Using the psychological and educational research foundation underscoring the social and emotional aspects of gifted and talented individuals, my inquiry focuses on this population’s affective development and psychological uniqueness. Of particular interest are appropriate identification processes and accommodations for children and adolescents who have the potential for gifted behavior but who are not easily identified and seldom served educationally.

My research concentrates on ways that parents and schools can unmask and develop potential in children and youth, and it embraces issues that serve to camouflage talents in young people, including concomitant attention, learning, and behavioral problems, as well as poverty and gender-based stereotypes. Viewing giftedness and talent less as a permanent set of traits and more as a collection of flexible behavioral characteristics, my research lends support to the notion that, while a certain degree of native potential is surely requisite, gifted-like behavior can be nurtured in many more individuals than has traditionally been believed.

Selected Publications

• Olenchak, F.R., Jacobs, L.T., Hussain, M., Lee, K., & Gaa, J.P. (in press). Giftedness plus talent plus disabilities: Twice exceptional persons, the 21^st century, and lifespan development as viewed through an affective lens. In Ambrose, D., & Sternberg, R.J. (Eds.). Giftedness and talent in the 21^st century: Adapting to the turbulence of globalization. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense.
• Webb, J.T., Amend, E.R., Webb, N.E., Goerss, J., Beljan, P., & Olenchak, F.R. (in press). Misdiagnosis and dual diagnoses of gifted children and adults: ADHD, bipolar, OCD, Asperger’s, depression, and other disorders (2^nd ed.). Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press.
• Lee, K.M., & Olenchak, F.R. (2014). Individuals with a gifted/attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis: Identification, performance, outcomes, and interventions. Gifted Education International, 30, 1-15. Smith, B., Dempsey, A., Jackson, S., Olenchak, F.R., & Gaa, J.P. (2012). Cyberbullyingamong gifted children. Gifted Education International, 28, 112-126.
• Olenchak, F.R. (2010). Gifted education’s latest challenge: Social-emotional underachievement, a new glimpse at an old problem. In McFarlane, B., & Stambaugh, T. (Eds.), Leading change in gifted education. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
• Olenchak, F.R., & Gaa, J.P. (2010). Jumping to conclusions or jumping for joy? Reframing teaching as the art of talent development. In Craig, C.J., & Deretchin, L.F. (Eds.), Cultivating curious and creative minds. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
• Olenchak, F.R. (2009). Creating a life: Orchestrating a symphony of self, a work always in progress. In VanTassel-Baska, J.L., Cross, T.L., & Olenchak, F.R. (Eds.), Social-emotional curriculum with gifted and talented students. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
• Cross, T.L., VanTassel-Baska, J.L., & Olenchak, F.R. (2009). Creating gifted lives.  In VanTassel-Baska, J.L., Cross, T.L., & Olenchak, F.R. (Eds.), Social-emotional curriculum with gifted and talented students. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
• VanTassel-Baska, J.L., Cross, T.L., & Olenchak, F.R. (Eds.), Social-emotional curriculum with gifted and talented students. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.