Image Jo Freitag
The Hoagies’ Gifted Blog Hop for October 2015 looks at How and When to Ask For Help
www.HoagiesGifted.org/blog_hop_asking_for_help.htm
Who can help gifted and 2E students and how and when should we seek help?
From school administrators, teachers and coaches, mentors and leaders? From counsellors or therapists? From state &/or federal government? From humankind? From the Universe? From family and friends and other members of the gifted community? Who helps or has helped you and how? How did you seek them or reach them or find them? What difference did it make?
To address these questions we have assembled a panel of experts from Sprite’s Site.
Paula, the Physicist, will answer questions about the role of a mentor.
Dr. Ed Needs, the Education Consultant, will be joining the session via Skype.
Columbus Cheetah will speak about the myths surrounding gifted and 2E students.
The Psych-Owl-Ogist will address issues relating to identification and testing and social/emotional issues.
Twitter Bird Retweet, mother of gifted tweetlets, will speak about the support available from Parent Support Groups.
A representative from the government was invited but sent a note of apology and referred the audience to their website.
Intellectual Dabrowski was not one of the invited experts but offered to share his extensive knowledge.
The format will be Question and Answer to preselected questions.
At the end of the session the audience will have an opportunity to ask their questions in the Comments section at the end of this post.
Question 1: How can you identify gifted students and where can you go for testing?
Psych-Owl-Ogist: There are checklists which can be completed by teachers and parents and various other ways of recording observations which can help to identify gifted students.
However if you need an I.Q. test administered you need to find a psychologist or education consultant who is qualified and registered to administer the test. And it is important to choose a person who specialises in working with gifted people.
The main tests are the Stanford Binet and the WISC. For articles and discussions about the comparisons between these and other tests see http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/identification.htm
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/testing.htm
Dr Ed Needs: Some education consultants are also qualified and registered to administer these tests as well as academic achievement level testing. They can also give testing to show areas of strength/weakness and detect possible learning difficulties and give the necessary recommendations, therapy and support.
Intellectual Dabrowski: If you are looking for psychologists and education consultants in Australia who have a special interest in giftedness see Gifted Resources list at http://www.giftedresources.org/gr/psychedcons.htm
Question 2 (To Retweet): Where have you found helpful advice for raising your gifted tweetlets?
Retweet: The Psych-Owl-Ogist tested the tweetlets and gave us helpful advice about social emotional issues. And he helped us work through decisions about our parenting.
I have also found that joining a parent support group for parents of gifted tweetlets has been helpful because I am able to discuss things with those parents which most of my friends and even some of the members of our extended family do not understand.
Since we decided to continue NEST Ed rather than sending the tweetlets to fly with the local flock we have found much helpful information from Gifted Homeschoolers Forum
and from the local NEST Ed group.
Intellectual Dabrowski: For more information about Parenting and Parent Groups see
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/parenting.htm
http://giftedparentingsupport.blogspot.com.au/
Question 3: I have been told that acceleration is harmful for gifted students. What does the panel think about this?
Columbus Cheetah: I will answer that question. It is one of the myths about giftedness that acceleration is harmful for gifted students. I discuss this and other myths about giftedness on Gifted Resources website at http://www.giftedresources.org/gr/columbuscheetah.htm
Intellectual Dabrowski: For more information about Acceleration and the Iowa Acceleration Scales see http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/acceleration.htm
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/blog_hop_acceleration.htm
Question 4 (To Paula): Paula, you are a Physicist and a Mentor for Sprite. How are you able to assist Sprite in your role as mentor?
Paula: Like Sprite I am twice exceptional. I have overcome the same learning difficulties that Sprite has and have earned tertiary degrees. I also share a love of astronomy with Sprite. So I am able to relate to her and understand her areas of interest and the struggles she has. Often I can offer advice from my own experience. Also I am a person who is not her parent or teacher so sometimes she finds it easier to confide in me.
As a 2E student Sprite sometimes needs special provisions, accommodations or concessions but is often embarrassed by the need to ask for help.
I know that Sprite finds it difficult to ask for help and I am encouraging her to ask for and accept the help she needs. I am also trying to help her overcome the negative effects of perfectionism while retaining the positive aspects of it
Intellectual Dabrowski: More information about mentors http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/mentors.htm
Question 5 (To all panel members): Do you have a role as an advocate to help the gifted?
Paula: Whenever you speak up to increase awareness or explain issues you are acting as an advocate. Sometimes I speak to groups such as this about the characteristics and social emotional issues associated with gifted and 2E students and my role as a mentor.
Dr Ed Needs: I advocate for gifted and 2E students by giving recommendations for the educational provisions they need. Sometimes this involves being present as an advocate for the student during parent/teacher meetings. I also speak at conferences and write articles which are widely distributed.
One of the most important ways I act as an advocate is by giving parents and guardians the information, support and encouragement they need to advocate for their children.
And I also encourage the students to advocate for themselves and request the provisions they need in a respectful manner.
Columbus Cheetah: I act as a Myth Buster and as an advocate for acceleration, appropriate education in terms of pace, level, depth and breadth and for time spent with true peers rather than age peers.
Psych-Owl-Ogist: My advocacy is very similar in form to that of my esteemed colleague Dr Ed Needs.
Retweet: I allow my story to be told in the hope that it will help others who are in the same situation as me.
Intellectual Dabrowski: For more information about advocacy read
https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/advocacy-just-ask-sprite-and-co/
https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/advocacy/
https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/advocacy-2/
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/blog_hop_gifted_advocacy.htm
This is a post for the Hoagies’ Gifted Blog Hop for October 2015 How and When to Ask For Help.
To read more about this topic please visit
www.HoagiesGifted.org/blog_hop_asking_for_help.htm
Sprite's Site 