once you are >3SD from average you are not going to find a lot of 'intellectual peers' anywhere.
DYS,
Triple Nine, and others begin at 3SD, mensa at 2SD, and there are several groups in-between.
In schools, it would be possible to cluster students by readiness and ability in each subject, then "differentiate" within those ability-grouped classes. This would also present a better situation for teachers (as compared with being expected to differentiate across a full range of mixed-abilities in a classroom).
The world is full of average people and our kids need to learn how to engage with them too
Some may say gifted children have this opportunity constantly, as our children are clearly in the minority, and severely outnumbered by the majority average-ish IQ culture. Inclusion seems to be a code word for assimilation. Possibly what these gifted kids need (and what is lacking) is some affirmation from "the community".
How are gifted portrayed in the media?
- In TV crime shows, profiles of suspects, unsubs, and perps often include high intelligence, with scripts written to suggest that detectives check mensa membership rosters and cross-reference to other profile characteristics.
- In TV sitcoms, the gifted are pathetically nerdy and antisocial, often the target for jokes.
- On game shows, the gifted may be presented as pageant divas.
Where are the positive role models of well-rounded gifted people in the media?
(stepping down from soapbox) That is not to say that I beieve that the GT kids shouldn't have their academic needs met at school or least that genuine efforts to do so shouldn't be made :-)
Agreed. Deny a gifted child's academic and intellectual needs for long enough and the gifted child may tend to underachieve academically. Two thoughts:
1) From the outside, it may appear that this child no longer presents with a need for intellectual stimulation, advanced curriculum, or accelerated pacing. To the schools being measured by their ability to close achievement gaps, this may be counted as a success.
2) From the inside, this may create a child who has been deeply invalidated, ignored, overlooked, underserved, and treated as inconsequential collateral damage. This child's growth may not continue along a positive academic path, as the child may have lost curiosity, drive, and internal motivation, and may be scarred with a deep distrust of the system. Voila! The system may have now created the social miscreant which it projected onto this gifted child: a self-fulfilling prophecy. There is a reason why groups like SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) exist, and why parents pull their children from schools.
