Is Your Child Gifted? Some Answers for Jacksonville Moms

There are many educational issues that impact Jacksonville moms. Potentially, one of these issues is in having a gifted or twice exceptional child. Giftedness is typically tested through an IQ test, but there are other kinds of giftedness, too, like musical and artistic giftedness, and leadership giftedness. I help families with intellectual giftedness issues. If you suspect that your child is out of sync with her classmates and curriculum and this is causing stress, boredom, and other issues, then perhaps you should seek IQ testing. This might help:

Possible reasons to pursue testing:

• The child reads or does math a couple of grade levels beyond his peers at a young age
• The child has verbal abilities or abstract reasoning abilities well beyond her peers

And

• The child is bored or unhappy at school
• The child seems out of sync and has trouble making friends because his interests are so different
• The parents are interested in gifted schools or camps

In some counties, testing can be done for free by calling the county’s educational services, or by having the child’s school contact these services. Each county has its own rules regarding gifted testing and placement in gifted services. If you prefer, there are clinics like Hope Haven, wherein some people can have their testing covered by insurance. Lastly, there are private testers. I have one that I recommend to people, feel free to contact me if you want more information. Whichever method you choose, know that the tester herself has a big impact on the results of the test. IQ testing is in part subjective, a good relationship between tester and child is important and a tester who “gets” gifted kids is important.

2E or Twice Exceptional

Being twice exceptional means being gifted and… as in gifted and ADHD, gifted and dyslexia, gifted and autism spectrum disorder, etc. These kids can be hard to identify in that many cope with their disabilities so well that they don’t seem to have a learning disability when they do (and need help), or they are hard to test in IQ testing because of their other exceptionality. These children are both bored and overstimulated at the same time, both ahead and behind at the same time. It can be very frustrating for them.

Classroom differentiation is usually not enough for gifted and 2E kids and it is usually not done properly. Something like a separate spelling list or extra homework is not class differentiation. Oftentimes, these children need a separate curriculum in their area of strength, one that might delve deeper into the material or be several grade levels ahead.

Knowing HOW gifted a child is also matters, as there are different kinds of giftedness, requiring different accommodations. These are labels like moderately gifted, highly gifted, and profoundly gifted. Teachers often do not understand that gifted children might not be the ones in the room with the highest grades or the neatest work. This can be confusing for teachers, who typically have not been taught much about the gifted world.

Some gifted programs are good, while others are frankly, a waste of time. Parents need to be involved to advocate for their children if the programs aren’t meeting the needs of the child. Some parents of gifted and 2E children chose to homeschool, at least temporarily.

Luckily, Jacksonville has many non academic opportunities for gifted and twice exceptional children to thrive. Museums like the Cummer, the zoo, antique stores, and theatrical productions are the kinds of places where a gifted child can learn outside the classroom and explore the world around her. In addition, once a child is in high school, serving the needs of the gifted becomes easier with the various magnet programs like the AP programs, IB programs, and AICE programs. An arts school like Douglas Anderson is also a great possibility for some of these students. There are good books about these issues; one to check out is A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children by James T Webb.