Tag: prodigy

  • What’s the Difference Between Gifted and Disabled?

    What’s the Difference Between Gifted and Disabled?

    There are many definitions of giftedness. And there are many reason to test for giftedness. But the bottom line is how that giftedness is treated.

    I was so moved by this letter I received from a homeschooling mom in Australia. She has generously allowed me to reproduce it.

    Of course ALL children ARE gifted! ALL people ARE gifted!

    What people seem to refer to by the use of the word ‘gifted’, is actually referencing ‘intellect’ or ‘intelligence’ or just plain good ‘ole ‘smarts’! or is it speed? ie, the child can do the work faster than other children and have more time to spare. Or is it their ability to concentrate better in such a busy environment as a classroom? aren’t easily side-tracked? extremely focused?

    My children are extremely gifted, and I have never thought of them in any other way except that. Yet they have been diagnosed with several ‘disabilities’ (I refer to them as ‘diffabilities’ – different abilities) and if the doctor’s had their way, they’d be diagnosed with more!

    So, why are they considered ‘disabled’? because they meet a set of criteria which isn’t the norm. Why is someone considered ‘gifted’? because they meet a set of criteria which isn’t the norm. Why is one considered to be on one end of the ‘intelligent/ability’ spectrum and the other on the opposite end? semantics? perception? social conditioning?

    What is normal anyway?

    If I compared my children’s IQ test with most children, my children would win – only saying that from the numbers on a piece of paper, not pride.

    Yet, because of many other challenges they have, they can’t even survive in a classroom environment, and would be considered for remediation classes, not the advanced classes. They would be considered intellectually disabled and shunted to a special needs learning unit (separate ‘schooling’ on same campus as ‘normal’ school and the aim is to integrate them into the ‘normal’ school classroom).

    Yet, my gifted, brilliant munchkins are struggling with learning higher math concepts, because, although we have spent more than 7 years trying to learn and retain the basic math facts, it just seems out of their ability to grasp. Yet we do university level science and computer studies, etc.

    Gifted? Disabled?

    All I know is that it’s a daily challenge for our munchkins and many others like them, who may or may not benefit from labelling in our society. I sincerely have no idea whether labelling is a wise course to take or not. Unfortunately we don’t have parallel lives so that we can compare the two with the same people and situations – wouldn’t that be fabulous?

    One thing I didn’t understand for many years was this particular comment from parents, therapists and professionals alike “it’s so obvious you love your children” – what the??? doesn’t everybody love their children??? But sadly, I started seeing that although parents LOVED their ‘gifted/disabled’ children deeply and painfully, they just couldn’t tolerate their behaviour, so their interaction with their child looked like intolerance, disgust, despair…

    …and a lot of shame and guilt in the mix.

    It’s so sad that we don’t feel we have the freedom to show how much we love our children in our society, especially when our children just don’t ‘fit’ anywhere. They are too different.

    But isn’t that what we should be celebrating? their difference?

    We do.

    But I won’t say it’s always easy to do so 😉

    Thanks for letting me share this!

  • Should You Test Children to See if They’re “Gifted”?

    Should You Test Children to See if They’re “Gifted”?

    In a previous article, I wrote What it Means to Be Gifted in Math. Now the question is, should you test for this?

    I heard this story once about testing and learning:

    A group of people were given a test and then separated into two rooms. One room of people was told that the test showed they had an aptitude for learning welding. And so they were being taught welding. The other set was told that their tests reflected a lack of natural ability to weld. But they were being taught welding, anyway. The group that was told they were gifted at welding, excelled. The group that was told they had no aptitude, did poorly.

    Curiously, the tests were never graded and the people were separated arbitrarily!

    Perception changes things.

    As soon as the people in the “bad at welding” class perceived they couldn’t do the job, they didn’t try as hard. It became part of their internal belief system that they wouldn’t be good at it.

    And once the gifted people realized that welding was their “thing,” they believed they would be great, so they tried harder.

    If it is part of your and your children’s internal belief system that they’re mathematicians at heart, then they will be. They will excel regardless of the method of teaching you choose. They might still decide to be political scientists or English professors, but they will do well in math.

    Do you test your child for Gifted & Talented?

    There’s a saying among corporate trainers: “Don’t ask for feedback about something unless you can, and intend to, change it.”

    Only test your child if you will act on the results of the test.

    Children who are part of a classroom school system will be tested before being allowed into an honors or GT class. If you are a homeschool system, you can teach “GT style” without ever testing.

    But you may be interested in “testing just out of curiosity.” Keep the story of the welding students in mind as you make that decision. As soon as you “know” something about your child, you will treat them differently. We’re human; we can’t prevent this.

    If you’re curious, and the result of a GT test is, “Nope, your child’s just plain normal,” there’ll be disappointment.

    Indeed there are anomalies – prodigies, math intuitives, etc. But unless you’re sure that your child falls into one of these categories, and you intend to act on that knowledge, don’t have them tested.

    Treat your child as gifted.

    In lieu of testing, just treat them as gifted from the get-go. It’s not about if your child is gifted, it’s about if you believe they are gifted.

    Thanks to the great parents at the LivingMathForum for the discussion that inspired this post.

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  • What It Means to Be Gifted in Math

    What It Means to Be Gifted in Math

    Galois died at age 19 but produced some of the worlds most amazing mathematics! Image via Wikipedia

    Do you ever wonder if your child is gifted in math?

    We’ve been having a discussion on gifted children at the Living Math Forum. We’ve discussed a few definitions of gifted.

    Here’s my definition (from the thread):

    All parents should treat their children like tiny bundles of brilliance. And indeed all children ARE gifted. Right out of the womb. It isn’t until the grownups get to them and try to teach them “reality” that they lose that ability. Want a gifted child? Treat them as gifted from the get-go.

    But that wasn’t the end of the story. Lots of people have responded.

    The “official” definition of gifted.

    If you’re a classroom teacher or parent, you know about that. You have to differentiate between who is gifted and who isn’t. This ensures the appropriate children get placed in the right learning environment.

    A child is “gifted” if the local testing center says he is.

    Some kids have “different brain-wiring.”

    Another definition that was discussed was of a neurological nature. Many kids just “get” math while some kids struggle.

    But that doesn’t mean the strugglers can’t do math. It merely means that they will likely be brilliant writers, politicians and historians, not mathematicians.

    This definition makes my thought of “every child is gifted in math” fly out the window. Indeed every child is “special” and everyone thinks in their own ways. But some people are wired in a way that lets them “see” things more easily than the rest of us.

    Math intuitives are one of these groups. I’ve recently encountered a couple of math intuitives – people who will “see” an answer to a math problem without having to do any of the work. One of these even can do Sudoku this way (to the frustration of her father).

    Others in this group are true child prodigies. I’m not sure if this is merely an intuitive who is nurtured or actually different. But there are children that amaze scientists and mathematicians.

    Every child is still gifted!

    Regardless of how you look at it, we all do math. Like Daughter’s pediatrician told us: “We’re all potty-trained.” Indeed – we are all potty-trained and we all do math. On some level. It’s natural. It’s intuitive.

    And I still hold that if the grownups stay out of the way, the kids will do all the math their brains are built to do!

    What’s your definition of gifted? Are your children/students gifted?