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).
