G&T forum?

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Hi,
Can anyone recommend a forum for parents of gifted and talented kids? I'm a Luddite, but wrong planet is a pretty comfortable forum format for me. Something similar would be nice.

A forum that is geared towards twice exceptional kids would be appreciated as well,

Thanks!

My daughter is twice exceptional too, but I don't use a forum for that specifically. I'll be watching for replies.

Damn, and here I thought we were going to discuss gin & tonic

I would love to hear of a 2E forum as well....anyone?

Wow, I was finally able to register an account here! I've been reading for a while now (we are still working on getting a formal diagnosis for my DS8).

I am also a member of the Davidson Gifted Issues Forum (I can't post links.. you'll have to google it, I'm sorry!) They have a subforum devoted to 2E kids and there are some amazingly helpful folks over there. (My username is 'epoh' over there.) The Davidson Young Scholars program is for kids with super-duper high IQs, but plenty of parents/folks with kids that are gifted but now quite DYS candidates are members over there.

At what age should you get a kid's IQ tested to see if they're gifted?

Our school district has a policy not to identify anyone as being "gifted" until they are in 3rd grade.

I checked out the Davidson site and here's a forum in Australia
http://www.gifted-children.com.au/

My initial observation is that the majority (99%) of the kids described by their parents are nuerotypical. Did not see any parents say they have AS kids. In addition, quite a lot of "dragon moms" lurking around these sites so I take what they post with a grain of salt.

My daughter was diagnosed with autism and is still non-verbal with strangers (she's verbal with people she's comfortable with), despite this she is 2yrs ahead of her peers in math, reading and writing. Unfortunately due to reluctance to communicate there is a perception her comprehension is underdeveloped (this is not actually the case but try convincing mainstream school teachers). Only recently she's been allowed to attend Grade 2 math class as the teachers acknowledge she is bored of the year 1 curriculum. I have to explained to them that she is doing year 3 math at home but they don't believe her comprehension is up to this level (a lack of perceptiveness on their part) .

my sons overall IQ was ave, but his individual scores were high ave, except process speed which was a good 20 pts lower then his verbal and the other one, which brough his score down.

BUT his academic scores were in the superior range, for instance in math he scored in the 99.6%, all of his academic areas were either in the 90%s or high 80%s. THis year he has completed a full grade and half of the next in math (which was already a full grade ahead of his peers) so he is, at 6, doing the middle of 3rd grade math, and let me tell you he is FLYING thru it. He absorbs it like a spnge. I am actually afraid to keep moving at the pace he is learning it!

So, is gifted your overall IQ or can you be gifted in an area or several areas yet hav an average IQ? I also believe my son's IQ should be much higher then his score was, but he doesnt test very well. And other issues come into play with that. Although I would love for him to be tested again becasue his skills are leaps and bound ahead of where they were last year...

any input?

Good point, I agree that IQ is only just a rough guide and doesn't factor in other attributes of intelligence.

IQ tests are not normed for spectrum kids. Our school system recognized that and actually was concerned that my son would not test well, and were willing to make accelerated materials available to him if that were the case.

My son scored high enough to get him into gifted, luckily, but I think he should have scored higher than he did, again, because the questions are designed for NT kids with NT brains.

I checked out the Davidson 2e board, and I may have to poke around there some more, but so far I haven't seen anything answered there that couldn't be answered here.

It sounds like you were given a FSIQ (Full Scale IQ), and should have also recieved a GAI (General Ability Index). The GAI would have probably been a better measure for your child.

Also, many 2E kids don't get good/valid IQ test results. It helps to have them tested by someone who is familiar with 2E kids and know how to work with them. (A 2E kid is going to often need additional down-time between tests, someone to comfort them, allow them to stim, etc.) Achievement tests are sometimes a better measure for a 2E kid than an IQ test.

Lastly, it's far more common for someone to be gifted in one or two specific areas, rather than globally gifted.

When, and whether to have your kid tested depends on what you want to get out of it. My son's been tested a few times as part of evals... Partly just are part of trying to figure out what exactly is going on with him. I was glad to get the full K-ABC II tests, so that I can better advocate for him in his future schooling. Up to now (just finished 2nd grade) he's been denied a place in the G&T program due to his behavior... in the future I will be able to argue that decision because I have hard data to show that he needs more than just the regular classroom curriculum. (Well, actually, at this point he's probably going to need fulltime differentiation, but that's unlikely to happen.)

I've read that between ages 6-8 is the best time to have them tested... before age 6 the tests are really unreliable, and after age 8 you can often find a kid that's already completely soured on school and refusing to cooperate fully with testing.) I would think that if you are trying to get good information on what's going on with your child (in terms of LD's, processing disorders, etc) and/or help advocating for their education, anytime is a good time to test them.

http://www.mothering.com/community/f/370/parenting-the-gifted-child

http://www.giftedchildren.org.nz/forum/

I'd love to see a 2e forum as well. My son is 11 yo and profoundly gifted. It has been terribly difficult for him to find friends that he can bond with. The GT kids who share his interests often have no patience for his differences and the other AS kids he has met so far have not shared his interests. He seems to be more comfortable with the kids with AS since they are so much less judgemental but I really think that meeting other 2E kids would be like a small miracle for him.

We did try the Davidson istitute forums and he was identified by the Duke University Talent search so we have access to those resources as well but everything seems to be geared for the purely gifted population.

So far from what I have found online there is only ONE school in the US geared towards educating 2E children and it is in California.

We are currently struggling with his transfer to middle school since the school would like to focus only on the AS and ignore the Gifted side. It is a constant battle to make sure his needs are met and he is allowed the academic stimulation that he craves.

I'm going to put myself out on a limb and say what drives me the most crazy about having a 2E child - Parents of gifted kids often don't see my child as a potential playmate for theirs but instead as an object of pity that they should expose their child to in order to teach tolerace and sympathy. And the other AS families I have met have no patience for my concerns and fears for him since his being gifted makes his disablility insignificant in their eyes. There. Sounds awful to some but that is what my experience has been so far.

Have you heard of Hill School (Google 'Hill School Fort Worth')? We can't afford it, but appears to be geared toward 2E kids and is in the DFW metroplex.