Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion The first thing.....What was it?

Oh I have to share a story -- not really GT related, but pretty darn cute if I do say so myself... LOL

DS was barely 3 months old and in his carseat/carrier in a shopping cart at the craft store, and while I was checking out he was giggling at the elderly woman behind us.. and then out of the blue he said, clear as a bell, "Hey!" (which in these parts is a standard greeting... LOL) perfectly inflected -- sounded like it should be part of "Hey dollface" ... *snort* ... and the woman screamed "OH MY GOD THAT'S THE SMARTEST BABY I'VE EVER SEEN!!!"

Now I don't for an instant think he was actually talking at that point -- he babbled and mimicked and made random cute noises but he didn't have any recognizable words until 10 months and then only the two (both cat-related... *sigh*) until he was 22 months. Definitely not an early talker! But he did have that quality of being "engaged" (that I mentioned I should have noticed), which lent a lot of "weight" to anything he sounded like he was saying.

I thought the lady was just nuts at the time, and pretty much still do! LOL But it's amusing how he has turned out anyway!

That's funny; it reminds me of the time I was in the store w/ds, around 2. He was singing and making up all kinds of lyrics about the food and toys we were passing by. I was of course sort of oblivious...don't all 2 year olds do this? Anyway, this lady stops me and just said 'Now that's talent, he's gifted! I know, I'm a tag teacher! ' She just stood there for a minute checking him out. I went home and told dh...well anyway we had a good laugh at the time.

Most of my clues didn't come until my son was around 12 mos (or maybe I was just too sleep deprived to notice). By that age, he already had favorite books and authors and was finding Lowly Worm in Richard Scarry books. By 18 months he would sit for 45 minutes or more of reading, prompting a librarian to comment on his long attention span. He also knew the letters and their sounds really early, but I didn't think anything of it until later. I had no clue that he might actually be so bright that it could be a problem until he started sounding out words in the newspaper at breakfast one day when he was 2 1/2. I replaced the newspaper with Hop on Pop and realized to my shock/horror/amazement/excitement/disbelief that he could read much of the book--and he hadn't memorized it. From that day on he read everything--signs, tags, the names of his crayons and the tiny print on the bottom of his Matchbox cars, and I realized I had a special case on my hands. By age 3 his reading was scary enough that I started hanging out here!

Love this thread so much fun to read. For us the real shocker and reason we tested DS6 IQ at 4 was after we realized he knew all the states just by shape. I only knew after he tested me w/the back of the state flash card. He asked me what one was and I was like "I have no idea". Then I asked him and he knew all 50 just by the shape. That was when I told my husband we have to test his IQ. Of course there were other signs but this one was really "freaky".

When DD was 4months She used to sit up in her infant seat and wave at people. If they came over to her she would say hi, hi over and over. People commented on it a lot. I just thought it was cute and figured she said hi because I said it to her a lot.

At her 1st birthday I remember talking to her about the party on the way there. She was asking if her grandma was going to be there. She really liked Winne The Pooh, and this was the theme of her party. At the party she ran around, opened her own presents mostly, and was talking. She got a lolly pop and and a giant stuffed Pooh bear. She was dragging around the bear with a lolly pop in her mouth. We have always thought she was smart, but did not know what gifted was.

When she was Two we had a couple incidents were she had escaped outside. We talked to her about not going out alone. After she did it again I was so frustrated I told her she could not have her treats for a week. (probably inappropriate for a 2y old. )Exactly a week later she hid. We though she was gone. It was very scary. We found her in the house hiding very well with the treats.

When we asked her why she hid and didn't come out when she heard us looking for her. Until she heard talk of calling the police. She said she was mad that she could not have her treat the previous week.( the treat was originally something she got in the morning for staying in her room and in the house if she woke up before us. The reality of the situation and the fact that i was having this conversation with a 2year old hit me and I thought how am I going to raise this child!

We had a talk about the dangers of leaving the house alone and how serious it was that we could not find her. I had to reevaluate my expectations of her age and start explaining reasons and consequences to her like an older child.

I found this site looking for answers. It still takes me a little while to catch up after she has a growth spurt, but hopefully I am getting better at adjusting my parenting to fit where she is at?

Boy after reading all these stories it confuses me even more about my daughter. My son exhibited signs of being gifted really early, very good at puzzles, math reasoning just came to him before he started school he could add/subtract/multiple and divide/count money/tell time. He also "memorized" long books and would pretend to read them. My daughter on the other hand who just scored a 150 IQ but she was such a late developer we were really worried about her. She didn't even roll over until she was 10/11 months, late walker, no verbal skills at all until she was 18 months. Of course we did find that she had chronic fluid in her ears which was the cause of a lot of these delays. Poor sense of balance and not hearing during development. Even in preschool she was really just an average kid and maybe towards the slow side. Mid-way through Kindergarten though she suddently "turned on". There was no trying to learn to read, she just started reading big words. No sounding them out, just reading and comprehending. She went basically from nothing to a 3rd grade reading level almost over night. She is also excellent at spelling, writing stories, etc. Her other subjects are above grade level, but not extreme, just one grade level. Does anyone have any experience with anything like that?

I may be having that right now with our DS4. I'm in the middle of what appears to be a turning on, so I can't say for sure. But I thought he was probably an ND child or an MG child at most with an LD. All of a sudden he is all about the math! He's really good at it, and it's all coming from him. Just all of a sudden.

I saw my parents this weekend for the first time in a month, and they noticed it, too. My dad said, "He's like a different kid since January." My parents even noticed a greater interest and ability in reading, which I hadn't really recognized.

I was glad to have the outside confirmation of what I was seeing, actually, since I was starting to feel like I was crazy!

But yes, to answer your question, I might be seeing something similar with my child. It happens sometimes.

Dorothy,

We're having a "turning on" with ds(recently turned 3) right now. He has been much slower to hit the milestones than his older brother and sister. If he had been my first I would have had him tested for early intervention. I see now that I was hoodwinked. He has a very different personality than his siblings.

Because he was my third, I was too busy to have time to worry. Because I could see he understood us when we spoke with him, I didn't make worrying a priority. Good thing, too. If EI could see him now they'd laugh at me. Sigh.

Smiles,
Kate

Thanks for the support and to hear there were other late bloomers. My daughter seems to have just "turned on" so late though. She was almost 6. I guess it shouldn't really matter when one does get their surge so to speak, but it does seem odd to me, especially when my other child just seemed to be on from the beginning.

I'm curious if gifted children who are late bloomers present differently over the long-term. What are others' experiences? Are these kids frequently 2E?