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How Can I Be Gifted If I Did Not Excel In School? And Other Conundrums Surrounding The G Word
Not all gifted kids are high achievers in school. Not all gifted kids score well on tests. There are many reasons: So, yes, you can be gifted and do poorly in school. You can be gifted and not perform well on tests. You can be gifted but incorrectly assume you are just a lazy, indecisive,…
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Working with Parents of Gifted Children and Schools–A Quick Guide for Therapists and Coaches (and Parents, Too)
The following are excerpts from my article just published in psychotherapy.net, an online journal for psychotherapists, on ways to help gifted children and their parents navigate the school system. For the full article click here. Introduction Jimmy is seven. He started reading on his own when he was 4 and is now devouring the Harry Potter books.…
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Fourteen Tips For Parents of Gifted Children
Four of the top concerns I hear repeatedly from parents of gifted children are: finding appropriate schooling options, making friends/building relationships, managing intense emotions and sensitivities, and perfectionism. Here are my recommendations: 1. Look for the teachers who are more sensitive, flexible, smart, and creative. Ideally, they have some training in gifted education. But even…
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How I Ignored My Impostor Syndrome to Create a Career Working with Smart People
I had no idea what I was getting into. When I graduated from college, I was excited to start my dream job as a sixth grade teacher in a middle school. I was young, eager, and awkward and determined to bring all of the innovative ideas of the late ’70s into my classroom. And I…
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If You Were Gifted, Wouldn’t You Be An Arrogant Know-It-All With Two PHDs in Astrophysics?
Maybe. Maybe not. Click here to watch me pontificating (briefly) on the subject. In case you do not want to watch me pontificate and you would rather read a more detailed version of my pontification, here ya go: I have met a whole lot of gifted folks in my somewhat quirkified life. I realize this…
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A Gifted Woman From India
Anu did not think she was smart. She did not excel in mathematics. In India, where she grew up, the gifted ones were the math stars. If you loved music, art, theatre, and literature, like Anu did, you were not considered particularly intelligent, much less gifted. If you were restless, highly imaginative, sensitive, and curious,…
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A Gifted Teen In Malaysia — What Is Normal?
I am on a quest to see what rainforest-mindedness looks like around the world. So far, we’ve “visited” Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Finland. Today, we are in Malaysia. Meet Mila*, who is Muslim and 18. “..I was too sensitive, too easy to cry, too easy to fall sick, and an unstoppable chatterbox…I struggled a lot…
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Exceptional and Profound Giftedness In Adults — What Does It Look Like? Why Should We Care?
Diya, 35, was struggling with anxiety, career decisions, graduate school, and loneliness. She left a prestigious professional school in the final year because it was too rigid and restrictive. Professors and other students ridiculed her and left her feeling embarrassed, particularly when she asked penetrating questions. At times she felt compelled not to ask questions…
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Why Care About Gifted Children?
Talking about giftedness is tricky. It can sound like discrimination or elitism. And it is discrimination when kids of color are ignored and excluded from gifted programs in schools, which, sadly, they still are in many places. In my mind, it is a no-brainer to understand that giftedness comes in all races, religions, cultures, and…
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SUPPORT FOR THE EXCESSIVELY CURIOUS, CREATIVE, SMART & SENSITIVE
