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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 902
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In particular, DS4's writing before he's reading is still messing with my head...If he would just read already, I'd feel like I'd have a better sense about whether he has LD issues or not. But as verbal and imaginative as he is, still no reading! I think we talked about it a while back but let me repeat DS5 typed on the computer before he read. He typed hundreds of different words which he had memorized. He has a great visual memory and he remembered lots of words but reading itself hadn't click yet at that point. PM for you
LMom
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Joined: Sep 2007
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Yes, we did talk about it. Thanks, LMom. But it is really my one big issue with the kid! I worry that I should be getting him help for some undiagnosed LD. Well, I should note his extreme emotional sensitivity, too, as an issue, lest I forget THAT biggie! Seriously, the child is *Extra-PG* when it comes to his emotions! Cup runneth over!!! It just seems to be the *only* area that he's definitely GT in! But boy, is he PPPPPPG in that area! If it weren't for his Rampant Emotionalism, I'd be thinking he's ND. But his emotions just shout GT. (Usually they cry out, actually, heavy on the "crying" part!)
Kriston
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Joined: Sep 2007
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Thanks, Dottie! At least I know enough to know what I don't know...I hope...
Kriston
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 982
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This brings back memories of my son at 2.5, especially the bathtub. During the day it seemed like he soaked up all kinds of knowledge and while he was soaking in the bathtub, he played with what he had learned. He had been interested in letters since he was about 12 months old and by 2.5 he was making words out of those letters. He liked it when I spelled out words for him and he would point at the correct object every time I spelled out a word like soap, towel, bathtub, shampoo, ceiling, floor. He loved this game. When other kids found out that he coud do this, he got a lot of attention from them and he always liked entertaining people or making them laugh. By age 5, older kids were spelling out science words trying to find a word he couldn't identify not realizing that he read the science encyclopedia for fun.
He didn't play much with regular toys and wouldn't even try to do jigsaw puzzles, except on a computer game, and preferred playing and interacting with me, but part of the reason may be been his mild motor disability and sensory issues that were not diagnosed until he was nine. He had a long attention span for things he was interested in which was almost everything except sports--the opposite of most of the kids here. He was never impulsive. He would sit and think about things when other kids were playing and come up with all kinds of questions. My sister-in-law told me before he started Kindergarten that he needed to learn to stifle his curiousity so he would fit in. The Kindergarten teacher seemed to agree. We have homeschooled since he finished Kindergarten, which was hard for me at first because I enjoyed volunteering at the school and talking to the teachers and I felt so alone. I had to give it up for my son, but he is worth it.
We live in a small town and people do think a small child talking like an adult is kind of weird. Once, when I took him to get a haircut, I overheard a girl telling her friend that he was "scary" smart. Sometimes when my son talked to me at restaurants, it would get quiet at the tables around us and people would listen to him. Once, when he noticed that people had stopped talking and were watching him, he looked around and said loud enough that they were sure to hear him something like "Did someone call for prayer and I missed it?" Another time, a girl about two years older than him, in his acting class, overheard him talking to his friend about a computer game and he heard her say, "there he goes talking in another "geeky" language I don't understand. A few days later, she asked him a question and he answered the way he normally talks and then said "oh, sorry, that was probably too geeky for you to understand, and then repeated the gist of what he said in a slow, almost southern drawl using much simpler words to make his point. He knows that some people think he is weird because he is smart but he has fun with it. He senses that I feel uncomfortable at times when people watch us, but then he asks me "why do you care so much about what these people think?" or "if they think we are geeks, let's act really geeky and he'll start talking about spelling bees or physics using words that they have probably never heard even though they are much older than he is. He just has fun with it.
I think his sense of humor and joking about his differences is one reason he has so many friends. All of his friends are gifted, and most of them are older, but the doctor said this is okay because his mental age is higher that his chronological age.
So he has close friends, but I don't. I don't have anything in common with the people whose kids are in sports. I can't stand football and people talk about football a lot where I live, even in my own family. The only people I occasionally talk to are the parents of my son's friends. Two of them are teachers and they understand what it is like raising a gifted child, but my son is twice exceptional and I haven't met even one person with a twice exceptional child like mine. I think the isolation is one of the hardest things I have had to deal with, but like I said before, my son is worth it.
My son demonstrated how he manages to carry on a conversation with his cousins who are very, very into sports with no interest in academics. It went something like this: Cousin: I scored the most points today out of all the kids on the team. DS: Really? That's nice. I know you are really good at that. DS internal thoughts: "I wonder what will be on Mythbusters next. Hope it's not a rerun." Cousin: Yes, they threw the ball to me and I ran with it so fast nobody could catch me. DS: Oh, I know you can run a lot faster than I can. DS internal thoughts: I think I'll create a new character on my Sims 2 game, what should I name him?"
He knows that these cousins have no interest in what he is doing outside their common interest in video games, so he doesn't talk about his interests. It is like he can go into an act and he can fit in socially this way, but he said it is tiring and he feels much more comfortable with the gifted kids he has something in common with.
I found a lot of support on online gifted message boards like this one. I feel like some of the people here really understand.
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Joined: Oct 2007
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Remember, there are different sorts of gifted. Highly creative, highly intellectual, highly academic. Sometimes kids have all of those, one, two or other gifts altogether. I read recently an article in the NAGC quarterly about the difference between kids who master and those who create. Both kinds are gifted in their own right, however, they may present differently, especially in school. I think we find it easier to support the child who is clearly academically gifted. I've mentioned before that having read about Einstein he seems to fit more in the creator gifted category. Didn't perform as well in school as would be expected. However, he seems to be the most obvious symbol for genius. And then of course there is Richard Feynman.
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Joined: Jul 2008
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I want to thank everyone for the kind welcomes and advice. It feels much better knowing I can come on here anytime I need to and vent my frustrations (I have a lot of those!) or share some of the neat things DD2.5 does. For instance, she started teaching herself to sign the alphabet by playing on starfall.com. She started 3 days ago and knows about half the alphabet now. That is unusual for a 2.5yo, right?? Sometimes I still don't know for sure what's normal and what's GT, this being my oldest child. My general guideline is if I'm amazed she can learn it, it's probably GT. That's not real scientific, but oh well.
A couple of you talked about me being ahead of the game since I recognized GT abilities or signs in my daughter so soon, but really the congrats should go to my friend. When my DD was about 20mo, my friend saw her coloring. Every time she picked up a new color, my daughter would proudly say it. "Yellow! Orange! Blue!" I didn't think anything of it since I had gone over colors with her frequently and I had no other child to base her on. My friend looked at me with astonishment and started asking questions about my DD. Then she told me that DD was definitely not "normal" but in a good way.
My DH and I thought she was just kind of smart, no big deal. But then my daughter seemed to develop in fast forward. She went from seeming normal at 17-18 months, speaking 25 words or so (nothing out of the ordinary) to speaking in two-word sentences a month later. Then 5-word sentences a very short time after that while she quickly learned her letters, numbers, etc.
Now at 2.5, we're extremely curious to know what level of GT she is but from what I've read, it seems to be best to wait until they're 4 or 5 to test. Does that sound accurate to you guys out there??
I didn't even know "play schools" versus preschools existed until I read some of your posts. I do think that a play school would be much better than a preschool since she pretty much knows the curriculum already, and the main reason I want to send her to school is to get some socialization. When she hangs out with kids her age, she seems to dumb herself down, speaking more simply. I don't want her to do that in a preschool, too. I'll have to look around my area to see if one exists here. Are they few and far between?
One of my biggest challenges with my family is dealing with my brother. He has a daughter the same age who is not GT (at least not from what I've seen), and I sometimes cringe when my DD does something crazy in front of him and his wife, like spell her name, write "hi" or operate a computer. I don't want to my DD to sense that I'm uncomfortable and that she shouldn't be herself around others, though. My DH and I just act like it's no big deal; I don't want anyone to think we're trying to show off or anything. She just does those things on her own, you know.
At any rate, I'm glad to be here. Thanks again.
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Joined: Apr 2008
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I wasn't quite clear on the difference between "academic" and "intellectual" and even after reading "Re-forming Gifted Education," I'm still not clear. Ha Ha Ha. It seems the academic ability is more narrowly focused compared to the Intellectual.
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,231
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Hoosiermommy: Concerning your brother, hopefully he doesn't feel it is an issue either. All kids are different and develop differently, they are who they are. And welcome, there is tons of info and support here, enjoy.
Dazey: Wasn't sure if you were asking a question about my comments, or making a comment in general.
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Joined: Jul 2008
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I don't know if my brother thinks it's an issue but I do think my sister-in-law might. They just switched their daughter from a home-based day care to a more preschool-like setting. I'm not exactly sure why but they mentioned that she was mimicking the 1yo she played with a lot at the old day care. I have to wonder if they think their child is "slow" because she's not speaking like my DD. I don't think they realize that my DD is a bit unusual and that their DD is just fine. It's hard not to compare, though, especially when they're the exact same age (just 3 weeks apart!).
Ironically, I worried our DD was a bit on the slow side when her cousin learned to do things before her: crawling, waving, clapping and her first word. I think my daughter is a perfectionist, though, and wanted to make sure she could do all of those things just right before she tried them. Probably gets that from her mommy <grimace>.
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Joined: Apr 2008
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Incogneato - Oh I was just making a comment about my own confusion intellectual vs academic ablility but if you have some wisdom on the topic, I'm always receptive! 8-) I think it made sense to me once I read the profiles they gave as examples. I think the academic ability girl was high just in reading but was struggling in math/science or perhaps vice versa.
I also need to go back and that book to get the difference between a gift and a talent solid in my head.
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