IQ test, and complete the evaluation by further investigations (neuropsychological examinations, projective test...) in order to propose the best suited care to child difficulties with the intention to prevent personality troubles and scholar disengagement.
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne Paris-Cité et université Paris-Sud. winisdorffer.joelle@orange.fr
authors.forename: Joëlle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Winisdorffer
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vaivre-Douret
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002672:Child, Gifted; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003663:Decision Trees; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D058005:General Practitioners; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D013997:Time Factors