As laid out by Nancy Robinson, many make the mistake of believing gifted children are inherently awkward and bad at socializing, which is simply untrue. Gifted child problems with socializing often stem from their asynchrony and educational setting. Asynchrony, or uneven development, is often considered a core trait of giftedness. These students may be college age intellectually but still 12 in terms of their social skills. As a result, it can be difficult to make friends who share their interests or hard to know how to appropriately express themselves in group settings. Depending on the educational environment, these children may be labeled with problem behaviors like being bossy, snobbish, anti-social, etc. Their difficulty making friends within a classroom may have nothing to do with their ability or desire to socialize, but instead be a result of not having like-mind peers whom they can form a connection with. When it comes to gifted friendships, there is a notable discrepancy between classmates, or age mates, and someone that they consider as a true peer.
Self-concept is another of the most common challenges of being gifted. Gifted children hit many adolescent milestones earlier than their age-peers but may struggle to develop a healthy self-concept during crucial identity formation periods. While parents are the primary way children learn about themselves, negative experiences at school and with peers may harmfully influence the way a gifted child sees themselves. If the child feels unsupported and unaccepted at school, they may develop low self-esteem and feel that their giftedness alienates them. Low self-esteem can contribute to a wide range of emotional challenges, including anxiety and depression. While gifted children may not be more susceptible to anxiety and depression compared to their age-peers, according to research by Tracy Cross and others, their unique intellectual gifts may contribute to an acute experience of anxiety/depression.
Gifted Children – Types (Part 1)
Children can be gifted in any area of ability, and they can also be gifted in more than one area. For example, a child might be gifted creatively and intellectually. Or they might have above-average physical coordination and memory, or more social and emotional maturity than other children their age.
Children can be gifted at different levels too. That is, some gifted children have more advanced abilities than others. And some gifted children also have disabilities. For example, a child who is intellectually gifted might also have autism or hearing loss.
This means that gifted children become talented when you support and encourage them to use their natural gifts to learn, concentrate and practise. For example, if your child is gifted musically and you give them opportunities to learn a musical instrument, they might develop a talent for playing.
You know your child best. If you think your child might be gifted or talented or your child has been identified as gifted and talented, you could contact the association for gifted and talented children in your state or territory. These associations are listed in our article on support and programs for gifted and talented children.
Dr. Knueppel became aware of the issue of visual perceptual issues with gifted children after hearing a presentation* by Linda Kreger Silverman, PhD of The Gifted Development Center of Denver, Colorado several years ago. Dr. Silverman is a licensed psychologist who has been working with gifted children for many years.
In the United States, 1 in 59 children is autistic. About 70% of autistic people have an intellectual disability, which means they have an IQ lower than 70. The remaining 30% have intelligence that ranges from average to gifted.
These tests are designed to present children with unfamiliar types of problems to see how well they adapt. Therefore, exposing your child to test content would make the testing completely invalid, and he or she would not be able to take another one for at least a year due to the likelihood of remembering items. If your child has taken an IQ test within the past 12 months, please let us know as soon as possible. Also, refrain from offering your child a reward or prize for earning a certain score; instead, praise effort and engagement in the testing session.
Gifted students are the most important part of every society and keeping the gifted child challenged and engaged is necessary. This paper aims to offer suggestions for the appropriate education system to enlarge their knowledge and creativity, without disturbing their usual life and educational surroundings. The author uses a comparative method, focusing on different countries worldwide and comparing and interpreting the various concepts of education in those countries. Based on the United Nations regionalization, the author focuses on the countries of the Eastern European Group (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, and Serbia) and Western European and Others Group (Austria, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Turkey, and the USA). The study finds that inclusive education as an alternative framework is potentially the best education system for gifted students. The prevailing opinion in most countries is that the concept of inclusive education primarily refers to children with special needs. This authorexplains that there is no logical obstacle to applying inclusive education to gifted students as well. Such an inclusive education system would require changing current education systems and programs and, most of all, hiring various professional staff as social workers and trained teachers who can meet the various demanding needs of gifted students in any community. The study concludes that it is necessary to improve existing policies in education to provide the inclusive education framework to gifted children and to understand that the essence is not only to agree on differences but to stimulate the individuality and diversity of the gifted at all levels; the greatest gem of each country is its educated children. Inclusion of gifted students has a positive outcome not only for the individual but also for the other students in the classroom. Gifted students stimulate the others, pushing them to reach their potential academic capabilities. Also, the unidentified students who could learn at elevated levels could benefit from this kind of education model and a high level of instruction could push them in the same way that it challenges the gifted students in the classroom.
In the widest sense, the principles of education rest on the idea that children should receive all resources necessary to fulfill their dreams (Hodges et al. 2018). Applying the logical interpretation to gifted students, education should meet numerous and various needs these students usually have. Such a concept underpins inclusive education.
Thus, it is necessary to provide gifted children with full support up to the maximum when developing their capacities. The reason for this is that a tremendous advantage over others can easily become a disadvantage, especially if the gifted children are not directed in the right way.
Every country has its educational policy and legal regulations concerning gifted children. This section applies the comparative method, focusing on different countries. Similarities and differences observed through various education systems provide a basis for forming an opinion on the legal aspects of inclusive education for gifted children.
The Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina (PSBiH 2003) has guidelines for the education of children with special needs but does not recognize gifted students as a special category. Article 4 of the Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education of Bosnia and Herzegovina stipulates that every child has the same right and equal opportunity to access an appropriate education without any discrimination.
According to the Law on the Foundations of the Education and Upbringing System of the Republic of Serbia (OGRS 2017), the preschool, primary, and secondary education systems framework, along with adult education, pay special attention to work with gifted children. Thus, Article 3 of the law claims that persons with exceptional abilities have the right to special education responsive to their upbringing and special educational needs, in terms of special classes or special schools. Furthermore, Article 56 provides the possibility of organizing individual programs for exceptional students at both the elementary and secondary levels of education. In addition, according to the Law on the Basis of the System of Education and Training, the educational institution can adapt the school program to students who achieve outstanding results in the field of education, which includes adopting an individual educational plan. This plan is a special act to satisfy the educational needs of the child or student. The pedagogical collegium of the institution endorses it, including the suggestion for inclusive education, i.e., the team for providing the additional support to the students, consisting of a teacher, a professional associate, an associate, and a parent or other legal representative. According to Article 76 of the Individual Educational Plan (IPO 3 2017), the deepening and expanding content of educational activities of children with exceptional abilities is the aim.
Further, in Austria, when the Education Act passed in 1962, it explicitly mentioned that the gifted should receive adequate protection (Reid and Boettger 2015). In 1970, the practice was introduced for students who exhibited talent to possibly skip a grade. In 1990, the gifted were recognized as the special category, with all rights that belonged to children with learning difficulties or disabilities. In 1999, a special Austrian Center for Research and Support for the Gifted and Talented was established to support both gifted children and their parents and teachers. The school legislation of Austria emphasizes a general idea of individualized education and autonomous creation of the individual school career, through acceleration and enrichment within the regular school, as well as within specific schools. The identification of gifted students lies mainly in the hands of experts such as school psychologists, teachers, or scientists, who use standardized tests. Information that parents provide is also significant and welcome. 2ff7e9595c
Comments