My 6 year old daughter is exceptionally bright and a year ahead of her peers with her studies at school. However, she is emotionally very immature. I am becoming increasingly concerned with her behaviour. She will do what she is told most of the time and sanctions or consistent discipline tend to work when she doesn't. The real problem is that she must be in control of every situation and she will get incredibly upset if she can't. She has a 3 year old sister who is emotionally mature (or right for her age), a 7 year old step-sister who is very mature for her age and a 4 year old step brother. She sees her step-siblings every other weekend. If the others are happily playing a game, my daughter will wade in and insist they play it her way. This upsets everyone, but mostly my daughter who simply can not cope with their refusal and will vent her frustration by screaming and crying. It's the same story at school or on occasions when there are friends or similar aged children at home. She is intensly competitive and must win or be the best at everything - she can not cope when she is not first, the best or the brightest. She is a perfectionist who will not begin her school work until she has completely understood the task, often holding up the class with her endless questions. Her teachers say this is unneccesary as she is the only one who really gets it first time! Their view is that although she is bright, she has some emotional and social problems. She does not make friends easily - I believe other children are very wary of her and her outbursts when things don't go her way. She gets frustrated by simple things very easily. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt she does not and possibly can not listen or hear what I say, regardless of how I approach her. She talks over me and when she is quiet, her eyes are completely glazed over. This does concern me. She idolises her father (she stays with him every other weekend) who is himself a deeply competitive man. I should say that I have a very positive relationship with him - no animosity - we split when she was three, but the children have all adjusted very well on the whole. She is a very confident girl, often putting on shows for the family, will perform with absolutely no sense of fear or embarrasment that I see naturally in other children her age. It is almost as though this social connection - that and the inability to see her how actions affect people around her - is completely missing. She is also extremely generous and will make gifts and draw pictures for anyone in the house on a daily basis. She has a significant amount of my time after school and I always try and ensure I spend a good hour just with her. I am becoming sad for her that I think she is not very happy and am keen to find a way of understanding why she is like this and why she simply does not understand the effect of her actions or can't hear me when I talk to her. English attitude is 'she'll be fine, don't analyse it'. Please help!