Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion GT Demographics on this Site

I really don't know how to describe my 7 year old son (yikes he'll be 8 in June !)- he's not PG, probably at the lower end of gifted, but who knows ? I don't know any other kids his age to compare him to, apart from those on here His teachers all seem to think he's pretty special - but that might just be his big eyes and perfect behavior that biases them. His 3rd grade math teacher says he fits in perfectly with the top couple of kids in her class, if that's anything to go by? I do know that I enjoy this forum, and he seems to fit in in some respects, so that's good enough for me

Give her a little time and she may get her achievement scores up there. The Ruf levels tend to be 'not helpful for 2E kids.' I never used them to decide a kid isn't gifted - but if the milestones are there, then I don't doubt them.

Love and more love,
Grinity

What others said about the site being organised by Davidson's and therefore PG-enriched! Some of us have no test data, though, and are just here because it's helpful. (My DS has achievement in his areas of strength that look PG; I'd be quite surprised if he had an FSIQ at that level, but really, who cares? I need to do the best I can for what I see, and for that it's really helpful to read posts from other people who've faced similar challenges.)

What I do know is that reading other GT forums has tended to leave me in one or more of these states: tutting over other parents making a fuss over achievements that seem nothing out of the ordinary to me; regretting the lack of activity; resenting the aggressiveness of some posters to the whole idea of giftedness; feeling embarrassed that my DS is still way outside the range of what's normal on the board. I feel pretty comfortable here - some posts irritate me sometimes, but I also feel it's worthwhile reading here almost every day.

I wanted to echo everything everyone said including HoosierMommy's original post. I agree very much with ColinsMum.

The moment I heard about the different levels of G, I was consumed by doubt and anxiety and embarassment and cuiosity and mostly denial but that was almost 3 years ago and further research, talking to other parents of GT kids convinces me that DS falls in the HG-PG borderline with some PG+ in certain areas and MG in others. I fall into the trap of doubting this often though as we have almost zero exposure to the "real-world". All of DS friends are at least HG (at least I think so) and we homeschool and are of the introverted, slightly non-socialized variety. And of course my child doesn't display typical giftedness all the time. Sometimes he's down right absent-minded or suddenly will have trouble adding or subtracting (but don't we all sometimes?).

All I know is this is one of the places I feel safest to lurk and post once in a while. I don't feel judged and I don't feel as if anyone is trying to belittle the anxieties I feel. I don't feel like the odd duck in the pond like I normally do in a few other forums.

<nodding> I could have written ColinsMum's post.


This is quite literally the only place that I've ever been able to honestly discuss my DD (now nearly 12).

I tend to feel the need to tack on weaknesses whenever I mention an accomplishment, otherwise. I hate myself for doing it, but it is the only way to make it acceptible enough for others.

DD is a solid 4 and in some ways 5 with Ruf's LOG... and in comparison to family members with known SB scores, she seems to stack up to roughly 155-170. (But not higher, as we have comparator relatives there, too.) So she's very easily into PG territory.


This isn't necessarily obvious to someone who meets DD socially-- she comes across as quite normal, if slightly reserved, in most settings. Unless one engages her and pays attention to her, that is. The first time another adult told me that "Gosh, I forget that she's not another adult when I start talking to her" was when she was three and regularly sitting at my desk at work while I worked in the lab nearby. This was from other post-docs, graduate students, technicians, and faculty.

So she's a quiet gifted child, but definitely PG for all that.

I feel loved and supported here and I feel like my ongoing post-it- clip'd notes could be helpful to another mother, ya' know. �I'm not the first SAHM gonna need to research ahead about guiding and advocating for her babies, I won't be the last.

I am unspeakably pleased and befuddled that I am allowed to hang out here. �I'm conceited and absurd. �I define giftedness by whatever my kid does, not the other way around. �That alone should get me thrown out on my ear. �Luckily the gifted folks here seem to be the type that embrace and enjoy Other People.

My kid has been able to read odd random words since the age of two. �Wyatt3.5* has been guided into reading a couple of sentences prodded belaboriously with "sound it out" and "think it through". �He doesn't read. �He can't read.*** �My Nephew reads less than DS yet My Sister says DN "reads sentences". (ie, with a cattle prod like ds). � I'll bet cash money my ds will be called hg+/pg,** �(I already call him that to keep it simple). (("claim based on gut feeling and family history, not based on any testing- not even the Internet tests or developmental charts"))

DD7months doesn't talk yet. �She does consistently "hoo" adorably �in response to the freight train whistle as it goes by and she clearly "Rawrs" like a dinosaur. �(thanks Wyatt) �She makes recognizable words too often to call it co-incidence yet not often enough to really say she's talking yet. �Her First Word was a whole friggin' sentence, "geht out ohf here!" at 6months.. The boy said a single clear word once, "goodnighht." at around that age. �The boy said goodnight after �we said it. �The girl said it in correct context to her brother who was interrupting her nursing. �Although I said it many days, in that tone of voice, in that situation, she said it first that day.

**�
Ah.. Comparody. �Rofl
My kids are behind the hg/pg verbal and early reading milestones according to Dr. Ruf & other true internet forum stories. �But IMO they're PG and their pace of development is not out of line with that reality. ��

***He can't read stories. �It's more complicated than saying "my kid reads.". � This is how My presumably PG babies line up with the preferred milestones, FWIW. �** (sometimes he answers outloud when I'm reading something silently to myself, I don't think he stealth reading, I think he's semi-reading.)

This post is, as usual, too long. �Can I make it shorter somewhere? �Eh., Nope. �

I wanted to reply to your plumbing story. �I wanted to post on the "precocious week" thread that I don't get the cute sweet stories, I get these..."For the first time ever I bought one of them blue drop-in's for the toilet. �Ds watched me lift the lid off the tank and drop it in and close the lid. �He said, "is that water going to come out in there?". Yucky stories.

Here's my upcoming brags:
I coached him �through the how to draw steps from a book:








Signed,
Captain Obvious's Mom

I'll add our data to the pile:

DS8 is a Ruf Level 4, with IQ test scores above 99.9%ile

DD11 is a Ruf Level 3, but 2E with IQ test scores at 98%ile

I'm not sure on the Ruf levels. Dd12 in terms of milestones fits right in at level 4 but her achievement and IQ scores don't put her at DYS levels. She's more like a 99th or a little above kid with a few achievement areas that fall well above the 99th and one that falls more in the mid 90s.

Dd10 would likely be more all over the place on Ruf's levels. She was putting words together at 5.5 months, but in other areas would be in the level 1 or 2 area. She's my 2e one, though.

Absolutely!! I do that too, not as much anymore, once I realized DS could hear me. Unfortunately it just means I am quiet now, or I slip and say something inadvertently and then hate that look, I then gloss over it, keep talking!!

My favorite part about this place is that there is relatively little judgement either way - from those with over the top kids or not - about your kids level. People here might disagree about parenting but no one ever dismisses evaluations of the kids as being about something else. And I agree with so many of the posts about not fitting in on other sites. Although I also went through the OMG my kid isn't like that do I even
belong here, but what was awesome is that there is range here, my kid is not obviously mathy yet, but is very verbal, and is super sciency. You never hear about
that kind of giftedness anywhere else. I sometimes find myself questioning how bright is he, but i find that i usually do that when I am struggling with something else, or picking up something from DS, some mom radar ping and I start judging what I see, as if the LOG is at the root of it, and sometimes it is, like when he is advancing a level and needs different books but can't express it because he doesn't really realize it. Or when he is having social issues at school.

But at pre-k it's pretty clear to me how different he is, but I doubt anyone else beyond the director really gets how different he is. and that's when I wish this place wasn't so virtual.

DeHe

This is such a neat post as I was just trying to compose my feelings about my kiddos. My eldest DD13, through multiple testing, has verbal scores that are one point below DYS criteria with ceilings in all subsets that fed that score. Her other scores were all over the place with a large spread. Her SAT score did not make the DYS criteria although close enough that we are going to try again. I am desperate for a real live human to discuss things with. I do not know what one calls that. I called DYS in regards to her IQ score and due to the ceilings in all subsets they are willing to review it in context. She has been functioning since 4th grade at about three years ahead of grade. So she is in Geometry in 7th and one of the top students in the class etc. My little one DD2.6 surprised us with knowing her alphabet both upper case and lower case at 20 months along with her numbers. She also figured out a few words on her own at that time. However, I have played with her in regards to reading and so I can not say that she is a self taught reader. We do not have flash cards or anything but she LOVES starfall. She is also obsessed with numbers. She has been playing with the land phone so I taught her how to dial mine and her Dad's cell phone number which she now does completely on her own. I see her between a high RUF 2 and low RUF 4. I struggle because so often there is this self-taught reader that defines the higher levels.... She reads by memory and even though she knows all the sounds of the letters she does not read by sounding out but rather full word recognition. I'd love to know what people think on that and how much is denial and how much is hot housing... not on purpose of course just in context of playing. Ohhh she can type her name and sends text of simple sentences such as Hi Mom. She can type her sisters name to. I am a bit like Latexican never short winded although the little cries so thats all...