How to tell if a child is gifted?

[sleepy]

2ppaamm:

Start school earlier, skip grades, IEP, dual enrollment, subject escalation. A lot more lah...


If the child is truly exceptionally gifted, give him an earlier start can be good. Many bored kids develop behavioral problems.

2ppaamm:

Again, I will only do this if I am at least 99.9% sure my kid is way above average on the brains department. Way above means the #1 in the year he/she is born. Otherwise, that piece of paper is useless. MOE won't use it.

ks2me:

I believe 2ppaamm is speaking from her experience of an exceptional case. Most cases I believe do not warrant such a test because they are likely above average but not exceptional enough. In cases where they are exceptional, I believe there is special help that can be rendered to help them develop themselves better since they are not on the normal curve. I also think MOE are keen in such cases only.

Precisely. I mentioned earlier, that IQ report usually ends up as white elephant even if the child is certified gifted.

I've heard of cases where children in the 99% to 99.5% percentile being rejected for level skipping or early admission. Not exceptional enough to warrant any early intervention from MOE.

These gifted kids were simply told to wait for GEP screening at P3 and case closed. So parents with gifted children are still very much on their own, must 'self-intervene'

[csc]

Blobbi:

autumnbronze:

I do not know if my child is gifted, but he possesses some qualities for a 2 and a half yr old that amazes us many times over :D.

Autumnbronze, I haven't been visiting the \"Kids Say the Darnest Things\" thread for awhile, but I must say your son is showing so much curiousity and exhibits a lot of pre-knowledge that is really quite shocking. I want to say welll done to you and your hubby, but a lot of it is also from within your kid, so well done, all of you.

I wish I have great advice for you. You see, my son is EG. Yep. Didn't want to say it cos I want the anonymity. I don't see it as so great - it's the luck of the draw. Yes there are precedents in the family. Anway, he's my son and we love him to bits regardless. We have problems like anyone else, although maybe different ones. But then, who doesn't have different problems? And the truth is, we've been targeted before so that these guys can feel \"adequate\". It's water under the bridge lah, so forget it. But by confessing, I've been \"outed\", yikes, cos like 2ppaamm says, there ain't that many around.

You know you have an issue when your son works out various ways of doing multiplication via ratios, applies it in different ways and tells you that you have to work it out yourself because it's too boring to explain to you *again*, when he clamours for research on cancer and diseases so that he can sleep at night (extreme fear of death), or when he yells \"Hydrogen, Yttrium!\" when he goes to the optician's and sees \"H\" and Y\". Now at P1, he's in a mini depression cos he has to zone to pass the day. So they'll move him soon and give him different work. Worse, he unwittingly maloo'd a teacher (he questions everything) and was picked on, so I had to go in to set things straight.

Does he learn easily? Yes. He can get things wrong, although he gets a lot right by observation. He can forget what he had for breakfast although he remembers who said what to him several years earlier. He has \"universal compassion\" for all life, but can bear a grudge for years. He is so sensitive to little unintended nuances that he can be such a pain, but he is so considerate and sweet at other times. He is a contradiction in extremes.

I have some vague idea of what he did at what age (like talking at 6 mths etc), but truly, these things do not make a child. It is the sum total that makes the overall personality of a person.

So if I have any advice to you, Autumnbronze, and to all mums, it is to enjoy the journey. For ourselves, we celebrate the effort he puts in rather than the results. I tell him that mistakes are part of learning so that he feels brave enough to attempt repeatedly. I try (with limited success so far!) to get him to do things that are out of his comfort zone (like soccer - he has 2 left feet). I've never told him what his IQ is, or what giftedness means, but like Sleepy says, they know. In my son's case, he hates it because he feels the reason why he has so few friends is because he's \"not normal\". So I try to show him that there are people who sing and run better than he does, but it doesn't make them not normal. I think that because we show him a lot of love and acceptance, he is able to accept himself. But going to school has really rocked his confidence because he realizes that he is not successful at making friends despite his efforts, and the only reason he sees is his own \"difference\".

The one thing to guard against is Expectations. I have had to tussle with this demon, and I haven't always won. So I speak with the experience of the battle-weary - don't have them. Just observe, react to needs, look for interesting paths to tempt him down, and most of all, just enjoy your kid.

Blobbi, well said.

:goodpost:

[sleepy]

IJJ:

Chanced upon this interesting article.


Strange Advice for Bright Kids : http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2009/06/strange_advice_for_bright_kids.html

For your readup (gifted kids and parents).

Just read it. Thanks for sharing.

I like the advice on' learn how to quit something'. Can totally relate to that :lol:

[2ppaamm]

Blobbi:

2ppaamm:

[quote=\"ks2me\"]
How come I seem to know? Did I dream about this? :?

Huh? Blobbi finally coming out of the closet? I was trying to protect your privacy for you all along leh... But you are still anonymous mah... Blobbi.

Hey, tks 2ppaamm!! You very discreet for sure. All you guys, this woman, you can trust!! :udawoman:[/quote]Very funny lah... :oops: All of us must be sensitive to each other's needs mah... I'm sure you'll do the same for me.

[sleepy]

Blobbi:

You see, my son is EG. Yep. Didn't want to say it cos I want the anonymity. I don't see it as so great - it's the luck of the draw. Yes there are precedents in the family. Anway, he's my son and we love him to bits regardless. We have problems like anyone else, although maybe different ones.

Just curious, what is his WISC score?

[Blobbi]

2ppaamm:

Blobbi:

[quote=\"2ppaamm\"]
Huh? Blobbi finally coming out of the closet? I was trying to protect your privacy for you all along leh... But you are still anonymous mah... Blobbi.

Hey, tks 2ppaamm!! You very discreet for sure. All you guys, this woman, you can trust!! :udawoman:

Very funny lah... :oops: All of us must be sensitive to each other's needs mah... I'm sure you'll do the same for me. :D[/quote]You bet I will!! :snuggles: BTW, it must have bn KW, right? Ne'er mind lah. Has to come out in the school anyway.

[Blobbi]

sleepy:

Blobbi:

You see, my son is EG. Yep. Didn't want to say it cos I want the anonymity. I don't see it as so great - it's the luck of the draw. Yes there are precedents in the family. Anway, he's my son and we love him to bits regardless. We have problems like anyone else, although maybe different ones.

Just curious, what is his WISC score?

I PM you right after this.

[2ppaamm]

sleepy:

I've heard of cases where children in the 99% to 99.5% percentile being rejected for level skipping or early admission. Not exceptional enough to warrant any early intervention from MOE.


These gifted kids were simply told to wait for GEP screening at P3 and case closed. So parents with gifted children are still very much on their own, must 'self-intervene'

If we think about it, it makes sense, doesn't it? If the GEP is already catering to top 1%, why should they allow the top 1 to 0.5% to skip grade. Top 1% is already GEP. MOE's stance is to do enrichment rather than acceleration. It makes sense that only the top 0.001% skip grade.

BTW, GEP kids already receive lots of privileges - 25 a class, no school fees (only sub fees) in sec school, etc.

I can see that philosophy lah. They have their reasons, and it can be wrong or right.

Now if you are not happy, like what Sleepy said, self-intervene lah. Even if your kid is EG or GEP or mainstream, it does make sense to self-intervene. Have an interesting learning program for your kid. Only mummy or daddy knows the child the best.

I've always believed that there are far more gifted kids than those who got into GEP, so there is bound to be inert talent that your child has and nobody else can see. It is your/our job to find that and nurture it, and let it blossom.

I also believe we are gravely mistaken if we just leave a child to the EG branch because they are giving them something. Their methodology may not be want you want for the kid. Do you want a broader approach for example? But their support is invaluable.

Just my view again hor...

[2ppaamm]

sleepy:

Blobbi:

You see, my son is EG. Yep. Didn't want to say it cos I want the anonymity. I don't see it as so great - it's the luck of the draw. Yes there are precedents in the family. Anway, he's my son and we love him to bits regardless. We have problems like anyone else, although maybe different ones.

Just curious, what is his WISC score?

Sleepy... if you read earlier posts, you will see that Blobbi's DS did not have a FSIQ because of the differential between each section, right? Or is the WISC score something else? :?

[en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg]

[quote]EN wrote:

In this forum 2 forumers approach me if I know about asperger syndrome. Never heard of asperger and never thought that my child needs intervention. I read up as quickly as I could on asperger, view youtube how asperger is like. Worried, I went to polyclinic to get them to refer my child to Child Guidance Clinic. Went through a series of Q&A and my child is diagnose with mild Asperger. There was no test done on the child. Just a collection of what mother has to say which I think is highly inaccurate.

I found this article in the web. Hope parents with their child wrongly labelled find this useful.

http://www.sengifted.org/articles_counseling/Amend_MisdiagnosisOfAspergersDisorder.shtml

Based on other finding, asperger's IQ ranges from average to exceptional.

Sorry if I OT here, just reaching out to the parents that has their child labelled asperger.

Yep, yep, reach out to me... So stressed not by my child, but by parents who simply would not understand and insist that my child's behavior is the result of poor parenting. Some even asked me how come only this one is like that, the others are ok.

Isn't it obvious? It is not my fault lah. Some parents have stopped talking to me already... [/quote]Do you think with the link, you can show those people who label your ds asperger to drop the label off?

[quote]That's called Executive Function Deficiency. Since we are at giftedness. Einstein has that... Hee hee... now you know why you are so smart...[/quote]Where got smart. Very blur like sotong you know.



IJJ, thanks for the link.



Blobbi, you do leave some crumbs all over the place. Easy to spot you know. Or is it just me very intuitive?