I mean this as a spin off to the Dr. Ruf thread. I know a lot of theories seem to go around about early identification of gifted children but I thought why not make a quick and dirty survey of the people we have here?

Of course, this is far from perfect since we're a self-selected group and we can't exactly control for other factors but it would be interesting to see if there are any common traits that are recognizable.

I thought of a few questions to ask but if anybody else has any other ones than I'd be happy to add them. Maybe afterwards, I just put the numbers into excel and find some rough stats. I know we have a number of parents of 2E kids around so maybe we could even improve on Ruf's studies.

So here are the questions I thought of:

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?
2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?
5. Has your child been tested?
6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?
7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

If you don't want to answer here you could PM me and I could just include your answers in the stats at the end. Feel free to do this for all of your kids. If you know for yourself and/or your partner I'd include those too. Obviously, include a disclaimer here that we're relying on memory etc...

It's going to be easiest for me if you can give some sort of short answer first (like yes/no and what areas) and then after that explain your answer more in detail if you'd like.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?
When DD9 was 2.5 years old, I came home from college and picked her up from day care, they said they moved her that day up to the 4-5 year old room since she knew all her colors, numbers and letters. They didn't tell the next teacher that she was so young, and when she commented on her good art work I said "yeah really good for a 2.5 year old", just floored her. Here's to butting heads with the educational system ever since lol.
2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
I never suspected it from the start. Since she was my first child I always thought my kid was normal, so her passing books to me a 8 months old I really thought was normal development. It wasn't until they moved her up in preschool that I suspected she was gifted.
3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
No delays.
4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?
No
5. Has your child been tested?
Yes, but only with JHU CTY talent search. Will be pushing for testing this year for her and hopefully her twin sisters as well.
6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?
She is gifted verbally, and is a social butterfly. Her math is good at and gets A's but didn't test as gifted in math.
7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
I would say development was even for her.

Do you mean "suspect"? If so, I guess I should say that I was looking for it from birth (since DH & I are both HG+), but I actually convinced myself that she wasn't, because she didn't seem that advanced until around the time she turned 2.


It was the early reading. Of course there's more than that, but it was the early reading that was just too striking to ignore.


She's been behind in a few skills (probably due to lack of interest or exposure), but not any areas.


Probably not.


Not yet.



She's pretty asynchronous. She's probably advanced in every area, but her abilities range from only slightly advanced (e.g., handwriting) to very, very advanced (e.g., reading). I suppose it's probably not normal for babies to be obsessed with books, or for one-year-olds to memorize (long) books, but none of that was really obvious to me until I realized that she was teaching herself sight words (at just after her 2nd birthday). In fact, I remember thinking (forgive my naivete), "Oh, she must not be as gifted as I am, because I started reading at 2, and there's no way she's going to be reading at 2." Ha, ha, ha.


She's been advanced in every area, but not evenly so. As a baby, she was physically and socially advanced. As a toddler, it was probably mostly her interests that were unusual, and perhaps her fine motor skills. As a preschooler, it is the verbal and literacy skills that are particularly unusual.

So much for short answers, eh?

1. 1st expect giftedness? It came as a surprise in kindergarten when he was tested by the school
2. milestone/traits? Reading the teacher's instructions in kindergarten reading books.
3. Delays? Non-verbal til age 3
4. 2e? Yes, autism diagnosed at 2.5
5. Tested? Yes, initially at 2.5 as part of autism diagnosis...then in K...then in 2nd grade.
6. asynchronous? Both mathmatically and verbally gifted; not as gifted in working memory and processing speed.
7. even development? Not at all. He is still behind socially: he's 7 but socially is 5. He is way ahead in math, literacy, and certain verbal skills: he will "get" logic type plays on words, yet he won't get typical 1st grade jokes unless they are explained to him. He is slightly behind in gross motor skills, and about even with fine motor skills. This is all with MASSIVE amounts of ABA, speech, OT, and social skills training. He was developmentally delayed in almost all categories, but once the window was open, he FLEW! Yet, looking back (using some of Ruf's characteristics) he showed gifted traits and I overlooked them because I was so focused on autism.

Nan

This is kinda silly because we have not been around that long. So this Probably won't help you.


1. 8 months-we knew she was ahead. 18 months-we suspected giftedness. 22 months-I looked it up.

2. Verbal skills. I guess. I remember at about 18 months she learned the word "instead", and it was so fun to see her experiment with it. She said something like, "I don't want a bath. I want to play outside...in..in..instead? Instead!" I go back and forth, thinking stuff like this is normal.

3. No. No delays.
4. No. Not 2e as of now.
5. No. Not tested.
6. She is very much globally ahead. But, this is kind of silly because she is only 22 months.
7. Very even.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?
2.5 years old. That is when she started preschool and all the teachers kept telling us she was so smart.
2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
Comprehension and processing. She is 5 but I when talking to her I feel like I am talking to a 10 year old +.
3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
No
4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?
No
5. Has your child been tested?
Yes
6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?
Asynchronous. She is extremely fast at comprehending and processing information. She is very good with numbers too. She does not read very well yet (it is too slow for her). She is also athletically talented. Looking back, her strengths were obvious.
7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
It seems like she experiences large leaps in development. Things will be flat for a bit then all the sudden she will blow us away with something.

I never suspected my son was gifted. He was late with all milestones - gross motor, fine motor, verbal communication. He always excelled in social situations and when he began talking (finally), he had great insight. But, from Kindergarten on, he struggled in school. We had him tested in K and 4 times since. He is gifted in the verbal and preceptual reasoning realms, scores in the superior range on most speech and language tests, yet has expressive langauge issues, is severely dyslexic and dysgraphic and has attention issues. His processing speed is borderline -very low. Luckily, he is a hard worker and very likeable.

So - was his development even? No. Is his giftedness even - not even close.

My daughter was always early at meeting milestones, taught herself to read at age 4, is athletic, artistic, well spoken and well liked. She is very average - yet does well in school and in life.

IQ does not gaurentee school or life success.

Amen to that.

Our elder DS could count long before he talked; could read before being able to jump or complete other basic gross motor milestones. He now comprehends fiction roughly at his own (3rd) grade level, but nonfiction at college level. Deeply asynchronous, lovely, gifted, and challenging.

DeeDee

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?

From birth. People have been remarking on her "alert" and "intelligent" gaze from the beginning, starting with the delivery nurses who described her as "behaviorally mature" or something of that sort. Like no5no5, though, I was predisposed to expect it, since she comes from two families of academics.

2. What milestones/traits really made you suspect giftedness?

Early on it was gross motor, but really it was how she used her gross motor skills in an intense sort of way to explore her world.

But ever since language took off (she is now 2yr3mo) it has been about the content of her communication. She's somewhat ahead of the curve on language (grammar, vocabulary, etc.) but not shockingly so. But what is astonishing is what she has to say. She has a grasp of time, emotions, causality, narrative structure, real vs. pretend, etc. that I think is way way beyond normal for this age.

3. Did your child have any delays?

No.

4. Is your child 2E?

No.

5. Has your child been tested?

No.

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?

Across the board. Still a bit early to tell, but she does seem to be an "all-rounder." She does have her areas of strength, but I would say no more so than a typical kid with individual interests. For example, she is very mechanical (locks, zippers, buttons, buckles), but doesn't get jig-saw puzzles; she is highly verbal, but shows no interest in reading; she seems to have a good quantitative intuition, but she has been stuck for months at only understanding numbers up to 2.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

See above, since she is still a toddler.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?

When she started reading words and books she had never seen before (26 months old).

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?

Precocious literacy (not hyperlexia).

3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

Expressive language, fine motor & social. Language skills are now an area of strength, but that's after 2.5 years of intense therapy!

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?

Yes, she has PDD-NOS, on the autism spectrum. Her issues are relatively mild -- bearing in mind that everything on the spectrum is serious business. I think we could have easily convinced ourselves that she was just a "smart quirky" kid, as everyone around us was discounting our concerns about her development because she was/is so smart. We are fortunate to have caught her ASD early.


5. Has your child been tested?

Yes -- both assessed for ASD and IQ tested (separate processes).

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?

Asynchronous in terms of intellectual v. social. She is just turning 5, so we probably won't have a clear picture until she gets a little older.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

Clear strengths in "academic" skills (literacy, math, comprehension), with clear weaknesses in areas that often pose a challenge for kids with ASD: fine motor, social, expressive language.

1. When did you first suspected giftedness in your child?

From childhood�mine did not sleep at all during the day as a baby. (Thank God she slept at night!) She had a very long attention span and could watch TV for 1-2 hour stretches. (I know that is bad, but mommy needed the break! At least it was educational.)

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical skills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
Under two years
� First word � 4 months � �Quack� (courtesy of Wiggles)
� 16 months � knew ABC�s by recognition and sounds and knew how to count to 20
� 20 months � knew nursery rhymes, songs, and speaking in short sentences

2 to 2.5 years �
� working 24 piece puzzles with amazing speed (left to right, right to left, top to bottom, bottom to top)
� Memorizing books read to her once or twice
� Could spell simple words
� Was learning 2 foreign languages
� Knew the names of and words to most songs she had heard before
� Placed in pre-school class of kids that were a year older
Preschool recommended testing. PhD evaluated with the Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development and Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration. The results were as follows based on age equivalents.
1. Body parts: 4.5 years (receptive) and 5.0 years (expressive)
2. Colors: 6.0 years
3. Shapes: 6.0 years
4. Qualitative/Quantitative Concepts � 5.5 years
5. Visual Discrimination � 6.6 years
6. Recites Alphabet - 5.9 years
7. Uppercase Letter Recognition � 6.3 years
8. Lower Case Letter Recognition � 6.0 years
9. Number Concepts � 5.3 years
10. Numeral Comprehension � 5.5 years
11. Listening Comprehension � 6.0 years
12. Visual-Motor Integration � 3.0 years

At 3 years
� DD went to Montessori school where she was accelerated into the intermediate class with 4 and 5 year olds.
� VERY curious about everything
� Learned to read at 3.5 years old

At 4 years
� DD was moved up to private Kindergarten class from Preschool. Kindergarten teacher was HG and though DD had an audio visual and selected photographic memory.

At 5 years, she tested out of public Kindergarten and went into 1st Grade.
� Top student in accelerated 1st Grade.
� DD has a very fast processing speed and is a �1st time learner� retains information.

3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?Gross and fine motor skills were the last things to develop, but typically right in line with age level. DD walked 2 weeks after she turned one year.

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones? Told us to watch autism signs...doctor seemed concerned over large head circumference. Someone in forum mentioned Asperger�s. After looking at characteristics that may run in the family. DD has problems with implied comprehension. She also is very sensitive to noises. Vacuums, toilets flushing, and fans drive her crazy, but she is okay with shrill noises like fire alarms at school. This has improved with age, but is still there.

5. Has your child been tested?
Yes � Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development and Development Test of Visual-Motor Integration at 2 years (closer to 3) and WISC-IV at 6 years. Tested gifted to moderately gifted, but examiner said she didn�t push and based on feedback in the results meeting, she suspected that DD�s IQ was higher.

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age? Mine is asynchronous. Very high left brain skills, but has a weakness with implied comprehension (above age level, but not by much). Gross and fine motor skills are only slightly above age level, but rest of skills are typically 3 to 6 years above age level.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical skills, social)?
Mine accelerated with processing speed, verbal, literacy, and math skills. Social skills were great with adults, but not with kids her age.

Newmom, thanks for taking this on. I can't wait to see how you synthesize the findings, but I don't envy you figuring out the coding....

DD is 4 y, 1 wk, so this is still very much all "in progress" -- if it's not helpful, just throw it out.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?

Hmm... That's kind of hard. At birth, we all knew she was going to be smart. She was very alert from the get go, hit most milestones early (not all the physical ones) so that, like other people here, I kind of started ignoring them because I figured they were red flags for developmental delays. People always used to comment on how intense/observant she was when she was a baby; I don't remember when she first started looking at books, but she was clearly "into" them at 6 months, etc. It was always a no-brainer that she was "smart". BUT it didn't really hit me that it went beyond that until she was 3.5

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?

At 3.5, I took her out of daycare for financial reasons. I'd been saying for a while that I thought pre-k would be pointless because she would know everything by then. Well, having her around the house, I realized she already DID know all the pre-k stuff. So, I thought, ok, let's see what they do in Kinder. And after a couple of weeks, I realized, hmm, she basically had all the kinder stuff down (she still has a few gaps -- like, she doens't know coin values).

In retrospect, there were a ton of other signs: It's NOT normal for a 2 yo to want you to read them 20 books a day; or for them to be able to logically argue their position (or against you). Then there's the fact that she'd flourish the first several months she was in a new (age-grouped) room at day-care, then stablize, then flounder so that we'd be asking "Would they move her up already, for goodness sakes." But, really, it was just the fact that I realized she could do stuff that was considered 1st grade at 3.6 y that made me think, ok, the normal educational trajectory is NOT going to work with this one.

3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

Nope.

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?

No.

5. Has your child been tested?

No.

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?

Both? She's above age-level at everything (except gross motor), but she's not at the same level with anything. The things that really stand out I guess have to do with general cognitive skills: she's got a fantastic sense of humor, she's very observant, very analytical; she's got great comprehension skills (~ 3rd grade level) across various disciplines -- science, literature, history.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

Verbal skills stood out first. She was always amazing and amusing dh and me with what she'd say. I remember filling out milestone charts for her daycare and thinking (ok, I didn't phrase it anything like this at the time) "I'll see your two-word sentences and raise you six" or "I'll see your four-word sentences and raise you eleven." But even then, I was still thinking "really smart/bright", not gifted.

It's not?

lol! For us, it got worse for my small girl when she started walking at 12 months because she could go and get more and more and more and more books for me to read.

I had to limit read aloud time to 30 minute stretches because my voice can't take anything longer.

ETA:
I can't answer all the questions because I had no thoughts of giftedness for my big girl until she was 3 years old and 3 different teachers suggested it. Although, at her 2 year old check up, the NP estimated she was 2 to 2.5 years ahead cognitively but never mentioned anything about it.

She hasn't been tested officially but we did let a buddy administer the WPPSI-III for his Master's class.

She seems to excel verbally and in math. Her interests are math and science. Her maturity level is definitely lower. She wasn't placed into the 5-6 year old class at church because she can't sit still!

My small girl seems advanced: she object counted to 10 (missed 4) at 17 months old. Said her first word at 4 months, says all sorts of things now including sentences. She is starting to recognize shapes and colors and letters. She is also starting to work 24 piece puzzles - she can do 12 piece puzzles now.

When DS was 10 months old, DH told a casual friend once that DS reads 30 books in a sitting. The friend thought we were crazy.

I have videos of dd11 from when she was about 9 months old where I am reading to her and she is sitting with big open eyes twirling her wrists and ankles around in circles and making this big "o" with her mouth. Whenever I finished a book, she'd look horrified and start crying. As soon as I started reading again, she'd light back up and start twirling again. We thought that it was very, very cute.

DD11
1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?
Age 6.5, toward the end of first grade. Initially we thought that she was a bit slow b/c she wasn't getting most of her work done in school and was truly miserable. I recall sitting in the principal's office with dd's teacher, dh, and the principal arguing with them that dd was going to be a "C" student and they needing to stop stressing her.

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
Things that probably should have made me suspect:
said first word at 6 months
knew all colors including purple, pink, orange, etc. by 16 months
reading at 4
spoke in complete sentences by 15-18 months depending on how much you count grammar
amazing memory (remembered exactly where the toys in a store we went to once when she was under 2 were when we went back more than a year later.)
what seemed like an unlimited attention span from the time she was a month or so old
extreme emotional intensity
loved books from infancy to the point that she cried when I stopped reading
was sorting things like hexagons and two different types of stars into a 6 sided shape sorter with holes on all sides at 10 months
was reading books like Harry Potter and the Chronicals of Narnia at 6.5 (this is about the time when I was begining to tie together all of the things that were "wrong" with her.)
3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
While not so delayed as to require intervention, dd's gross motor skills were a bit slow. She wasn't walking until 15.5 months and didn't crawl at all. She did a butt scootchy thing that propelled her around well starting at 11 months.

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?
No, although she was dx with SPD at 7.5. I do think that it is part and parcel of being gifted not necessarily a separate dx, though. She was unreasonably sensitive to noise and lights as a baby. She never slept and cried constantly as a baby. It had to be pin drop silent for her to sleep at all and she slept in 30 min intervals at best until 18 months. She stopped napping all together by about 15 months.
5. Has your child been tested?
Yes, IQ at 7.5 and the WJ-III achievement. She's also taken a ton of other achievement tests - EXPLORE, SAT, ITBS, MAPS, SRI Lexile, etc.
6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?
She's pretty across the board gifted. As her 3rd grade teacher told me, "[dd's] weak areas are other people's strong areas." She consistently tests in the 99th percentile on grade level achievement tests for reading, writing, science, and social studies even with being 1-2 years younger than her grade peers (she has a fall bd with a grade skip). Her math achievement scores, which are her "weak" area, generally run btwn the 92nd to 97th percentile.
7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
She was slower with gross motor and had amazing small motor skills and very good verbal skills. Socially and mathematically I'd say that she was right on par although she did have some difficulties with peers socially in preschool in terms of being a bit bossy. It wasn't such that no one else liked her, though. In hindsight, I think that she was just a bit more sophisticated in her speech and interests and was therefore directing the action.

I'll post dd9 separately.

1.
Didn't expect it. Many others said child was very alert as a baby. We didn't notice anything but we weren't really looking. (Ah, perhaps you're asking when we first 'experienced' giftedness?) Around age 2.
See #2.

2.
At age 2, across the board, most skills were approx. 1-2 years ahead. At age 2.5 is when we started to pay attention and was thinking "something is a bit different". Puzzles were one extremely obvious hint because child could do much more than other children of the same age. Gross motor skills were approx. a year ahead. Fine motor skills were probably 1-2 years ahead. Literacy was about 2 years ahead at the time. Math skills were 2-3 years ahead at the time. Of course, we didn't really know that at the time. It wasn't until child was around 4-5 that we went back to look ...

3. No delays
4. No, not 2E.
5. Yes, tested much later when older and would qualify for DYS.
6. Across the board gifted
7. Excelled across the board

Thanks!

DD9
1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?
Once we figured out that dd11 was gifted, I started to wonder about dd9 b/c she was my more obviously "smart" child as a baby, so I'd say 4.5.

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
Again, things that probably should have made me suspect:
said first word at 5 months followed quickly by combining two words by 5.5 months
spoke in complete sentences by about 16 months
very sophisticated sense of humor
tricky - I recall holding her at the stove when she was about 18 months old or younger. I was melting chocolate chips in a pot and she kept asking to eat them. I kept telling her "no" until she finally looked over my shoulder, got a look of horror on her face, pointed behind me and yelled, "oh no!" I turned around and she reached into the pot and grabbed a few chips and shoved them into her mouth.
3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical skills, social)?
No, she was right on par with gross and small motor skills and ahead with social, verbal and mathematical skills. Her literacy skills have remained somewhat ahead but not as high as I would expect given her verbal IQ scores.
4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?
Not that we can tell although we have wondered about a few things. Nothing has been dx, though.
5. Has your child been tested?
Yes, IQ at 7.5 and 8.5. She took the EXPLORE last year as a 4th grader and has also taken MAPS at school and the WIAT-II at 8.5.
6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?
I don't know. She has a language arts GT id, but I really think that math is her stronger area innately. Her verbal IQ scores were very high both times she was tested while her PRI scores fluctuated a lot, but she was coming off a bad school year that really beat down her confidence the time her PRI scores were lower (still above avg, just not 99th+). Her WIAT scores were high in all areas, but that isn't the full measure of a child, of course.
7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
She was either average or advanced in everything. She was probably pretty average in gross and small motor skills. She was a little advanced in literacy skills (could read easy readers by 4.5 and write things like "I luv kats" at the same age, but nothing that made me say "wow!") She was quite advanced in terms of speech and pretty advanced socially.

Thanks everyone whose answered so far and also to those who PMed me! Hopefully I can start putting all of this in one massive excel file by this weekend and then let everyone know the results.

Also, don't feel bad at all if your kid is young or you didn't notice signs right away. That's interesting too and let me know because I'll make note of it.


We never made it to so many books because DD always gets stuck on a handful of books and we had to read them OVER and OVER and OVER again! Now it's normally one book per day that is read an infinite amount of time and we have to flip too all her special pages and read those pages over and over and over again (normally ones that have a word on them that she likes or really intricate pictures that she can try and figure out what all the things are). Oh, and then we have the inevitable tantrum after mom can only read the same book 50 times in a row...

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?

I didn't. I knew she had a great memory, but that was it.

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?

Looking back, she grasped mathematical concepts at a very young age. She understood fractions as a preschooler (while baking). She could skip count before she could really talk.

3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

She was a late talker... about 3-3.5 before she could have conversations. Her gross motor skills were slow to develop. We found at a 4 that she was functionally blind in one eye and couldn't see well out of the other. With glasses, things improved quickly. Fine motor were super delayed as well. She did not read early, but that could be because the poor child couldn't see. Socially, she was VERY young and naive. Always seems younger than her peers.

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?

Yes, she has ADHD. I think this, along with her visual problems, masked a lot of the signs of giftedness. The fact that she does as well in school as she does despite her ADHD should have tipped us off that something was up.

5. Has your child been tested?

Yes, just tested this spring.

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?

Across the board. Her memory is insane. I can't identify individual strengths, just whatever she chooses to do. If she is interested in what is being taught in math, then she excels. If not, she doesn't. It is like this in all subjects. Very frustrating.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

She was slow to do everything... roll over, crawl, walk, talk, etc. When she did start talking, it all of a sudden came in paragraphs. Nothing really stands out as being an area of excelling. Again, just the insane memory.

Grin. I often joke that there are two kinds of GT parents -- those who are shocked to find out that their kids are gifted, and those who are shocked to find out that anyone could be shocked to find out that their kids are gifted (grin). I'm in the second category -- both DH and I are MIT graduates, so we would have been surprised / upset if our kids weren't smart. Creates a different set of within-family angst (since I just did a DYS parent seminar on family dynamics...).

Ha! I remember when dd was not quite 1.5, I was talking to some mom in the neighborhood about how tired I was of reading to dd -- I felt guilty about it, but it was driving me crazy. I didn't go into specifics, and I'm glad I didn't, because it wasn't until much later that I realized that other parents read, oh, 10-15 minutes a day, not the same book three times in a row X 10 books, or whatever ungodly thing she wanted at the time. It got way better when her comprehension and attention span went up and we were able to read more interesting books.

PS -- Sorry for hijacking/sidetracking the post, newmom...

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?
Age 6 after kindergarten testing. No adults Ided here (we are GT and have high scores late in life that would indicate that, but never really thought about it)


2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
NONE! ROFL - I really thought all kids were as verbal and intense as my kid. He understood fractions, multiplication, division before kindergarten as stand out items. Could do lego sets for ages 10 age age 4-5 independendly. Used the computer on his own from age 2.5

3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

No

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?

No

5. Has your child been tested?
Not full scale GT testing. He has 4 test scores of varying types that point to the HG+ to PG range

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?
When he was younger I considered him quite asynchronous. At age 9, he is really quite across the board gifted. He was a preschooler who was very independent about what he wanted to do.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
Hmmm ... to me he seemed like the had the normal boy development. But now I can see maybe he had more normal, high energy, HG+ boy development.


I think this is an interesting exercise. But I do think the parents that frequent this board are a unique subset of the gifted community. There are definitely kids out there that fall through the cracks and have parents who don't have the resources to do the kind of research and follow up that the parents on this board do. My own parents were definitely like that. Both my brother and I had quite miserable elementary school experiences that didn't serve us at all. And honestly, I never knew why until my own child was IDed.

That's a great story, Cricket. DD's tricky, too, but mostly in her use of logic. I remember my dad used to call me Machiavellian when I was little, and I think it was a complement of sorts. One part of your brain is saying "Good grief," and the other part is thinking "Brilliant!"

First, here are our answers to the first post. DS1 is 6 years, 1 month, and DS2 is 27 months old.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?
DS1- Looking back, it was interesting that so many people commented on how intelligent he looked as a newborn, following people with his eyes, etc. I think I first realized at 12 months when we joined a playgroup with children all 9-16 months older. Within a few months, he was talking more than every single one of them and was the first to have his colors/numbers/letters/phonics memorized, the first to get 1-1 correspondence, and the first to be potty trained, read, etc.
His gross motor was fairly normal. He started crawling at 6 months and walking on his own right before his 1st birthday.

DS2- I intentionally tried not to look for it since DS1 sets a high bar as a big brother, but his became first became obvious when we accidentally discovered that he knew his full numbers/colors/etc at 18 months. He definitely does not get the same amount of 1-1 time and he doesn't watch tv, so he picked these up on his own very quickly. His is becoming more and more apparent because he's starting to read at 27 months and is extremely good with puzzles and is extraordinarily interested in how things work. He's also extremely athletic, to the point of amazement. He started crawling at 4-5 months and was fully walking before his 9th month. He can now throw a ball and play soccer easily with the older kids.

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness? Oops, I guess I hit this above.
3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

DS1- His only delay was that he could not for the life of him figure out how to jump until he was almost 3! I actually took him to a "help me grow" consultant to make sure he didn't have a developmental issue! Haha! He also did some speech because he was such an early talker that he developed some habits with ks/gs.
DS2- I kept thinking he was "average" with speech because he wasn't as fluent as DS1, but every teacher I know tells me he's still well ahead of the curve, and DS1 was just phenominally ahead w/ early language development.
4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones? No.
5. Has your child been tested?
DS1- yes. DS2- No, because he's only 2.
6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?
DS1- Seems to be across the board gifted in terms of academics. We thought he was asynchronous towards language arts because he is such a great reader and loves to write, but in the past 6 months, he has jumped 3 grade levels in math and now claims that it is favorite subject. He has a wonderful gift for memorizing and spelling, too. He is on a normal curve for sports and fine arts, and we haven't tried formal music lessons yet.
DS2- Too soon to tell.
7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
Both of mine have always been extremely social children who easily make friends and entertain people with their humor. DS1 is clearly visual and developed his verbal/literacy skills before his gross motor, but that is because he would rather play trains than run around the playground. DS2 developed gross motor first, but again, is starting to read at a very early age.

Clay, I get myself into trouble with friends all the time with specifics! With DS1, I assumed everyone knew how their alphabet/colors/numbers before they were 2, and probably gave many other 1st time mom friends heart attacks in the way I'd talk about it without realizing this wasn't normal.

I did it again today with a bunch of 3rd-4th grade homeschool friends. I thought I was being inclusive, talking about how great it is that homeschool blurs the lines so that our kids are learning even during the summertime without that designation between "school time" and "summer break." I used the example of how DS1 was playing "stump the stumper" with multiplication facts in the car with his friends on the way to camp, not realizing they fit in half an hour of math practice. Instead of nods and smiles, my comment got silence, followed by remarks about how their kids would never do that. Uh...ooops again.

1.) When he was born & he was already attentive & interactive. �I called it a "strong spiritual presence" which I equate with advanced intelligence but I've been told online that assumption is ridiculous others described it while he was still a baby by saying "he never was a baby."

2.) motor & social- always held up his own head from birth, clearly focused on whoever was talking in the delivery room. �By day 2 turned from stomach to back. �Within first week pushed up on crawl position & took a "step" or 2 with a hand or knee (I have pics!) but didn't stand 'till 5 months bracing himself, crawled at 7 months (think it would have been sooner if he hadn't got fat- too heavy to lift.). Looks like 10 months free-standing and toddling but mostly crawled because it was faster. �
At 7 mo. I did a 15 min. baby yoga routine on him 3x a week. �One week he didn't seem to like it. �A friend suggested I let him do it himself. �He did a few of the exercises properly and at the right time in the video. �He didn't do the correct # of reps. so he obviously couldn't count at 8.5 mos. .�
Looks like 9 mos. old he would put his thumbs together & walk his fingers for the itsy-bitsy spider which at the time I thought was advanced. Most things (like the "crawling" at 2 weeks) other pointed out to me as advanced, not me. �But I thought walking the spider at 9 months was advanced.

Verbal & Literacy- I don't think he's very verbal. �He communicates clearly but is not a chatterbox. �I didn't read books to my baby (weird, I know). �So he learned a few sight words from the tv guide channel. �I don't know how to explain great communication skills in my non-verbal kid. �
Journal entry 2 days before 2nd birthday- "U been playing video games on the iPhone for a while now. �I've finally let you play the Hooked on Phonics pre-k game on my expensive laptop with your slobbery teething fingers (touchpad mouse).
You've had this privilege for about a week, no more than 1 hr/day. �Within 3 days I no longer had to help you navigate between games. �Today, wow. �You blew my mind yet again. �Hippo said, "I have a fox in my cart. �Find the word that starts with the same sound "F-f-fox". �(You don't really talk yet. �You say a few words, you have a few phrases, you've made 2 sentences. �You're still in pampers. �Up till now I thought you were clicking random buttons.). You answered Hippo correctly, out loud. �"F-f-fork". I immediately turned around to watch you. �You moved past 3 wrong answers to point & click on the fork. �Then you clicked on the fish, then one more "f" word, I forgot what and it was 15 minutes ago. �Anyway you didn't click any of the wrong answers and you got all the right ones. �And you answered out-loud. �That wasn't coincidence.

3.) No, he's not delayed. �I thought he was recently because his verbal doesn't match his other skills to me, but friends and strangers say he talks fine and clear. �I thought his speech was regressing and I was worried about his hearing, but after everyone assured me his speech was fine and clear I decided he was sounding less clear to me because he was talking more and using more words (therefore making more mistakes and mispronunciations). �

4.). The mental illnesses that are in our family trees include dyslexia, ADD, bipolar, alcoholism, & Alzheimer's. �At two 3/4 none of these are apparent, but they are on my radar along with cancer & strokes when we're older, asthma, allergies, and the use of eyeglasses. �So far, so good.

5.) I'm told the school will test him in pre-k.

6.). Asynchronousity ? �Huh. �I think he seems to quickly learn anything I want to show him. �Since we're at home alone most of the time together I think it's reasonable his strengths are the things I've exposed him to, so that's not asynchronousity- that's exposure. �Every time we go visit others and come home he exhibits a new learned skill within a week. �So I don't know how he would be in a different environment. �I don't know if he's asynchronous. �(probably not, he's a Libra :)�
�
7.) I'd say he's consistent and a mellow fellow. �I think he's developing evenly as a whole little person. �Maybe that's just wishful thinking in my part because that's my goal in raising him. �

-------
I don't know if this will help your survey. �Sorry I didn't take better notes. �So far his life journal only has 6 pages in it.
Don't know if this will help your survey because my boy doesn't fit the "gifted profile" I see in the message boards. �I'm saying he's probably 99.9 & I haven't even researched identifying 3sd giftedness as much as I look for info on parenting such a kid because well, I just assume. �FWIW I used to consistently test 99.9. �But most people don't know because I'm goofy not nerdy. �The ones who notice usually say "I know you have a high i.q. because I have one too." -Busted. �

DD will be 4 next month.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?

We weren't sure what we were seeing with DD. She was a very alert baby from birth and all the nurses kept commenting on it but being a first time parent I really had no idea that was a big deal. It wasn't until she was around 2 that I stumbled upon the idea of gifted and everything clicked.

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?

All of the above. Though her gross motor skills were average for crawling and walking she was ahead on seating up and rolling. Everything else you mention DD was way ahead on.

3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

No, except social. She was comfortable with adults and older kids but didn't really understand or care to interact with agemates. She saw them as babies.

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?

Besides a mild case of SI which I wouldn't classify as a 2E because we haven't needed OT to correct it.

5. Has your child been tested?

No and we probably won't until she is around age 7, unless we hit a road block with the school she attends.

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?

Beyond EQ which I suspect is normal for most gifted kids to have some asynchronous; she is strong across the board. And her strengths were very obvious from a young age. Some examples:
verbal: said 'hi' at 2 weeks; 'elephant' right before 3 months; talked in complete 2-3 word sentences by 6 months; complicated sentences by 1 yr; understood proper tenses and pronouns from the start. Used adverbs and adjectives by 15 months (could have been a little earlier but can't remember.)
Math: was rote counting by 9 months and adding and subtracting by 2 yrs.
Others: knew all her abcs by 9 months and the sounds each one makes by 15 months; knew upper and lower case by 18 months; Knew body parts including more detailed such as eyebrows, cheeks, chin, elbow, etc by 4 months (she would point to them when asked). Was obsessed with books by 3 months and we would spend most of our time reading to her. Memorized books read to her once or twice and loved to recite them. Corrected me a few times when I attempted to recite a phrase from a book. Started to read right before turning 2, but didn't think she should because she knew other kids her age didn't (her observation) and refused to read. We left it alone but around 3 1/2 she came to me and decided she was ready and has no problem reading now.
Fine motor skills: fed herself with spoon by 6 months and was able to pinch and pick up food by 6 months; was drawing and writing some of the easier letters before a year. (IE. O, C, M, W, D)

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?


DD excels with verbal. She is also learning 2 other languages but we haven't seen her native one slow down at all. Though she is strong in other areas her real strength is verbal.

Hijacking again! My apologies, but I just can't resist tangents sometimes...

Just wanted to note that this was one of the best things I got out of CTY: that intelligence comes in all sorts of packages! It was a feeling of validation that, "no, I'm not a hopeless nerd; no, smart people aren't all nerds; I'm just cool in a way you can't relate to." It was a very important thing to feel when I was 12... but it did make me feel extra miserable when I went back to school...

DD is 4.6

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?

By 18 months she had been consistently hitting milestone charts that were double her age and I started to think that was odd, so I looked in to giftedness and over time became more and more convinced. And she was (is!), so, so, so intense compared to other babies - could never just be left in a bouncer (oh how I wished for a baby that would happily sit, even for a few minutes... still don't have one of those... sigh!)

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?

DD sat at 4 months, skipped rolling, crawling or bumb shuffling and started walking with help at 7/8 months. Didn't really talk before 12 months, but was talking in short (4 -7 word) sentences by 18 month with a huge vocabularly, knew all her colours including light/dark variations by 18 months, all alphabet by 18 months, phonetically by 2, knew and loved pointing out that a letter was a letter and a number was a number before she was 2. reading basic words at 2.5, drawing very clear by 2.5. Reading sentence and very easy readers at 3, doing basic addition and subtraction etc. Proficiency with puzzles (60+ pieces from 2.9 with little help).


3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

Her reading came in fits and starts - she'd zoom ahead and then not read a thing for 6 months. She's on a roll again at the moment.

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?

No

5. Has your child been tested?

Yes

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?

She tested higher in non-verbal than verbal, but apparently stopped cooperating on the final two subtests and so that dropped her scores on those two. However she achieved almost identical scores compared to the non-verbal equivalents in the earlier verbal subtests, and I would have said verbal ability is her strength, so I would say she's pretty even. Though more recently her math abilities are starting to become really apparent.

Fine motor is ahead, but not as far ahead as her capacity to think - a constant source of frustration for her.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

Fairly even, though her verbal skills and literacy skills were apparent earlier to me than her mathematical skills - though that is probably because that is probably more as a result of what I enjoyed doing with her.

Thanks for this thread, it's an interesting read

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?
4yo. Preschool teacher alerted us.

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
6mths - spoke a few words
9mths - knew the alphabet (from a wall hanging in the playroom)
12mths - full sentences
13mths - started walking

We were cluesless parents. Never heard the gifted word till he was 4yo, from aforementioned teacher.

3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
Gross motor skills - weak in general. Didn't like the playground till 6yo. Had massive falls till fairly recently.
Fine motor skills - didn't write till after 5yo. Gradually improving (7y6mths now).

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?
2E. Sensory issues.

5. Has your child been tested?
Yes. At 6yr 2mths.

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?
Asymchronous. Highly verbal, very logical but very poor handwriting/refused to write.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
Preschool - excelled in verbal, literacy and math skills; weakness - social, fine motor.

1. When did you first expect giftedness in your child?

Never or always, I guess. She has the genes for it, and seemed to be as smart as I expected a kid to be. We considered the local gifted school for preschool, and I remember being concerned that DD (at not-yet-3) wouldn't score 90th percentile on the IQ test for entrance, but it wasn't that I didn't think she was that smart - I didn't think she'd perform for a stranger.

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?

None in particular. DD has always been a kid who played her cards close to the vest, so it's hard to know what she could do when. That said, there's been some weird stuff.

She could stand unassisted at 6.5 months (I stood her up in the hallway to take her picture, and she didn't fall over - she had no independent interest at all in standing.) She could walk at 9.5 months, and never fell down. Sat down, but it was always a controlled sit.

Somewhere I've got pictures she drew right before she turned 2 - a banana, complete with shading and a stem-shaped stem, and a train with wheels, windows, a smokestack, and clouds of smoke. She's never had any particular interest in drawing, either before or since, nor have I ever seen her draw anything that realistic in the 5 years since.

When she was 18 months or so, and had virtually no words (she flunked the 18-month speech screening for not enough words), she was walking beside the shopping cart and suddenly said "three." Now, she never said anything, so I puzzled over that for a minute, until I realized she was staring at the 3 on the box of diapers in the cart. "Yep, that's a 3." It was probably another year before I heard her say three again.

3. Did your child have any delays?

Probably not.

She flunked the speech screening at 18 months (not enough words) and 24 months (no two-word phrases), but passed the evaluation with a speech therapist at 26 months. She had all the 33-month milestones at that point, so I suspect I'm another "hard grader." She'd say ~10 words in a row, but slowly and deliberately, with long pauses between, which I didn't count as putting multiple words together because of the long pauses. She could always communicate just fine, and was never frustrated, even when she didn't talk (or sign, or anything) at all, so she didn't really talk until she was good at it.

4. Is your child 2E?

No: I don't have any reason to think so.

5. Has your child been tested?

Yes, sort of. The school did the OLSAT this past spring.

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous?

Short answer: not asynchronous.

She goes in fits and starts. She entered kindergarten not reading (which surprised everyone), and was picking her way through Marvin Redpost 3 weeks later (although that certainly wasn't pleasure reading other than in the sense she enjoyed the accomplishment - it was right on the border between "instructional level" and "frustration level"). Recently, she's really into math.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

I'd guess fairly even, but like I said, she plays her cards close to the vest.

DD13

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child? 2 years.
2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
Not sure what category this fits into: She spelled her name out loud without looking at it & without having ever practiced or being prompted (Her name is Elizabeth). I had no idea she knew how to spell it.
3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
Verbal skills. I was very concerned that she did not reach verbal milestones in her 1st 2 years. She made up for it, though, by speaking in ten+ word sentences when she did start talking.
4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones? No
5. Has your child been tested? Yes; in 3rd grade.
6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?
She is somewhat asynchronous; Her social skills developed slower than her intellect. She has strong math skills but they did not develop until she was challenged in 4th grade gifted class. In fact, her teachers were concerned that her would not be able to keep up in math. (HA!) Spelling has always been weak but not a hindrance.
7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
I don't remember much unevenness as a very young child. If she had a strength, it would have been in literacy. Her favorite toys were books.

DS8

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?
4 years.
2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
Verbal & literacy skills; He wasn't a super-early reader but he could remember things that we read together without repetition.
3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
Social skills; he is still learning to control his reactions to imperfections & figuring out what to do when a question doesn't have a "right" answer.
4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones? No
5. Has your child been tested? Yes; at the end of this past school year.
6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?
He seems to be across the board gifted though he shows a strong preference for sciences. He has checked out non-fiction books from the library since he was in K, always about animals or earth/space.
7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
His development was pretty even with fine motor & literacy skills being somewhat stronger than the others.

These are answers about myself. I am relying on memory & what I have been told by my mom.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?
Unsure; possibly 3-4 years.
2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
Literacy; I read very early. Edit: I forgot to mention that after public K my parents were asked/advised that I might skip 1st grade. They declined, concerned about my social development. In 2nd grade, at a different school, I went to the 3rd grade class for reading instruction.
3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)? Possibly social. I am told that I preferred to play alone or with one friend, even in the nursery as a toddler.
4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?
No, not while I was in school. I now have BP2 disorder.
5. Has your child been tested? Yes; I was tested more than once as we moved quite a few times.
6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age? I believe I am across the board gifted. However, mathematics is definitely my strength & has been for as long as I can remember. I recall being given my math book & workbook in 6th grade by my teacher & being told to let him know if I needed help (I was thrilled!) I never really enjoyed social studies/history & had to work to make As in those classes.
7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)? As I stated above, I read as a preschooler. I don't believe I walked or talked early or late. The only other thing significant I can think of that I have been told is that I was hard to get to sleep at night; my mom said I was a "night owl" & I still am.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?

Keeping in mind that we are not at the PG level and haven't done IQ testing....

I always noticed that my first child was not lining up with the cognitive milestones (we had What To Expect the First Year--often seemed that she was in the "...and your child might even be..." category--but usually for that category a month or two ahead.

I was afraid to be one of "those" parents and explained away or de-emphasized a lot. It makes me wonder what I overlooked now that I see how atypical some of her abilities are. I was amazed by everything, but didn't start thinking of her as anything other than bright until she started writing a mid kindergarten level at the age of three. Looking back though...lots of sign posts that I just didn't know were unusual. Probably the biggest one was a very early fascination with and attention span for books.


DS: seemed less remarkable to me both because I was no longer a first time parent amazed by everything and because he came along at about the same time I was starting to realize that DD was doing some pretty atypical stuff.

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?

DD: Writing a story at age three; Verbal skills that were commented on by everyone from about 15 months onwards; Drawing with detail�bellies, bellybuttons, ponytails and holders, 10 fingers every time, �chests� and writing the names of people underneath the pictures at age three; Fluently and voraciously reading around a third grade level before starting school. Really, that was the age when I stopped telling myself I was just seeing what I wanted to see. Kind of hard to dismiss writing.
Looking back at journals, I find that: she was very creative at using blanket to move things towards her before she could move herself to the things she wanted at five months; already had favorite books and favorite pages within those books, at 3.5 months; was sitting for 15-20 books in a row by 9 months and responding predictably to certain favored pages; "reading" familiar books to us at 18 months and coutning with 1:1 correspondence; rhyming by 21 months; identifying and matching shapes by 16 months; pretty sure she had all colors and body parts by 16 months too....

DS: ahead on gross motor to greater extent than DD; extended enjoyment of interaction with books at a few months old (this time around I recognized it as being atypical); verbal complexity at age 2 ahead of typical expectations. My first strong indicator though was his love of knowledge. While interests were typical (trucks, emergency equipment, dinosaurs), depth and breadth of interest was unusual. Looking back I also see: interest in particular books and pictures at 3 months; seeking out and bring us favorite books by 9 months; reacting predictably to parts of favorite books at 10 months; knew all body parts at 16 months; colors at 22 months; recognized numbers to 100 a bit shy of 4 yrs.;

3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

DD: no delays, but motor milestones were closer to typical expectations

DS: fine motor delays probably related to the extremely thick glasses we found out he needed at age four. I suspect this also impacted some other skills which didn't seem atypical at the time, but which currently do seem atypical in contrast to peers

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?

No

5. Has your child been tested?

No IQ testing; some school based testing and DD has also don EXPLORE test

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?

DD: Across the board academically/artistically but not evenly (everything is "above", but not to same degree). Greatest strengths are related to reading, art and big ideas--deep, reflective thinker.

DS: I would say very asynchronous emotionally--emotionally younger than his years, academically and verbally ahead of his years. Motor skills are average, although he is suddenly showing some artistic ability that has surprised us. Too soon to be sure how global he is. Certainly advanced in all areas, but we are just starting to see what he can do. He is risk averse if he thinks it will make him look less competent than someone else. His confidence has grown this year and suddenly we are seeing things we had no idea he could do.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

DD: Excelled verbally. Strengths evident in literacy, math, fine motor. Gross motor unremarkable. Socially shy.

DS: Strengths were verbal, math and what I would call general knowledge. Soaked up topics of interest like a sponge; found NOVA fascinating at age 4 and 5. Fine motor seemed delayed. Reading only slightly ahead before starting school (began at a late first grade level).

oooh... I'm so busy today, but I so want to answer this (replying so I can "watch" it to remind myself).

Take your time! I'm still working on putting everything in excel and am only on the first page so you still have time.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?
I always new he was different since birth (very alert) but I have no clue when I thought "gifted". To be honest- until he was officially identified- I never understood what gifted meant. Did not even know they needed or had different programs.

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?
Creativity and extreme curiosity!
He has always been interested in how things are put together and how stuff works. When he was around 3 years old- his daycare would save the lego (mega blocks and similar)creations he would make to show off to people (they had his on display to show prospective parents what kind of work kids there did :-)) Also- things like office chairs that spin- instead of just sitting on it and "riding" them- he would crawl under them and see how it spins.

3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
Speech delay (8 years old and still on IEP for speech)
fine motor delay
Behind in reading and writing until middle of 2nd grade
SPD

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?
Yes
No

5. Has your child been tested?
yes
Private (we were worried about learning disabilities) and through the school

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?
DS is awesome at math and logic but no clue at this point if actually gifted in math.
He was identified as gifted because of his cognitive ability scores
His achievement scores are not very impressive though.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?
DS's development was always slow and steady. He was always alittle behind on most things and due to moderate speech delays- we were never able to fully understand or notice his true understanding of the world until much later so I have no clue how that developed.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?

I thought he is bright since 2. I knew it when he started preschool at 3, I found out most of his peers couldn't recognized their own name, but he could read books independently.

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?

He read English before he spoke English sentences. (English is the 2nd language at home.)

3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

His social and motor skills are slightly delay than average but within the normal range.

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?

Probably. The evaluation is scheduled on Sep.

5. Has your child been tested?

He only took CTY SCAT test. IQ test is scheduled.

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?

Quite asynchronous. When he was younger, he could discuss atoms and molecules with me like a big kid then few minutes later he cried in public caused by small issues.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

Yes, especially on math and science.

I'm going to answer for both myself and DD.

DD: We suspected fairly early. She was always alert and was making (and acting on) connections by 7 months that many children are oblivious to. She has always been observant.

By age 3 a friend (and gifted educator) mentioned that our daughter reminded her "a lot of the kids at school". It really caused me to think a great deal about what it means to be "gifted".

ME: I know that my parents suspected before K. They petitioned for me to be tested into K early.


DD: At 7 months DD got to play with the cups from my breastpump as I was cleaning them. The following day she refused to drink pumped milk (for over 8 hours); from a bottle, from a cup. She would only drink from the breast. She is VERY persistent. She was very interested in books from an early age and started memorizing books at 24 mo. by 2.5 she was "reading" environmental text; signs, logos, etc.

An acquaintance of ours died when she was 3. From that point on, she was very concerned about death. She is also a subject expert on pregnancy. By 2 she was using (trying to use) logic to convince me that I should do what she wanted: she particularly liked to use "reasonable" and "appropriate" in sentences.

She is also very interested in learning about the world around her; at 2 looking for the cause of the "doorbell" when we would enter a store.

ME: I was very verbal early, but I don't know of actual milestones.


DD & ME: none.



DD & ME: Not that we know.


DD: Yes, WPPSI-III at 4.11 to give us an idea of where she should be place for first grade. Likely she'll be screened again this school year.

ME: Yes, from what my parents explained to me, it sounds like I ceilinged the test used to place me in K. I was later given a full scale assessment in 2nd grade (probably SB-LM). I took the SCAT in 6th grade & SAT in 7th. My parents never officially shared the IQ scores... but the OLSAT in high school was listed on the score report.


Both: I'd say globally gifted.
See below: DD is only 5 (she'll be 6 in Sept)



DD: Gross motor skills were/are on par with "normal" development. DD seems to excel at ballet though (high interest area). All her academic skills, including fine motor, seem to be advanced. She's emotionally and socially advanced as well.

ME: roughly the same as DD. Until recently (in my 30s) I didn't realize that part of the reason I was having problems deciding what to do when I "grew up" was that everyone said, "do what you're good at" or "do what's interesting to you". So many things fall into those categories that it's not limiting. Now I'm working in a field where I can use a multi-disciplinary approach; I'm helping people, using analysis, solving interesting problems, pulling various bits of data together to form a whole picture, and communicating.


Thanks for asking! It will be interesting to see what you come up with.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child? I was always blown away by DS6.5's milestones, but I had nothing to compare him to. It wasn't until he was about 18 months old, and in private care, that I really started to see the clues (and look back and see what I missed - like being the only 1 year old I know to request a fork to eat his first birthday cake).


2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness? The one thing that sticks out the most was that he knew the alphabet before he knew the song. All the kids his age (12 months) were just learning the song. He, on the other hand, recognized the letters first. His alertness and physical milestones were all earlier than most (other than walking which was 2 weeks before his first birthday). I also remember at 18 months going in for his checkup, and the pedi stating how many words he should have and what he should know, etc... and she was blown away by how far ahead of the "norms" he was.


3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)? He had issues with handwriting. But I think it was his perfectionism that caused him the most frustration. He was writing/drawing so early, but couldn't always get his chubby fingers to do what his brain wanted them to.


4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones? No, but he does have some OE issues.

5. Has your child been tested? Yes.

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age? Apparently he's gifted across the board. Prior to testing, I would've said he's verbally gifted, but his scores in math prove that it's actually his strong suit.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)? He definitely excelled in his gross motor, verbal & literacy skills at a really young age (under 3), but the rest caught up.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?

Older: Age 7
Younger: 3 days

2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness?

Older: Nothing until he sped through 2nd and 3rd grade math at age 7 after not even being able to count to 10 a few months earlier.
Younger: Put his pacifier in his mouth at 3 days old. Talked at 10 months. Read at age 2. That sort of thing.

3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

Older: Lots. Speech relative to his brother, reading relative to his brother, everything relative to his brother really.
Younger: Some mild motor delays.

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?

Older: Yes, dyslexia, ADHD, auditory processing disorder, visual problems.
Younger: Just visual problems.

5. Has your child been tested?

Yes for both.

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?

Older: Now he is less asynchronous, but he reading and math skills used to be completely opposite.
Younger: Gifted across the board. Though his strengths have always seemed to be more verbal, but when he was tested it the PRI was about a standard deviation higher than the VCI.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

Older: Fairly even, though it seemed delayed overall.
Younger: Verbal, literacy, and math skills far outpaced motor skills.

Both kids test HG+ now, though the older one's IQ tested below average when he was 7.

1. When did you first expected giftedness in your child?

I didn't call it "giftedness" at the time, but we knew DSnow6 was advanced pretty when he was a few months old. He was also a very early talker. I remember before he was 1, he was playing with a couple kids who were a bit older, and I can't remember what my DS said, but another mom said, "Did the baby just say that?!" When I really thought he was gifted was after reading an article about traits of gifted kids in the local paper, when DS was 3.



2. What milestones/traits (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social) really made you suspect giftedness? DS's verbal skills were extremely advanced, and he showed understanding of complex ideas at an early age. (I remember when he was 3, and I explained the rotation of the earth, he asked if all the people and the animals had babies, would the earth be too heavy to rotate? Then I suspected we might be in for an adventure with this kid!)


3. Did your child have any delays? If so what area (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

He couldn't jump up with both feet until he was probably 3.5 (or maybe he just didn't want to try! LOL). He still won't walk down steps one foot per step - he will step down with one, then put his other foot on the same step. He's very cautious, and so far has been behind in physical activities compared to agemates. For the most part, he's probably within the normal range of gross motor skills, but on the low end.

4. Is your child 2E? If they are did they have other signs besides the obvious, more quantifiable ones?

Not sure if this counts as 2E, but DS go to the speech therapist during kindergarten for 4 sounds he didn't yet have.

5. Has your child been tested?

Yes, when he was 4, he tested on the SB-V in the PG range. When he was 5, the school gave him achievement tests, also falling into PG range.

6. Is your child across the board gifted or quite asynchronous? If so what are his/her strengths and were they obvious from a young age?

DS is pretty globally gifted, though when he was 4 and younger, we thought him mostly verbally gifted as he wasn't interested in math, and his verbal abilities were way beyond his age. He taught himself to read by being read to, and by 3 was reading early chapter books like Frog and Toad. He's still not advanced in math as some of the kids on this board (he's about 2 years ahead), but when DS got to kindergarten, we focused on math for them to differentiate because that would be easier for them to see, which it was. Surprising to us, since his verbal skills are so advanced, the school staff didn't seem to notice DS's verbal abilities.

7. When your child was young (baby/toddler/preschooler), was their development fairly even or did they excel more in certain areas (gross motor skills, fine motor skills, verbal skills, literacy skills, mathematical sills, social)?

As a baby, DS seemed to hit most the typical milestones at a typical rate, perhaps a bit early. But anything related to verbal/literacy was much earlier. His math skills developed before kindergarten and advanced quickly.