Gifted Homeschoolers Forum

Definitions

Gifted — a category also often called "gifted and talented" (GT) or "high potential." Research tells us that parents are the best identifiers of gifted children. If you are not sure if your child is gifted, try some of these resources:

There are many commonly used definitions, but GHF recommends taking a more holistic view of the child, rather than singling out a number (as in IQ) or particular achievement.

As seen in 2e Newsletter: "'Gifted' first appeared in the English language around 1644, says the Oxford English Dictionary. It means 'endowed with gifts' or 'talented.' A later usage noted in the dictionary is from 1875 in Jowett's translation of Plato: 'The most gifted minds, when they are ill-educated, become the worst.'"

Dabrowski's Overexcitabilities (OEs) — Kazimierz Dabrowski, (1902-1980), a Polish psychiatrist and psychologist, developed the Theory of Positive Disintegration as a framework for understanding the intensities of the gifted. While not all gifted individuals have OEs, many do, and while many are manifested in hypersensitivity of various sorts, hyposensitivity is not uncommon. The five categories of OEs are Psychomotor, Intellectual, Sensual, Emotional and Imaginational. Learn more about by reading Sharon Lind's article on Overexcitabilities and the Gifted.

Twice Exceptional (2e) — Most gifted children are developmentally asynchronous, but when the unevenness in their abilities is significant a child is considered "twice exceptional." This means the child is both gifted and has identified learning differences, such as ADD/ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, auditory and visual processing disorders, or other emotional or mental disorders. They may have OEs (see above) that are sufficiently intense as to create obstacles for them in living and learning. Often, children who are twice exceptional are misdiagnosed or one of their diagnoses is overlooked by the adults around them. Some common indicators of potential unidentified twice exceptionality are frustration on the part of the child, and underachievement. Many 2e children are identified by a wide spread in intelligence assessment subtest scores. See also Corin Barsily Goodwin's article, "Gifted Children with Learning Challenges (Twice Exceptional)", Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide's Neurolearning.com, and Misdiagnosis And Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children And Adults: ADHD, Bipolar, OCD, Asperger's, Depression, And Other Disorders, by James T. Webb, et al. More resources are available on the GHF Resources: 2e page.

Executive Function — A set of high-level cognitive abilities that control and regulate other abilities and behaviors, such as memory, attention and motor skills. There's a very good explanation on the Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders site.

Other acronyms — For explanations of many acronyms used in gifted and special education, see Hoagies' Gifted: Acronyms, terms & other stuff we need to know.

Definitions

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