Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school I'm back a year later! Still confused? 2yr old

Sounds a lot like my DS 25 mo. Milestones are very similar. I have not yet decided weather I am pretty sure he is gifted though. DS4 have the signs of being a level 4 according to Ruf's estimates. Just turned 4 and can read any kind of book. Also writing stories now with pretty much perfect sentence structure. Doing 2 nd grade math as well. Knowing about DS4 being gifted I am much more aware of DS25mo and his milestones.

But it is hard with the first child. I had no idea DS4 might be gifted until friends started to point it out to me. Sounds to me you DO have a gifted child. To what level is hard to tell at this age. DS4 wouldn't have been a level 4 at the age of 2, but he is now, for sure.

I guess it could go either way at this point. That is why I am not coming to a conclusion at this point with DS25mo. I am doing the same with him as I did with his brother, as far as experiences and "teaching", just to be fair..:-)

Sensory issues, oh boy do we have them here. Actually DS25 mo has it WAY more than DS4 ever did. This is why I am thinking that I might have another gifted child, along with the ease of learning. BUT, now I hear that there is actually such a thing as "Sensory Processing Disorder" that has nothing to do with giftedness...or is there? I always thought overexcitability and giftedness go hand in hand. Or is it just more common in gifted kids?

Somerdai, what do you know about this? Is the child you might have evaluated gifted?
Sorry SLB for hogging your post...:-)

My son is 26 months and I'm just starting to look into both giftedness and SPD, but IMHO my son definitely has signs of both. I have some doubts as well because of the giftedness/overexcitabilities, but he has enough of the "red flags" at http://www.spdbloggernetwork.com/red-flags/ that I hope to have him evaluated the next time I'm in the U.S. (possibly this summer). He has mostly seeking and some avoiding behaviors, which added to possible giftedness (based on my observations of his verbal/reasoning skills and memory, along with family history), has helped me understand a lot of whats been going on in my house for the last two years. The SPD foundation talks about the possibility of SPD being more common in the gifted (vs the general) population (see http://www.sinetwork.org/gifted.html).

THANK YOU for those links. Very interesting information. My DS does not have most of those red flags. The only thing he does have is an EXTREME awareness of what is going on around him. (Has been this way since he was a baby) Visually, things like something being out of place, a sock on the wrong way, a piece of lint laying on the floor, a hole in something etc. Hearing, a song he doesn't like, something being too loud. He has SOME sensory issues but the above are the main issue.

Ds4 is the same way with the hearing (needs ear muffs when I run the blender etc, although he doesn't react to music the same way.) He doesn't have as much of the visual sensitivity.

What is it your son is sensitive to?

I disagree with some of the other posters on a few points. I think a child who is reaching those milestones at those ages is almost certainly gifted. Hard to know how much without testing and/or more time, but I certainly think it is safe to assume giftedness. The research I've seen suggests that parents are actually very good at determining whether or not their young child is gifted, and they are usually better at this than teachers.

When my daughter was that age a few years ago, I felt bewildered, overwhelmed, and isolated. The best thing I did was connect with other parents of gifted kids. Among them, you can usually talk about your child without sounding like bragging because they've been there. They know how challenging it can be. I strongly second the recommendations of getting hooked up on Hoagie's Gifted website (They have an active Facebook page too) and SENG (online, on Facebook, or via a parent group or yearly conference). There are also excellent email lists out there for parents of gifted children, such as Brightkids and the TAG Project lists.

Keep tracking milestones because in the future those records could be invaluable in advocating for your gifted preachooler's education. I'm filling out applications this week for gifted preschools, and I'm so glad I wrote some of that down so I can refer to it.

You are not alone!

Jenny

Jenny, reading what you said I know you are right....For me, DS25mo. being my second child I compare everything to my DS4..normal I assume. Their milestones have been somewhat identical. There are differences though and that is what I think is throwing me off determining if DS25 mo. is gifted or not. I know all kids are different, but I as far as giftedness I only know what I saw DS4 do, and I compare it to him.

You are right, I am sure he is gifted as well. The question is to what level, and THAT we can't know until they are older. You are so right about connecting with other parents of gifted kids. There are no groups in our area but this board has been a great help. It is sad you can't openly be excited when your child hits a milestone just because it is way ahead of the norm.