Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Is my daughter gifted?

Hello. I'm new here, but I was wondering if you could help me with a problem I have. My 12 year old daughter is gifted, at least according to her olsat scores. She aces all her test, without ever studying. She is also in accelerated algebra 1.

Despite all that, she doesn't act like a gifted child. She is nothing like my 14 year old daughter. She makes friends quickly, and never complains about her classes moving too slowly for her. (I have asked her this on multiple occasions) Is she merely less gifted than her sister?

We have only recently found out that she was gifted. If you need more information, just ask.

Do you have any idea what percentile her scores place her at?

It's possible that if she's in a school setting which is flexible and supportive, and her scores aren't too far out there (that is, 95th percentile, not 99th) that she's perfectly happy and well-adjusted because her needs are being met pretty well.

It's not necessarily the case that she is "less" gifted, either; it's also possible that she has found some adaptive coping strategies that just work really well for her in light of her own learning style, needs, and personality.

Gifted doesn't mean socially ill-adjusted!

No, the school did not tell me her scores.

Otherwise, I think this does make sense to me. Thank you.

The OLSAT is an achievement test and not an IQ test. School districts might identify kids based on this test, but it is not a true test to determine giftedness.

Does it matter? :-)

I mean, if a kid is academically advanced and socially well adjusted, I'd think this is a real blessing.

I also think personality matters a lot. My DD8 is not particularly spending a lot of time on academics because her interest is in music and arts. But her academic performance is way up there. She just finished writing a 10,000 word fiction, and she is doing middle school competition math with me and loving it. We didn't get her tested as I don't see the need yet. But she is extremely happy at school. She enjoys having a very funny teacher and a bunch of good friends. Some of her friends are fairly advanced, too, I remember that over a third of her classmates finished reading the Harry Potter series in 1st and 2nd grade. But still, my DD never had issues at school, which is very unlike DS who felt extremely bored at school.

Art3mis,
I don't have anything to add to the conversation byt I wanted to <3 <3 <3 on your username. Ready Player One was my favorite book of 2013!

Just wanted to add, that I have a friend who has two gifted daughters just like your two who are very different in personality and temperament. Gifted kids don't fit one mold.