Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion When did you know?

I suspected when DS seemed to be able to apply what he learned. For instance, he recognized the letters of the alphabet at 18 months, but he would point the letters out on signs or in a book.
I also suspected when he seemed to grasp fundamental math concepts early. He was able to move seamlessly from counting out objects to understanding math in equation format before his 4th birthday. DS accelerated quickly in math and was able to do simple multiplication, division and understand concepts like fractions, add-ins (solving for x in simple equations) and negative numbers well before kindergarten.

There are other signs that we didn't look for but may have been more meaningful. DS was highly creative, he had an obsession with certain topics (usual suspects- weather, dinosaurs, ocean life, etc.). He was reading chapter books in kindergarten and accelerated quickly from the Magic Treehouse to Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, etc.

I didn't *know* until we had an IQ done- we did the IQ test at the end of kindergarten and another at the end of 2nd grade when he was diagnosed with ADHD. Both showed that he was exceptionally/profoundly gifted.

What I would say if people are looking for advice on this topic is that 1) every kid is different--we know a highly gifted child who did everything on or behind schedule while he worked out his physical energy and sensory issues- then just accelerated rapidly in intellectual pursuits and 2) it may not be what a child knows (alphabet, shapes, etc) but whether they can apply that information outside of the specific learning context. (e.g. an 18 month old knows the shape in the puzzle, would he notice it on the street sign?) 3) curiosity was huge in our house. I could not do one thing (run the vacuum, turn on the sprinkler, lock a door, etc) without a young toddler getting in the mix and trying to figure out how it "works."

For DD6, I started realizing something when she learned all her letters, on her own, before 18 months. Then she started reading sight words.


In terms of things I thought were normal, I didn't realize how much more alert she was a baby, or things about how much she loved books and knew when to turn the page, etc. Also the types of questions she asks, her ability to understand complex answers, and even remembering in depth discussions we had when she was 2.

I accept that she's gifted, but she has not taken an IQ test so I don't know the level. I doubt she's pg and she does just fine in a public school with her own age cohorts. But heR OLSAT and MAP scores back up the belief that she's at the very least, very very high achieving.

1) when did you start to see that your kid was different?

From day one, although on that day the shocks were more physical than mental. DD assisted in her own birth (to the collective gasps of every medical professional in the room), tracked moving objects were her eyes, and held her head up for several moments like it was nothing.

Mental stuff started showing up within the first three months, by the end of which she'd begun choosing her own wardrobe (my mom did not believe me until we invited her to take DD shopping), played her first prank, and said her first discernible word, which was "Doodlebop." Incidental to that last bit, she was able to sit still and observe, and react appropriately to, an entire 20-minute television show for toddlers/preschoolers.

2) In hindsight were there things that were "normal" for you, your SO, or your families, but in reality were indications of giftedness that you merely accepted as routine?

My family is mostly NT, and I already knew that I wasn't normal, so when DD started displaying things that I recognized in myself, we knew that she was more like me than normal. For example, adults described me as having a "photographic memory" when I was a child, so when DD became our official finder of lost objects at around 18mos, because she could remember where she'd last seen it (sometimes weeks ago), that resonated with me.

3) when did you for sure conclude/accept that your child was gifted?

Not until she was 5 and we were advocating for her at school. The school system recognized giftedness, and we didn't know anything about it, so we started doing our homework.