I am brand new to this forum as I have just now started researching more about gifted children and their education, etc. ... I have two little boys one who will be 4 next month and we know he's very smart and has above average knowledge ... just judging from his interaction with his peers and what he does (great in math, science and technical stuff) but we're also looking into the possibility of him having ADHD, PDD or possibly Asperger's ... he has a psychiatrist appointment next month and he has always been the center of attention BUT our 2 year old is shaping up to be an unusual child and that's why I need help from you who have experience with this
first off, I am NOT the type of parent that spends time teaching their baby / toddler things just to get ahead of the curve. I let our boys to pick up knowledge as it comes to them and just explore whatever they like ...
they both were late in physical development ... late walkers (older one at 17 months, younger one at 15 months) ... both speech delayed ... both only 10 words at 24 months, which is why I went to Early Intervention for evaluation to see what they think ... the older one has severe Sensory Processing Disorder plus whatever else they psychiatrist might find when we see them ... and the younger one at the evaluation at 26 months tested at 9-12 months level for comprehension(due to no interest in communication) and 12-15 months level at communication ... and they all agreed he has sensory issues too ... he is now 2 years and 4 months old and getting speech and developmental therapy ... yet everyone on the evaluation team and the therapists agree the numbers are very off for him and that he's proving to be super smart ... and I really believe he is ...
at 15 months he started to be interested in letters and he'd bring them to me and I'd say the name of the letter
at 18 months he knew 20 letters and I started giving him phonetic sounds of them
by 24 months knew and recognized (read) all the letters and their phonetic sounds and would do "what letter comes next" type of activities
at 22 months knew and recognized numbers to 10 (and would use them to count objects)
at 24 months knew and recognized numbers to 20 (I realized that as I watched him count pieces of hot dog on his plate to 19!) ... as I mentioned I did NOT teach him that ... he learned from TV!
at 26 months finally started learning some words other than numbers and letter! YAY!!! and started showing interest in communication (a little) ...at this point I already knew he had this amazing memory as when he was interested in something, I'd only show him / tell him once or twice and he'd remember things
at 26 months learned his first 6 colors in just 5 minutes (if at all!)
at 27 months I told him the basic shapes and he now knows them
at 28 months (as of last weekend) ... I showed him black, brown and white yesterday and he now knows them
and here's the kicker that got me really looking into the whole gifted thing ... over the weekend he started reading simple words that he knows by sounding them out! I wrote a word for his BROTHER and my younger one came by, spelled, it, sounded it out and read it! ... and then another 4 words ... dog, cat, hat, cow and apple! ... I'm sure it wasn't just sight reading and using his memory as he really sounded them out and I got it on a video when he did it again later that day with more words. I don't think that's normal at 2 years 4 months of age? I've heard of kids who learned to read at the age of 2 or 3 but I never thought my child could do this?
... sorry to make it this long but I'm hoping some of you may see your children in my son and will have advice for me as to if he could be gifted or just has a good memory? And what to do with him now?
Our school district doesn't even have a GT program for kids and he's 3 years from entering K and learning to read? What in the world am I going to do with him then?
If he continues to learn with such ease ... should I get him tested? and at what age? He's on the waiting list to be seen by Pediatric Psychiatrist too just like my older one but it's another 6 months before we can get in ... when he started with the whole letter fascination and numbers and no interest in communication, we were again concerned with Asperger's or something similar ... but now I'm thinking maybe he's just one of those smarter kids who are not interested in doing things the "normal" way?
Again, I'm sorry for writing such a novel but it's all so new to me ... I have too many questions and no answers
... when I was a kid (growing up in Central Europe) I was what was considered gifted as well (IQ about 145 back then ... not as smart now! lol) ... and went to regular public elementary school (1-4)... my elementary school teacher later in life told me I scared her! ... so much she'd send her husband to do research in the library on the topics I asked her about so she could give me the answers (talk about having an awesome teacher! lol) and then math/science middle school (5-8) for gifted kids (LOVED being among kids like me!) and regular high school (was ok) ... so I know what it can be like ... but I was nowhere as GOOD as my 2 year old so I don't know what we have awaiting for us this time???
