Giftedness article - thoughts/questions

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Read it here

I thought it was an interesting reading, easy to read yet stimulating thoughts.
Challenging?

Differences are only conditions when you can't live a normal life, meaning an adequate life as most people live it. People accepted like they are and who have what they need tend to do good and feel well or better, at least know how to use their strength and weaknesses like anyone can. Differences only feel that way when in a minority or isolated from a group, lack of integration, ironically can lead to desintegration. On that postulate, we all could be functional.

Are conditions (differences) the problem, or is it ignorance? In your opinion, what would it take/how would it work for everybody to learn and live together?

Yes, it is a challenging question. How does a "normal" person figure out a student who is different so that they can be optimally motivated and taught?

Take something as obvious as handedness. It is difficult to write left handed with a pen because your hand goes over the fresh ink. A normal person might not realize that that was the real problem with someone's messy writing.

It gets much tougher when we are talking about getting inside the head of the student.

I get your point: not obvious, and although it is a part of it, awareness, education in fact because no one is an oracle, plays a huge part well, in anything, starting with tolerence, so respect.

That said your example is wobbly (handwriting), laterality is as certain as sexuality preferences, just people tend to think it is.

True, while I was taught to write with my right hand, and do it "normally," I can write quite neatly with my left as well if I use a pencil.

Leftie here, mostly write right-handed.
That can be a true struggle, but learning to use it, can be a plus. Using both brains. Music from early in life does that naturally.
Just fits my original post. Accept, use the differences (not the people), make it a thriving diversity, strong, aware, so educated, happier, capable and willing.

If people were that way, and they could, both NTs and NDs until there's no barrier, like there wouldn't be between genders, colors etc... There would be no door to knock on or down, there'd be no need for it. Now how do you educate a concrete and effective way for this can happen? That's my question, and a real one because I don't have the answer.

Greetings. This article was interesting because i looked into it a lot before because giftedness is recognized in Ontario, Canada in the school board and will provide an IEP for it. The only problem comes is when a student is 2e, which is what the article is talking about. 2e, which stands for twice exceptional, means the person is gifted and has a disability. If you have a learning disorder, you are more likely to be gifted than the general population. AD/HD and gifted seems hard to diagnose, but really isn't. A gifted student usually is only hyperactive, impulsive, and/or inattentive if the activity is boring because they already know the information. You can tell the difference mainly in school. Ask the kid if they are acting this way because they already know the information.

I have read several articles about giftedness. Some say that giftedness should be a mental disorder in itself because many lack the social skills they need, along with some other things.

My brother and my friend are both considered gifted. My brother is 14, and tends to be mean to people who can't do stuff he can. He gets frustrated with others for not knowing what he knows since he is bored in class. He used to go to a gifted school once a week (used to because it was an elementary school, and he is in high school now). Seemed to like it, but i personally felt it didn't teach him anything and they just got to have fun. My friend, on the other hand, didn't. She is a French immersion student (takes classes in French instead of English for many of them). She sometimes wishes she isn't gifted though because people hold her for high standards compared to her non-gifted classmates that it causes her anxiety. I believe she has at least one anxiety disorder. I think she is seeking help, I'm not sure. She refused to before due to stigma.

In my opinion, it's the 2e students that need the most help (in term of the gifted students) compared to other gifted students. I believe that both need help, but school aren't trains in understanding 2e students. They tend to see giftedness more if they are getting good grades or see the disorder(s) more if they aren't getting good grades. If they don't have high nor low grades, they see nothing or the giftedness more because they appear to be "normal". School regions need 2e schools and better training in recognizing 2e students. 2e students need accommodations just as much as just a student with a disability. Even gifted students need accommodations and for teachers to recognize that though they seem to be doing well, they shouldn't hold high standards for them and still praise them when they do well. They still deserve credit. I have strong opinions on this topic.

Anyways, nice post. If you need any more information, you can always ask me. I know a lot due to my special interest, and believed i was gifted at one time. I'm gifted in math, but not anything else so i don't fit the criteria for giftedness since it isn't in all areas.

Thanks for this post that's a confirmation that education about differences is the key. When you know a process is different and may cause difficulties to someone, you may also be able to prevent its main negative effects. It doesn't change or negate these differences, it makes people functional in this world. The earlier in life the better. Emotional consequences are often overlooked indeed.
I got interested in the topic because I seeked a diagnosis for myself. It's hard to tell now, as I've changed, adapted at least a minimum in spite of some rigidity in some areas only. In terms of strict assessment, I don't meet the criterias for asd, but I read a lot about female aspies. I meet the criterias for giftedness yet still have a hard time believing in it.
I don't know the knowledge you have about giftedness, so I wouldn't know what to specifically ask. Neuro-anything seems to be more advanced in the US and Canada than it is here. Frustrating.

Interesting read

I was recognised as 'gifted' all the way through school (before getting my HFA diagnosis at 20), but the provisions for gifted kids really dropped off as we progressed from primary through to secondary school. In primary school myself and a few other kids would be given separate/additional classes geared around creative thinking; it felt like play time almost because it was quite free, we got musical instruments, puzzles, art supplies etc., but it was far more stimulating than regular class. In high school we had to be reassessed (passing on the information that a child is gifted appeared difficult, for some reason), and then we had weekly classes where we basically just played chess and did IQ-test type logic problems. That was very dull and under-stimulating. The thing I always found frustrating was the apparent lack of communication between all these schools and bodies who had tested us for giftedness. At the end of my final year at high school, the head of languages called me into her office, and apologised for not having recognised my language abilities sooner. She said she felt the department had let me down. Two years later, towards the end of my German A-level, my tutor similarly said that she wished she had known I was 'a prodigy' when she first started teaching me, the better to nurture and stimulate me in my learning.

The thing is, I had the grades, I had the work. I have an IQ of 158, and whilst I am quiet and didn't pipe up in class, it was obvious to anybody paying attention that I was capable of more than they had me doing. Another boy in my year who was gifted had very challenging behaviour, and whilst the label of 'challenging' followed him throughout his academic career, the label of 'gifted' did not. I always liked him and I felt sorry for him because, whilst I was able to internalise my boredom, his personality didn't allow for it. He got into trouble a lot, got suspended a few times, even became violent with a teacher. I can't say for sure that with better provisions for learning at his level, and in a way that suited him,he would have fared any better, but I strongly suspect he would have done. For children whose minds work differently, it is not just about how much they can learn, but also how best they can learn it. Honestly I can't see budgets in state schools prioritising this kind of innovative learning any time soon.

I was a prodigy in the rehab ward!

Luckily I had two therapists who took on the challenge of finding new things for me to do--they had trouble keeping up! We all knew that if I kept doing the same thing every day I wouldn't progress as fast.