This webpage has been created in order to help parents who believe that they have a gifted and talented child. It will help you understand the nature, unique needs, and characteristics of your gifted child. It will also help you understand the differences between gifted boys and gifted girls, twice exceptional students, and the personal/social issues connected to supporting gifted students. My aim is to help support you as you navigate through this journey of parenting a gifted child. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have questions.
Ms. Donohue
Understanding Your Gifted and Talented Child
Characteristics of Gifted Children Gifted and Talented Children exhibit many characteristics. It is very important to note that not every gifted child exhibits all characteristics. For example, some gifted children exhibit language ability at a very young age. At the same time, there are some gifted children that develop language skills at a normal rate as other kids their age, and some will still be late in their language development. This is why it is important to be able to identify several different characteristics and not just rely on a few as the identification process takes place. As you read through this list, knowing it is not an exhaustive list, consider if you have seen any of these characteristics in your child.
Characteristics
Is very imaginative and a problem solver
Has high alertness and attention
Has an efficient and high memory capacity
Enjoys learning
Has keen observation skills and analytic ability
Enjoys learning
Long attention span and ability to concentrate
Is inquisitive and asks questions
Can have extreme perfectionism
Has a strong need for logic and accuracxy
Can show underachievement in areas not interesting to them
Good sense of humor; seemingly above age level
Has an amazing lanauge ability with complex grammar and large vocabulary
Has a strong sense of justice and empathy
Unique Needs Gifted and Talented students do have needs that are unique to them. These needs should be recognized, so that we can help them to achieve their greatest capacity to learn and grow. A few of these unique needs are listed below to help you understand how you can help your child in this journey.
Gifted students need to be able to learn about their "giftedness." These children should be taught that they have a high ability in a specific area(s) and what gifted means.
Gifted students need to be able to learn something new every day. In many cases, these students spend much of their time learning and practicing things that they already know. The goal for these kids is to avoid loss of learning opportunities and work towards academically invigorating and advanced opportunities.
Gifted students needs to have "permission" to be gifted in one or some areas but not in all. Students will often be gifted in one area but not in others. It needs to be OK for this child to be greatly accelerated in one area and work at a general level with the other students in the others and feel successful at both. Expecting advanced work in every subject can be very hard on these students.
Gifted students need to be able to choose what they want to participate in and learn. They need to be able to have a voice in choosing subjects and projects that they find interesting and if they want to participate in special classes or gifted programs.
Gifted students need to be able to make mistakes and still feel successful. Many of these students face a great need to be perfect at most things they do. This can lead to a successful feeling, but it can often lead to feelings of inadequacy and inability to get things right. These students need to know that making mistakes is a great thing and can lead to other opportunities and successes.
Gifted students need to have friends and/or peer groups that understand their world they live in or are understanding of their differences. It is important for these students to have different groups of friends and/or work groups that they can connect with. These groups can be based on similar ages, but they can also be formed around similar interests and talents.
Gifted students need to have resources and guidance to help develop their talents. These students needs to have experience outside of the traditional classroom where those with expertise can lead them to great resources and opportunities that will help them grow.
Gifted Girls and Gifted Boys
In the past and even at present time, there have been gender issues in regards to achievement. These issues have also been identified in expectations, homes, school, and society in general. The following lists show some differences in expectations, achievement and aspirations found in research studies. Being aware of these issues helps us to create a more equitable approach to gifted learning.
Differences for Gifted Girls
Girls are less represented in children's literature and in text books.
As a cultural stereotype, girls tend to believe that boys do not like achieving girls.
In home expectations, girls use to be thought of preparing to take care of their homes, but they now have choices.
Girls tend to get less attention at school because their behavior is mild and inhibited.
Girls are more rewarded for being dependent.
Gifted girls are more likely to lose their confidence while young.
Achieveing girls were more considered to be "unfeminine."
Differences for Gifted Boys
Boys are represented well in children's literature and text books.
As a cultural stereotype, boys are encouraged to show superior intellect to attract members of the opposite sex.
In home expctations, boys are expected to become the bread winners.
Boys tend to get more attention because they are more aggressive and more likely to be uninhibited.
Boys are encouraged to work on their own more.
Boys scored higher when measuring academic self-concept.
Achieving boys were more considered to be "uncool."
There is power in understanding these issues that were brought out through research. If we know that these issues tend to present themselves, we can work hard to avoid them and work toward more fair education practices.
Twice Exceptional Children
What does twice exceptional mean? Twice exceptional children are those that show high achievement in at least one area AND who are also identified as having one or more disabilities. Disabilities can include speech and language disorders, hearing impariments, autistm spectrum disorders, physical disabilities and many more. The combination of a high achieving ability and a disability can cause the ability to be masked or the disability to be masked. Identifying these students typically involves many assessments and should ideally be done by a professional who is knowledgable of twice exceptional students. These students should be serviced in both their high achieving area and in the area of disability.
Personal and Social Issues of Gifted Students
Gifted Students face many personal and social issues. Some of these issues center around self-concept, the ability to adjust socially, self-esteem and identity. Since schools are organized according to chronological age, many gifted students end up in situations where they are with students of their own age, but are unable to connect with due to their mental age. In gifted classes, these students can often work with students who match more of their mental age but not of their chronological age. This creates a scenario where these gifted students have a hard time finding friends or true peers.
Perfectionism can be a huge factor for these gifted students. Perfectionism can be a very positive part of a gifted child's experience, but perfectionism can also cause a huge amount of stress for students who feel so pressured to do everything perfectly. We need to work hard to include best work but to help gifted students understand that best work does not mean perfect work. Showing them real life examples of "work in progress" can help.
If your child shows personal or social issues that concern you, please know that counseling has been viewed to be an excellent way to help these gifted students.
Sources: Davis, Gary A, and Sylvia B. Rimm. Education of the Gifted and Talented. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1985.
I hope this webpage has given you some information that can help you in your journey as you parent your amazing gifted and talented child. I am here to help you and your child in whatever ways I can.