A Response to "All Children are Gifted" Comment

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I just read a reprint, giftedkids.about.com/od/gifted101/a/gifted_response.htm

of a speech delivered at the Indiana Association for the Gifted 1998 Annual Conference which addresses the above comment. (Note that the speech was 10 years ago!) It's a pretty long read but if you're up for it, I'd like to hear your comments on the speech and the points made. Here's one of MY favorite passages (since I'm an artist and a musician, it really "struck a chord"....hee heee!)

Rembrandt was gifted.

What would the young Rembrandt’s experience have been if he had entered a school in the United States this year? Of course, it depends what school, but Rembrandt might have found a school that used to have a gifted program but has since mainstreamed all the gifted kids back into heterogeneous classes in a county that used to have thirteen specialists working in gifted education but now only has one, who is also halftime coordinator of system-wide faculty development. He may have entered the same class entered by everyone else who is his chronological age and have been assigned the same textbook exercises that everyone in the class was assigned, and if his extraordinary abilities were recognized, he might have been instructed to work in a cooperative group where he would have tutored other students.

......If young Mozart went to Rembrandt’s school as a second grader, having just completed writing his first concerto, would they let him take music? Or would they schedule him into some other "enrichment" class because all second graders "get" that class?

And if he did get put into a music class, would he have to fill out the big-print worksheets on the names of the notes because it wouldn’t be fair for anyone to be treated special? Would Mozart have to sit in a circle and call out the names of the notes with his group? Would that be fair to Mozart?

Fairness.

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Parent Replies to "A Response to "All Children are Gifted" Comment"

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I had to laugh when you suggest that perhaps your parental involvement was key to your perceived luck with gifted education. My children were both able to access full time gifted programs beginning in Kinder-
garten. The availability of programming is only part of the battle. The second part comes when you seek appropriate instruction. As for my parental involvement, I have had an average of probably three to four meetings per year per child and they a re now in grades 7 and 9. I have been asked to speak on gifted issues to a House Committee. I have offered free parent advocacy training sessions, compiled data, and started a parent emailing list. I have spoken at board meetings, sat in legislator's offices to discuss gifted issues, and served as one of three parents on our state's first Gifted Advisory Committee. In three weeks, I will meet with a high state official regarding
gifted issues. Sadly, and willing to take the attack resulting from my next comment, I find the parents of the gifted extremely poor judges of their child's programming. Far too often, they are content with unequal opportunities to learn. I can guess that they are deceived by report cards showing good grades, not wondering if these grades reflect new content. Then they get good standardized test scores and find them as indications of good programming rather than wonder if these scores could have been obtained on day one of school or even years earlier. It depends on what you want for your child and I demand that my children are as deserving of learning something new each day as any other child. Certainly you would note he unfriendliness of your post if you were better informed about the plight of the gifted in a country
focused on closing an achievement gap. Google some of the references I provided and you will see how contentment may be misplaced. I can take care of my children as I am knowledgeable about advocacy but I keep in the battle for uninformed parents who accept slipshod programming and mistake it for a reason to celebrate. Your words were actually harmful but perhaps that was not your intent.

Magnet Mom,

I think you are very fortunate to have had your children in gifted classes throughout their education. My son is only now (5th grade) in a gifted, self-contained classroom. It's a long, personal story which I won't elaborate on in this forum ( you can write to me privately if you're truly interested), but to make that long story short, in Phoenix the self contained classes are mininmal, have waiting lists and often, as is our case, outside our district so we have to drive far for this "privilege". Not exactly silk pillows, tea and biscuits. I don't intend on moving to LA since I am a full time professor here and I also happen to like Phoenix better than Los Angeles. So, just please keep in mind that when we respond to your statements, at least for myself, I am trying to point out that situations vary from place to place. I have to agree with Andy, your comments come off as unfriendly. Especially the behavior comments. I have never attributed any behavior issues my son has on "giftedness". Indeed, the pysch doc who tested him in first grade wanted to blame everything on ADHD and didn't even speak to his giftedness, even though he assessed him as so. His solution was Ritalin. We now know that our son was misdiagnosed and our thankful we did not go the medication route. And it has been teachers and aids who have commented more about his intelligence then we as parents have. So, please remember not to paint a picture about gifted children with such a wide brush.

andyhanfmann,

I'm hardly gifted unfriendly as my son was able to attend gifted schools for years, starting in an entirely gifted elementary magnet, a gifted magnet within a larger middle school, and by high school opted out of the highly gifted high school (which oddly seemed like an AP mill--the opposite of where we wanted his education to go). He took courses the school offered at the high school and then took courses at the community college (California offers those free to high school students). For my daughter, she will be addressed in a combination of in-school and at home, because that's what I feel will work best for her. I already see another thread where that would not work for another family, so to each their own.

Being in the second largest school district in the country has its disadvantages (far too many to mention) but it does have some ability to handle gifted kids with gifted magnets. I've, too, been told there's virtually no money for programs, but the kids are tested, and they do get grouped at some point (I believe third grade).

Coming from two gifted parents, my two gifted kids do/did far more than occupy seats. They are role models and mentors to gifted and other children. And now, my son helps adults in college.

I haven't read the books you have because I haven't had the problems you've had. I'd hate to say move to Los Angeles, because you might find others facing the same issues as you do/did, but I'm very active in my kids' education, and thrilled with where they are going.

Magnet Mom,
I held off on replying to your portrayal of gifted children and families because I doubted I could address it tactfully. Amazingly and in contrast to the broader experience of gifted children, you must be fortunate to have a program so willing to go above and beyond the call of duty for children esily grade proficient. Genius Denied, Losing Our Minds, A Nation Deceived, Failing Our Geniuses, and HIgh Achievers in an Era of NCLB would serve as reasons to suspect this overriding willingness to address the social and academic needs of the gifted where you live. Lack of gifted education
in many states, zero dollars recommended by GW Bush for these kids, and the neglect of this student population are additional reasons one in your shoes might have great joy rather than portray an attitude that seeking a gifted child's academic and social needs
be addressed with as much importance as any other student group is akin to demanding one's child be carried on a velvet pillow. Actually, I demand my child LEARN in a place called school rather than occupy desk space. WHAT makes it the fault of the gifted child if many parents desire their child be gifted, rightly or wrongly, as they feel it may give them a bright future? Are you of the impression that the child is behind such actions? What makes you so gifted unfriendly? This student group has more than enough anchors against it.

sforsmo,

I really didn't mean disrespect to gifted kids or their parents. But in a regular kindergarten class of 30, it would be hard to believe 20+ were gifted--yet all were requesting special recommendation to the gifted school. And some parents out here, will excuse away poor behavior and a multitude of sins with "he's *gifted*" as if that's some magical excuse for virtually anything--so that's what I mean about expecting to be carried around on silk pillows.

I've been doing this for a long time, and have successfully shipped one off to college at this point, with a very long road ahead for my little one who's only 7. She's gifted, but we opted to keep her with her friends, and augment at home, and she's happy about the arrangement, and far more gifted than her brother at the same point in time.

I put up with far too much homework for my older one for far too long without speaking up, so when moving my daughter becomes the issue (for junior high), I'll know more of what to look for and question more than I did for my son. Unfortunately he was the learning curve. I've apologized, and he knows what to look for when he he eventually has kids, so the lessons learned weren't entirely wasted.

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