Also, regarding the three ring concept of giftedness, does anyone else's school district have such a thing? Because I don't really understand why being a good communicator, quality producer, or self directed learner really has anything to do with giftedness, that seems more like achievement than cognitive ability.
Our district has a matrix that's used in elementary school to qualify for the gifted program, and it includes things such as this. While those other qualities aren't definitions of intellectual giftedness, and shouldn't be things that keep an intellectually gifted student out of a gifted program, they are also qualities that take people far in life and enable elementary school students to be successful in the classroom. My ds has struggled tremendously with communication (he has an expressive language disorder which impacts writing as well as speech), and his self-motivation took a huge hit particularly in elementary school due to his 2nd e challenges. He didn't look gifted at all if you looked at him in any other light than his intellectual ability. The thing is - we advocated like crazy to get past that as a bar to entrance into the district gifted program, but at the same time we worked like crazy with him to help him improve in those areas too, because ultimately once he gets out of school and is on his own in the world, he needs those skills. I may be the lone outlier in my opinion on this here, but once you're past K-12 education, those skills are as critical if not more so than intellectual ability in negotiating and being successful in the adult world.
Best wishes,
polarbear
