When It Comes To Advocacy, Every Little Helps!

In Ireland, we have very little by way of support or recognition for gifted children. In 2009, even our national advocacy body, the IAGC, fell apart. So, in 2011, Karen, Peter Lydon and I decided to try again using a different approach. Karen and I had already set up a local support group (GAS) and we felt that expanding this model into a network of similar groups would be a way forward, so we established Gifted and Talented Network Ireland. We use this blog as a means of spreading the word and providing a source of information relevant to Irish teachers and parents. Most of the material produced on giftedness comes from countries where the field is far more advanced that in Ireland, but sometimes it can seem a little "foreign" to us and our system. (And, quite frankly, extremely depressing at times when we see what can be done!)

Now, I am not someone who usually does things by half-measures. I felt under enormous pressure to hold regular support group meetings, write regular blogposts and turn up at every Twitter chat. It became all-consuming and I felt guilty when I failed to reach my self-imposed standards of perfection. I also began to feel frustrated by the lack of similar enthusiasm from others when people didn't turn up to meetings or chats. Then, earlier this year, I had an epiphany:

I have two teenaged children, a medical career and my personal sanity to attend to. I cannot be a professional or full-time advocate. It has taken me a long time, but I have finally realised that I don't have to be. I have made a difference and I will continue to plug away, but if I miss a few Twitter chats or don't post on my blog for weeks on end, I am not a failure and I don't need to beat myself up about it. This realisation has been such a release! But, it also strikes me that many people are probably like me and hesitate to take the first step because they feel they won't be able to do the job properly. With the perfectionist tendencies that many of us have, putting ourselves out there as advocates can be a little daunting.

So, my message for International Week of the Gifted 2012, is relax and go for it. It doesn't matter how much you do or how often. Whatever little you do, it will be more than is being done without you. Once you take that first step, others will join you and together we really can make a difference. As a certain well-known chain says: Every Little Helps! 

Gifted Get Together

Sunday 15th July

3pm

Room CG20, Henry Grattan Building

DCU

Next Sunday, families from all over the country will be arriving at Dublin City University for the beginning of CTYI Session 2 and CAT. This is an ideal opportunity for parents to meet up and CTYI has very kindly facilitated us by booking room CG20 for us. This is in the building directly behind the registration area, so will be easy to find.

Map of DCU campus

Giftedness and Learning Disabilities

Giftedness and Learning Disabilities: 

Unearthing the Missed Diagnosis

Presented by Paul Beljan, PsyD, ABPdN 

15th March 2012

7.30pm Eastern/11.30pm GMT

Cost: $40 

In this SENGinar, teachers, parents, and counselors will learn how to correctly diagnosis learning disabilities in gifted and talented children.  

Characteristics of gifted and talented children can result in incorrect diagnoses, such as overlooking learning disabilities.Learning disabilities can take the form of academics (reading and math) or innate abilities in general learning that may relate to social learning.

In this SENGinar, Dr. Paul Beljan will review some of the basic tenants of giftedness that include intellect and asynchronous development. He will then turn to the nuts and bolts of learning disabilities: what they look like, how to assess them, and what to do about them in the contexts of the gifted population. The "discrepancy model" of learning disability will be dispelled in favor of understanding the brain basis of learning disabilities. Dr. Beljan will present several anecdotes and case examples to illustrate the process of learning disabilities.

Sign Up Now!    NOTE: Register now and you will receive a link to the recording of this SENGinar the week following the live event.

About Paul Beljan, PsyD, ABPdN Dr. Paul Beljan is a past president of the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology. He holds child and adult diplomate qualifications with the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology and the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology. Dr. Beljan co-wrote Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults, and has authored several chapters and articles in various publications. Dr. Beljan currently is working on his post doctoral master's degree in psychopharmachology. Dr. Beljan's professional focus is on Alcohol/Drug Related Neurodevelopmental Deficit (A/DRND), Gifted Intelligence, Learning Disorders, Traumatic Brain Injury, Trauma, and non-medication-based Attention and Executive Functioning Deficit interventions.

About SENG Webinars

For more information, contact Patricia Petrillo. This webinar is provided by SENG, www.SENGifted.org. SENG is committed to sharing complex issues relating to the social and emotional needs of giftedness. SENGinars reflect the opinions of their speakers and do not necessarily represent SENG's philosophy. SENG invites your comments and discussion about this webinar following the session.

Common Endogenous Characteristics of Gifted Students

To celebrate the final day of Gifted Education Awareness Week, we are honoured to share an article written specially by Dr Tracy L Cross, the Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Psychology and Gifted Education and the Executive Director of the Center for Gifted Education at The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.

Common Endogenous Characteristics Among Students with Gifts and Talents

I have been asked to share some ideas about the social and emotional needs of students with gifts and talents (SWGT).  To that end, I will describe five examples of endogenous characteristics.  Endogenous means “about the person,” so these are characteristics about gifted children that I think are more common among SWGT than their peers of average abilities. I am not claiming that they are present for every gifted student, only that from my experience overseeing a residential high school for intellectually gifted students for nine years, my research and familiarity with the research literature, I believe that this list is supportable. The five are: asynchronous development, overexcitabilities, multipotentiality, excessive self-criticism, and perfectionism.

Asynchronous development results when there is a difference between two areas of development.  For example, among SWGT there is often considerable difference between a child’s intellectual development (e.g., IQ scores) and level of development in the social and/or emotional areas.  This gap can be quite difficult for the child.  We often see SWGT whose intellectual capacity allows them to converse with much older people, but they still may behave as children of their chronological age.  School personnel are often perplexed by these situations.  Some consider asynchronous development an actual definition of giftedness.

The Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD) was created by a Polish psychiatrist and psychologist named Kazimierz Dabrowski. TPD posits the necessity for anxiety and tension to exist for positive growth to occur. An important part of the TPD is what Dabrowski called overexcitabilities, or heightened sensitivities. The theory has created a significant following among gifted educators, as it provides a good mechanism to consider the development of SWGT, to understand them and their needs.  In this theory, there are five areas of heightened sensitivities Dabrowski believed were more common among SWGT: intellectual, sensual, imaginational, psychomotor, and imaginational. The theory is very complicated and detailed, so I encourage you to read about it to gain a fuller understanding of it.  I found it particularly helpful when I worked as the executive director of a residential high school for intellectually gifted students.  I got to know many of the students and found that this theory could easily be mapped on to approximately 70% of them. It became a practical window into how they functioned and allowed me avenues through which to communicate.

Multipotentiality is just what it sounds like.  It is common for SWGT to also be especially good at, have great passion for, and/or be extremely interested in more than one area.  In general, this is a good thing for their future well-being, in that its can enhance agency and self- confidence.  However, when these areas cut across societal conventions and stereotypes, quite often stress is raised and limitations applied.  For example, when female SWGT approach college and are good at both physics and music, they will often be encouraged to pursue the field that more closely represents society’s stereotypes.  In addition to maintaining the stereotypes along gender lines, it also can cause considerable stress among the SWGT.  Being supportive of these students’ passion areas is very important to their mental health. Moreover, it can be confusing to them when no clear direction appears as it may for others.

Excessive self-criticism is a less well-known common aspect to SWGT.  Being self-aware and even critical at times are healthy aspects to growing as an individual.  Being excessively self-critical can be debilitating to young (and older) SWGT.  The good news is that it seems that excessive self-criticism is learned.  This makes it similar to most phobias.  Therapists are exceedingly successful at eradicating phobias, because what is learned can be unlearned.  Excessive self-criticism is the same.  With proper counseling, SWGT who struggle with this can successfully work through it with professional help.

The best-known and most misunderstood common characteristic has been left for last.  Perfectionism among SWGT is fairly common. I believe more common than the general population, but clearly not an issue for all SWGT. In the early days many thought it to be a pathological need for flawless performance.  In the past 20 years, considerable research has been conducted that better informs us about nuances of perfectionism.  It was originally thought to be unidimensional and always debilitating.  More recently we have learned that there are multiple types of perfectionism and that many, many SWGT function quite well as perfectionists.  This is exciting work and as it increases its sophistication, our ability to better understand it and treat it, as need be, improves.

For further reading, I suggest going to HoagiesGifted.org.  This website provides hundreds of publications about SWGT, including many on social and emotional issues.  The articles are free and provide a good foundation on many topics.  From there, I encourage you to contact me if I can be helpful to you.  My email is tlcross@wm.edu.

Gifted Education Awareness Week Day 2

This flyer and leaflet were emailed out to all schools in Ireland today, for the attention of the Special Education Needs Coordinators, with the hope that they will be passed on to all interested staff and printed off for display on the staffroom noticeboard.

Gifted Education Awareness Week 2012 leaflet

Gifted Education Awareness Week 2012

Gifted Education Awareness Week 2012 (GEAW2012) kicks off today. 

The first event is a chat on Twitter at 8.30pm. Irish teachers who use twitter have been getting together every Monday evening at this time for  quite some time now to discuss all sorts of topics relevant to Irish education. We are very grateful to the host, Fred Boss of the National Council for Education in Technology (NCTE), for kindly devoting this week's topic to GEAW. 

Having watched some of these chats over the past few months, we have been so impressed by teachers enthusiasm and willingness to share and learn from each other. We are really looking forward to engaging with them as we discuss "Meeting the Needs of Gifted Children Inside and Outside the Classroom". If you would like to watch or join in, take a look at our Twitter Guide. It's a little out of date, but you'll get the idea. Otherwise, we'll post the transcript after the event.

Transcript of #edchatie

World's First Virtual Global Anti-Bullying March

The Big March 2012

Bullying is not a topic specific to giftedness, but it is one close to our hearts. Beatbullying is a UK anti-bullying charity and we are delighted to join them on the first virtual global march for children's right to be safe:  The Big March 2012.

On 1st March 2012, thousands of virtual marchers will cross the websites of the world biggest brands. Beatbullying is calling on individuals, celebrities, politicians, charities, businesses and communities to take part in the march which will culminate with the delivery of a petition to the United Nations Building in new York, asking the UN to explicitly enshrine "bullying" in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 

"The right of every child to be safe from bullying, violence and the fear of violence by their peers as well as abuse by adults".

This will help to protect children all over the world from the pain and distress of bullying and harassment. If successful, it will be the first time that the Convention has been updated in over 10 years.

Governments and world leaders who have ratified the Convention are bound to it by international law and are therefore obliged to introduce and implement measures and legislation which serve to protect children. The addition of 'bullying' to the UNCRC will give weight and legitimacy to the demands of children, families, schools, and communities who want to build a world where bullying is unacceptable.

Any individual or group can sign up to participate by visiting Big March 2012 where you can register, create an avatar for yourself and sign the petition. If you have a blog, website, or facebook account, you can download material from the toolkit to add to your site.

NB: The 31st January is mentioned in several places as the date of the march. This has been changed and the 1st March is the big day.

ADHD, Gifted or Both?

SENG Embarks on International Campaign to Educate Pediatricians

About Possible Misdiagnosis of ADHD in Gifted Children

Intellectually gifted children whose needs are neglected or misunderstood may exhibit traits and behaviors that resemble those of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and be wrongly diagnosed, possibly resulting in unnecessary medication and unintended harm, according to the international nonprofit organization Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted(SENG). SENG is developing a public awareness effort to alert the pediatric healthcare community to the potential for misdiagnosis. Giftedness education is currently not a standard teaching component in medical schools and is addressed infrequently in the pediatric medical literature.

SENG recently sent a letter of concern to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in response to the AAP's new guideline discussed in "ADHD: Clinical Practice Guideline for the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity in Children and Adolescents" (Pediatrics, 2011, Vol 128 [5], November, pp. 1-17.). The new AAP-directed guideline extends the range of ADHD diagnosis from ages 6-12 to ages 4-18, and fails to include the critical possibility that a child's intellectual giftedness may contribute to symptoms similar to ADHD. Thus, precocious preschoolers may be at even greater risk for misdiagnosis.

"There is a reasonable amount of professional literature supporting the need for physicians to consider intellectual giftedness...However, the ADHD rating scales have not yet incorporated this consideration into their manuals, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) only mentions it in passing. Our opinion is that a substantial number of intellectually gifted children are being incorrectly diagnosed as having ADHD," according to a letter from SENG leaders James T. Webb, Ph.D., ABPP-Cl; Marianne Kuzujanakis, M.D., M.P.H.; and Rosina M. Gallagher, Ph.D., NCSP.

In response to SENG's letter, the AAP indicated that it will share the information with its committees reviewing the issue, consider the feedback in its next revision of the ADHD guidelines, publish an article on the topic in its newsmagazine, and propose a session on gifted children at its national conference.

James T. Webb, who also co-authored the book Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults and is highly published in the gifted field, believes that while ADHD can and does occur in gifted children, many traits and behaviors characteristic of giftedness are frequently misinterpreted as ADHD, particularly in the very young.

"Some of these traits include being strong-willed, impulsive, impatient with the relative slowness of others, and having the tendency towards heightened sensitivity, perfectionism, and intense focus on personal interests and experiences," Webb says.

"As pediatric healthcare providers become better informed on giftedness issues, they better understand the value of correctly identifying giftedness in their patient population, and are better able to make recommendations to meet their needs via strength-based planning and educational strategies prior to traditional behavioral and medical interventions," he adds.

SENG leaders finally propose that future editions of diagnostic manuals (DSM and ICD) provide specific codes for giftedness in the medical record, and recommend that pediatric clinicians routinely consider giftedness in all developmental assessments, particularly when diagnosing ADHD and relevant behavioral and mental conditions.

About SENG

Founded in 1981, SENG is an organization that empowers families and communities to guide gifted and talented individuals to reach their goals: intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. With more than 12,000 subscribers to its newsletter, and a board of globally respected authorities on gifted education, SENG offers online resources, shares research, and provides webinars for parents, educators, and healthcare professionals. Its 2012 national conference will be held July 13-14, 2012 in Milwaukee, Wis. For more information, see www.SENGifted.org.

Additional resources

Prof Tracy Cross to Speak at DCU on 10th December

Social and Emotional Issues in Relation to Gifted Children

Guest Lecture by

Professor Tracy Cross

Professor of Psychology and Gifted Education

College of William and Mary, Virginia, USA

Saturday 10th December

Room CG12

Henry Grattan Building
Dublin City University

10.30am and 2pm

It’s not often that we in Ireland have the opportunity to hear in person, one of the world’s experts in gifted education. Professor Cross has written many books on the subject and is, not only an expert in the field, but a very entertaining speaker. CTYI welcome anyone to come along on Saturday but ask that you email Lynne Mooney at lynne.mooney@dcu.ie to confirm a place.
Directions and Map of DCU campus

Dazzled and I will be there for the 2pm session and are happy to chat to any parents and teachers afterwards. So, be sure and say hello!

The Junior Cert Reform Glass is Half-Full!

The current Junior Certificate was introduced in 1989 with the first exams in 1992. It replaced the Intermediate Certificate and was heralded as being a much more modern qualification. In the interim it has become a content-heavy “Leaving Cert Lite” with parents, students and teachers alike extolling its virtues as being “good practise for the points race”. Reform is therefore welcome and overdue if we are to address issues of curriculum overload, rote-learning and outdated ways of assessment in our education system.

Many of the proposals in our submission to the NCCA review have found a place in the final plan and we are pleasantly surprised at some of the elements proposed. From a “gifted” perspective there is much to be applauded and welcomed. Children learn in so many different ways and this document recognises that all children should get the opportunity to show what they can do within the exam system and outside of it. Of particular interest are the short courses which give students welcome scope to follow their talents and strengths. Many children already take part in activities both in and outside school from sports to music to computers to theatre. Lots of them shine in this their chosen environment. It is a very positive thing that their commitment to participation in a wide range of activities can be recognised and rewarded.

The new system may have much to commend it, but it also raises many questions. How will teachers respond? Will they think it will merely increases their workload? How will they feel about assessing their own students, long a hot-button issue for the teachers unions? Will some subjects fade into obscurity if they are not examination subjects? What implication does the new Junior Cycle have for Transition Year? What will happen to the Leaving Cert if students are examined differently for Junior Cert? Will it have the desired effect on Literacy and Numeracy, and the infamous Pisa study? And the biggest one of all; is this merely a dumbing down, no child gets ahead, minimum achievement proposition?

The jury is out for now, it will probably take a few years to see the results, but I believe that good schools have nothing to fear from the changes. It will finally show parents what the “league tables” don’t. Schools have been telling us for years that a fairer way to judge the education provided by individual schools would be to consider all activities, sports, co-curricular, learning support measures and exemplary school leadership in addition to academics. This is an opportunity to show us exactly that. It will tell us which schools have strong effective leadership. It will separate good teachers from poor ones. It will show us how good school management produces real results. It will showcase innovative, inclusive and imaginative schools. It will identify those schools which genuinely support all types of learners, including those with difficulties and those who are boxed in by the current exam system.

There was a recent article in The Irish Times about a school in County Limerick which in the space of a few years turned itself around from being on the brink of closure to being one of the most desired schools in the locality. It did this through innovative leadership and a strong vision of what they wanted to achieve. This school should be the inspiration for all schools and teachers who look on this new Junior Cert as a negative development. Coláiste Chiaráin was at rock-bottom and used the same resources available to every other school to create a learning environment second to none. They didn’t see the glass as half-empty, they looked to fill it to the brim. I’m guessing they won’t see the new Junior Cert as anything other than an opportunity. I hope other schools can do likewise.

The responses so far have been mixed, but a central theme has been funding. Some teachers of my acquaintance want to know where the money for their training will come from. They say that without huge investment this will never work. I am starting to wonder if that's a prediction or a threat. We have had enough negativity in Ireland in the last few years. It is time to change the way we view the challenges ahead. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, looking for flaws in every new development with our typical Irish Peig Sayers-like keening why don’t we seek out the positives and make them work? The can-do approach which is the hallmark of the most admired entrepreneurs and innovators in Ireland and throughout the world should be to the forefront of our minds as we head into this new Junior Cycle. Enough complaining, let's get on with ensuring that our children have a first-class learning experience. My glass is half-full, how is yours looking?