Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums GT Research Overexcitabilities in Gifted Children

OT stands for Occupational Therapy. It was an occupational therapist, A. Jean Ayres, who developed the theory of sensory integration (SI) and researched how sensory integration disorders impact on behaviors, task performance and higher level cognitive and perceptual skills. An SI trained OT is often the appropriate professional to consult when dealing with sensory integration disorder or what is now being referred to sensory processing disorder.

I think that the line IS blurred between OE and SPD. Sensory processing happens on a continuum and, like intellect, it is usually only the extreme ends that are different enough to be problematic. I really like Winnie Dunn's take on sensory processing: Living Sensationally: Understanding Your Senses is a great little read on the topic. Not OE oriented, it provides an overview of how sensory processing affects our behaviors.

DS5 has fairly severe SPD's. In his case, he is unable to process the input of his surroundings. Every second of every day, your body is accepting input ie: sights, sounds, smells, temperature. The brain is supposed to process everything, even those things that you are not aware of. For my son, this doesn't happen. The information goes in, piles up and overwhelms him, causing him to shut down.

DS8 has OE's to sound primarily. He is forever turning down the TV and covering his ears as the toilet flushes. But there isn't anything that signifigantly affects his day to day function.

While some may say that DS5 has the same thing as DS8 only in a more severe form, I find the two very different.

This OE theory really has a ring of truth to it. I was hoping anyone who has a deeper understand of this theory, and giftedness in general, would comment on the following lunchtime speculation of mine:

Our DD7 was identified as gifted and clearly has multiple OEs (emotional, imaginational, and intellectual). Assuming I can even make this distinction, I believe her brain, considered outside these OE forces, is otherwise normal or slightly above average in its ability to retain, organize and process information.

She demonstrates no inclination to pursue any particular body of knowledge or obvious talent for it when instructed to, despite her endless thinking and questioning, which we have often felt was more a reflex, even a burden to her, something she could not help just like her emotional OE. Those OE forces alone, I suspect, acting moment by moment from birth upon an otherwise normal or above average brain, forced her into higher functioning levels in certain areas (in her case language arts) at an early age.

But another child, whose brain can better retain and organize information (e.g. �smarter�), when imposed upon by these OE forces, gains a powerful tag team which often results in a child who is highly or profoundly gifted. And another child, who has a �smarter� brain but no OE forces, could with proper motivation and instruction achieve gifted levels in some areas.

So does any of this reflect current theories on giftedness or has my uneducated paddling landed me in the deep end with no water wings?

Sounds like gifted denial to me! And plain ole intellectual OE. I think the ability to organise and take to long term storage can be learned (or taught) and comes with time.

But really, doesn't your DD remember the words to some song you haven't sang since she was a toddler? Or some place she 'couldn't possibly' remember? Or giggle to the punchline of a joke from 3 years ago?
Or is all that behavior so normal for your extended family that you brush it off as 'no big deal?' - that's quite usual, you know.
I know my son used to pop up with those weird memories all the time.

But I like the idea that intellectual OE forces development in certian areas - forces feels like the right word.

((shrugs))
Hope that helps,
Grinity