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Article: Gifted children are frequently misunderstood

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goldfish21
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01 Feb 2015, 3:33 pm

It can't be just me who thinks this entire article reads like a description of very high IQ Autistic kids.. every detail describing their behavioural & sensory traits read like textbook descriptions of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

http://calgaryherald.com/life/swerve/gi ... understood


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Tollorin
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01 Feb 2015, 5:56 pm

There is a lot of similarity between giftedness and asperger, but there is also some difference. Gifted individuals that are non-autistic don't have difficulties to "read mind" and to understand social niceties and rules; they are even very good at it. They are also less likely that aspies and autistics to have motor difficulties.
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10167.aspx
Of course to complicate things someone can be both autistic and gifted, and autism even seem widespread among the gifted populations and families.



Tawaki
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01 Feb 2015, 7:34 pm

My friend is a G&T teacher. This whole article sounds like a ASD kid who was not diagnosed. He was G&T, but also had ASD.

About 1/4 of her class is twice gifted. ASD, ADHD, ODD, and other impairments. At her school, the IQ test trumps the other two tests that also gets administered, since so many parents want G&T for their kids, they tutor them before taking the test.

Being ASD does not always equal gifted, and being gifted doesn't mean you can't connect to the human race.

The hardest thing my friend has to do is tell a parent who kid is ASD or ADHD...their child is not gifted. These are parents who do not want their kids in special ed, and think because the child has a really intense special interest, that somehow the kid is gifted. They want them out of the regular class room, and not in special ed and no IEP. She totally gets not wanting to label the child, and her class is modified somewhat, but not to the degree an EPI would have it. (The parents want to by pass all testing and want the kid to go straight to GATE. Doesn't happen in her school district).

I think the article was a little over the top. Feel horrible about the person in the article.