Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Did your gifted kid always seem gifted?

I never had any thoughts about DS11 or DD9 being gifted until they were tested. DS was diagnosed with ADHD/dysgraphia through testing but the tester also emphasized how gifted he is. His giftedness was really hard to see early on because of his tremendous struggles with learning to read, writing and spelling.

DD9 DYS has attracted regular comments about how "smart" she is throughout her life but I never paid much attention until a friend from church, our area public school gifted coordinator, urged me to have her tested. Yikes was I surprised.

I now realize in retrospect that her single-minded, weeks long role playing of being a milk snake, being John in "Peter Pan" (the most boring character in my opinion) etc. etc. ad nauseum was a sign of her focus and intelligence. It just seemed so bizarre at the time.

One time during Christmas I was dropping her at Montessori (she was 3) and she told me a long story about baby Jesus being born and immediately smacking the sheep at the manger in the face. I tried to explain that Jesus didn't go around hitting anyone and newborn babies can't really hit at all. However, she refused to go inside until I verbally scolded Jesus and told him three times not to hit the sheep. Gifted? Well, maybe, but not as easy to spot as walking at 6 months or reading before 3. Probably not something I would have posted in the "Ultimate Brag Thread" although it gave me a good laugh at the time.