You may have read this in your research already, but I found it interesting.
Definitions of Gifted The quote at the end is telling.
Knowing which definition of gifted a teacher or principal is using can help make communication less frustrating and more productive.
You could insert pretty much any person in that quote for "teacher or principal."
This is a key point. The thing to do is figure out the other person's definition of giftedness and ask questions until you get that person's words for your kid, and then use the other person's internal language.
I've joked for years that everyone has their own definition of giftedness, and since their is no one correct definition, then all of them are correct for the person who is using them, including my DH who believes that a person can't be gifted if he knows or remembers one person who is 'much smarter' than themselves. We were joking about it last night when I returned from the conference, I guess because he couldn't imagine that 400 people know someone like his best friend in High School. I told him that the definition varied, but that in schools it was usually between the top 10% and top 2% depending on local custom, with 3% being popular.
'Oh,' he said, 'I guess I am gifted then.'
Then I told him about how I always tell people about this private definition of gifted, and he looked at me and said the name of of his best friend in High School.
So nice to watch the penny drop! And after only 6 years. Big happy Smile!
For me - my son has 'special educational needs' because of his unusal early intellectual developmental path when I'm talking school talk, and Gifted with friends. One advantage of being in the Young Scholar Program is that it makes fessing up to the 'gifted' label rather more easy.
Love and More Love,
Grinity
