Hi!
I am new to this forum and to the idea that my child may be "gifted." My almost 6yo son has just completed his kindergarten year at home with me. He has a strong interest in numbers and seems to be far above his grade level without much help from me. I even feel like I hold him back a bit by not challenging him enough.
I would like to get some perspective on this. I don't know if his ability qualifies as "gifted" and would like to get some outside opinions.
Here is what I have observed:
1) At 3yo he was counting everything without mistakes at least up to 100.
2) Numbers were some of his first words.
3) He started adding in his head two-digit numbers at 4/5 years old. Sometimes he makes mistakes when he has to carry but he gets the easy ones without carrying right almost always.
4) He taught himself multiplication--not by memorization, but by repeated addition of the same number.
5) He converts hours to minutes and adds large numbers together without me teaching him this. If I say I will be gone for 4 hours he says that I will be gone 240 minutes.
6) He saw roman numerals the other day and I explained how they work and he caught on immediately and was able to figure them all out with very little help from me.
7) He was tested at the charter school by the school psychologist when he was being evaluated for autism for his IEP and the she said she had never seen a math score as high as his.
Is he gifted?
Now, he also has many challenges. He was born with a significant visual impairment and is considered legally blind. He also was diagnosed with autism last December. He struggles with his attention span and I am concerned another diagnosis is on the horizon. Of course, a lot of that could be related to his vision and autism but I have not figured it all out yet.
I am grateful for any input you have for me. Thank you.
