Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Do you find that other people...

I couldn't open the link above but this is info from Linda Silverman's website

http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/What_is_Gifted/learned.htm




There is for sure a genetic component. The correlation is strong enough. 60% of this siblings test within 10 points. That still leaves 40% of them with 11+ difference. 11+ point is a lot. It can easily change HG to MG and MG to non gt.

Either way if one of your children is gt then it makes sense to pay attention to his/her siblings even though they don't exhibit the same gt signs.

Just on this board alone I know of at least two people with 2+ kids in DYS and I am sure I am forgetting somebody.

All that said I do and do not want to have DS4 tested, if that makes any sense. I really hope that DS6 and DS4 will be in the 33% category of siblings with IQ within 5 points of each other.

Very interesting. Makes me wonder about DD21 months. DS4 is PG, so maybe DD will be at least MG. I assume that she is pretty bright, but when you are raising a child like DS, it is not the same at all...hard to tell how ahead on milestones she really is. But she is quite opinionated and determined (and cute), that's for sure. Only time will tell.

On IQ and genetics.

My maternal Aunt earned a PHD in Chemical Engineering the late 50s/early 60s. My maternal uncle got a PHD in psychology and worked on mainframes while in college in the early 60s. My mom had a degree in English but worked as a field auditor - being very good with numbers as well - and read 3-5 books a week. My maternal grandmother ran a large business with her husband handling sales. Both were dirt poor growing up.

My dad had 100% in all his service schools in the Army and was honor graduate in all. He had 100% on his A&P tests and had 100% availability on all his airframes. He is still extremely sharp.

My DW's dad has a photographic memory. He had the entire parts catalog for all major auto manufacturers memorized. DW has a photographic memory for anything she hears. She has thousands of songs memorized. Before her concussion in her 20s, she had a visual photographic memory and could recall just about anything she had seen. She does have a visual processing problem and cannot read very fast. She can look at columns of numbers and know immediately if something is off. DW is very, very good at videogames. DW's sister is a phenomenal freehand artist.

Two of my sister's four kids have been admitted to GT programs. One, at age 7, was able to beat me at chess after a month of playing - if I did not work to win. Another is very gifted artistically and can draw anything he sees.

So, I think GT is strongly genetic. I also think that it also needs the right environment to flourish. My sister's kids have not had that much opportunity - the oldest was an amazing kid at 6 - but did not get consistent attention - too much TV and not enough books. And the artist has not been around any other artists.