What I've been struggling with though is he language that is being used (eg parent orientation). They continuously talk about how these kids are so special / have great emotional needs etc.
I understand our children are special but as a parent of 3 aren't all kids special? Don't all kids have needs? I do think gifted kids need different educational opportunities but it's the labeling of the behavior that bothers me (eg iq of 120? You're a jerk. Iq of 130? They're overexcitabilities).
I think every child of every iq level comes with challenges, gifts (kindness is a great one!) and has a responsibility to behave. I don't like the idea of excuses being made because of a child's iq.
This kind of bothers me. Gifted kids tend to be far more sensitive than non-gifted children; they DO have "great emotional needs". All too often, I see people dismiss that as "all children are special" or "every child of every iq level comes with challenges" when, in fact, gifted kids have an OVERWHELMINGLY heightened sensitivity that is often dismissed by those around them.
This article explains the emotional intensity pretty well:
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10240.aspx"Intellectual complexity goes hand in hand with emotional depth. Just as gifted children's thinking is more complex and has more depth than other children's, so too are their emotions more complex and more intense."
It isn't that they are being overly excitable or a jerk; it's that their world is intense and overwhelming and scary. They have to learn how to process and filter to a greater depth than non-gifted children.
It's not just sensory or emotions; it's also justice and morals.
http://www.sengifted.org/archives/a...ed-children-and-the-evolution-of-society"Many parents (such as B’s mother above) have reported that their gifted children seemed to have an innate sense of right and wrong."
It's the fact that they can be four, speaking like a ten-year-old, reading high-school material, and still sucking their thumb. Adults forget that they are four because of their vocabulary and diction, and expect more of their behavior; they're still just four-year-olds sucking their thumb. Gifted children develop asynchronously and may be able to read college-level material while still writing in kindergarten handwriting (backward letters and all).
Gifted children have different needs and those needs very often go unmet by the world around them, particularly schools who refuse to acknowledge that some children have special NEEDS.
