Want to understand your gifted students better?
Do gifted students really need extra attention?
Looking for ways of challenging your students thinking?
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Twice Exceptional - What does it mean?
Many people are unaware that gifted students can have learning difficulties.
They still have the narrow view that gifted students are 'straight A' students who breeze through school. It is probably one of the reasons that many teachers are reluctant to give any extra attention to gifted students, after all school is so easy for them! There is also resentment from other parents as they feel the gifted student has an unfair advantage over their child.
It is not uncommon for gifted students to be dyslexic or autistic or have ADHD or a whole range of learning difficulties. The difficulty is that giftedness can mask the learning difficulties as bright children can often find ways to compensate for their difficulties. On the other hand sometimes the learning difficulties masks the giftedness as teachers and adults focus on the behaviours and deficits rather than he child's abilities.
To add to the confusion gifted children also have overexcitabilites which can be misinterpreted as a learning difficulty like ADHD. They can be perfectionists, be rigid in their thinking and have difficulty socialising within their own age group which can be mistaken for autism. Their asychronous development can also mean that their motor skills and writing skills do not match their intellectual ability and can seem like a dyslexic type difficulty.
The result of these uneven profiles is that many gifted students are never recognised as 'gifted' within the school context. Their parents will see how rapidly they learn new things at home, their extreme curiosity and hunger understand the word around them, their advanced vocabulary and heightened sensitivity and awareness.
But at school, the teachers are unimpressed - they complain about the child being distracted, not listening to instructions, rushing to complete tasks, not completing written tasks carefully. They are frustrated that the child seems to want to follow their own agenda rather than dutifully completing the task as the teacher instructed.
And so the journey of disappointments, frustrations and misunderstanding begins for the child, the parents and the teacher.
As a parent and a teacher I can see both sides of the story. I understand why teachers behave in the way they do, as they rely on children's responses to a narrow range of activities in the classroom. But I also know the frustration when teachers do not see your child as you see them and they do not value your insights from your experiences at home.
The best way to identify twice exceptional children is for there to be an open and honest dialogue between teachers and parents.
The missing part of the puzzle is very often information that only the parent will have. There needs to be an acceptance that if a parent says their child is gifted the chances are that they are gifted. I don't even like the word 'gifted', I don't use it to boast, I use it because it the most helpful way of understanding my child. I find that very often my motives are questioned when I draw a teacher's attention to my child's abilities. Like all parents the well being of my child is my main concern, its not about 'status' or having unrealistic expectations. In fact I spend most of my time keeping quiet about my child's abilities with both friends and family.
Parents often see a different side of their child which may not be obvious in school. Teachers should not forget that parents have been observing their child from the day they were born and are quick to notice when their child does not behave or react to things in the way other children do. Often parents will spend many years puzzling and piecing together observations and researching possible causes for their child's difference. Parents know things about their child that teachers would never know from the school context. And just as many adults have a work persona and a home persona, children can present very differently at home and at school. Teachers need to value a parent's insights more and think about how it relates to the child they see in school.
In my experience, teacher's can often misinterpret a child's behaviour or shortcomings and the reason for these difficulties. They often blame parents when actually those things are very intrinsic to the child. And no amount of correction or persuasion will change it. My child is a perfectionist and no matter how many times I tell him it is ok to make a mistake, he still cries or gets angry when he does.
From a teacher's point of view, many have not had training about how giftedness may present itself in the classroom or the full range of gifted children they may come across. They are trained to value and judge a child's ability by how successfully they complete routine classroom tasks. There continues to be a big emphasis on what a child can record in writing. This can lead some gifted children to be grouped with 'lower' ability children because they are easily distracted or their writing is weak. Of course gifted students do need to learn to focus and improve their writing skills if this is an issue. But if we put all the focus on child's weaknesses and do not acknowledge or give time for them to be challenged or excel in their area of strength, this leads to frustration and demotivation. Which in turn can lead to behaviours which further distracts the teacher from the giftedness and a downward spiral begins.
Well informed teachers and parents are the key to the success of gifted students and particularly those who are twice exceptional.
Over the next few weeks I will be discussing the full range of twice exceptional students and the dangers of misdiagnosis.
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Recommended book
A practical and easy to read book which draws together research on gifted and talented children.
There is information on identifying gifted and talented learners, thoughts about how to develop school policy and activities to develop thinking skills.
The author Mike Fleetham also has an excellent website full of tips and downloadable resources.Check out www.thinkingclassroom.co.uk
Mike Fleetham is an education consultant who works with teachers and children to make learning more effective and enjoyable. He provides a range of staff training focusing on developing thinking skills in the classroom.
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Here are two of the most informative books to get you started
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This is one the clearest articles I have found which explains the main traits and challenges for gifted children
10 Facts You May Not Know About Gifted Children
Celi Trépanier is the author of Educating Your Gifted Child:
How One Public School Teacher Embraced Homeschooling.
But
you are gifted, you should be at the top of your class!
I’ve
been writing about gifted children for a few years now, and the more I write,
and the more I connect with parents of gifted children, the more I realize just
how misunderstood giftedness is, even among professionals who should have
sufficient knowledge of giftedness in children. We need to shed light on what
giftedness really is, and try to dispel the myths and misconceptions many
believe about gifted children.
Sam
is in my class this year. He’s gifted, so thankfully I won’t need to worry much
about him because I do have a few students who will really need my help!
The
following is a list of facts, traits and issues many would not recognize as a
part of giftedness in children. Why such a list? It’s time to banish the many
widely-held inaccurate perceptions of the gifted child. The pervasive but
misguided idea of the gifted child—the child who excels in school, is
well-behaved, is a natural leader and is emotionally mature—is the elephant in
the room and that elephant needs to leave.
We
need the facts to prevail so that gifted children can have, as all children
should, the education and support they need to grow up to be happy and thriving
adults.
I’m
tired of hearing about her gifted child. What can be so hard about raising a
smart kid? They always do well in school.
1. It is widely
acknowledged that giftedness is an inherent attribute.
Although
a few believe giftedness can be achieved through nurturing, the overwhelming
consensus is that giftedness is present at birth, an inherited trait. Chances
are very high that one or both parents of a gifted child, as well as siblings,
are also gifted. Approximately 2% of the population is said to be gifted
regardless of race, culture or socioeconomic status. It is a neurodiversity
which does not discriminate.
2. Gifted children do
not always excel in school.
Being
gifted is no guarantee of success in school or later in life. For many various
reasons, a gifted child will not always score well on tests, ace every
assignment or turn in his homework. Despite having above-average cognitive abilities,
if a gifted child’s educational needs are not met appropriately, he may not
show exceptional achievement in school. Many gifted children underachieve in
school and often drop out.
3. Gifted children
can and do have learning disabilities.
As
with any child, a gifted child may have learning disabilities which can
negatively influence their achievement in school. Unfortunately, gifted
children with learning disabilities, also referred to as twice-exceptional,
often go unidentified because their advanced cognitive abilities often mask
their learning disabilities. It is common that neither the giftedness nor the
learning disability are recognized or addressed in school.
4. Gifted children
often develop asynchronously.
Asynchronous
development is an imbalance or uneven growth of developing traits, skills and
abilities—a gifted child’s intellectual abilities can be years ahead of their
emotional maturity and social skills. A 12 year old child who understands high
school algebra and science, but is unable to sleep at night alone without a
nightlight, a fan and all of his stuffed animals is an example of asynchronous
development in a gifted child.
5. Gifted children
can have overexcitabilities (OE’s).
These
are the emotional intensities and sensitivities set off by various forms of
physical and psychological stimuli. A constant buzzing sound which causes
extreme irritability and the inability to move on until the sound is located
and stopped; the strong emotional reaction of shaking and vomiting from seeing
a neighbor’s dog lying in the road after being hit by a car; and the gritty
texture in`her mom’s turkey gravy which causes a gifted teen to totally refrain
from eating the family’s holiday dinner are all examples of OE’s.
6. Gifted children
often have difficulty finding like-minded friends.
Gifted
children, with their intellectual, emotional and developmental differences, can
have a difficult time finding friends or same-age peers who share and
understand their intellectual interests and quirky traits. Parents of gifted
children find this common situation the most painful to watch their gifted
children experience.
7. Gifted children
often feel like they don’t fit in.
They
realize early on that they may be out of step or out of sync with children
their own age. Feelings of isolation and not belonging can eventually lead to
emotional struggles, depression, dropping out of school and even suicide.
8. Gifted children
are gifted in and out of school.
It
is not only an educational designation or label administered by schools to
identify high-achieving children. The emotional intensities, asynchrony and
social struggles leave school with the gifted child and follow him home. Being
gifted is who they are, not how well they do in school.
9. Being gifted is
not a net-positive situation.
Looking
back at the above list, there are many facts about giftedness which demonstrate
that being gifted is not an all-good-all-the-time situation. Being smarter or
able to grasp and master concepts and skills above grade level is not a guarantee
that any child has it made and will be successful in life.
10. Raising a gifted
child is not easy.
Given
the educational considerations, overexcitabilities, social struggles and
asynchrony, life with a gifted child can easily come with its share of bumps in
the road. Additionally, the reality that so many only see the stereotypical
gifted child—the child who has it made—means parents find little support or
empathy among other parents or adults when they need it most.
I
wish my child could be gifted and get to attend special classes. Personally, I
think all children are gifted and should be able to be in the gifted program.
Giftedness
has its upsides and it downsides. It has many attributes which are
misunderstood by many and are often not associated with giftedness in children.
Because of this, the education of our gifted learners has been a global concern
for some time. Every child should be able to receive an education which
best meets his or her needs and offers the best chance to reach their full
potential. Gifted children should, too.
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