Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The thread about one's child possible being ADHD or Gifted made me wonder...
Why are labels so important to parents and schools? Frankly, very few kids are HIGHLY gifted or SEVERELY ADHD.
Those who are will clearly stand out and thus may need extra services. Otherwise, the basic 'gifted' child (and believe me, that label is thrown around a lot!) and mildly ADHD child (another label applied a lot) will function just fine in school and at home.
I have children with both of the above 'labels'. I think in some ways it is not healthy. My adhd son who is now 13 says he doesn't want to tell all teachers and have accommodations because when he is excited and happy like other kids during an active time in class, he is called out first and often asked if he has had his medication...but no one seems to wonder why the NON adhd kids are jumping around! My older child, labeled 'gifted' back in 2nd grade was told she was in a special program (which amounted to some challenging work and interesting field trips)....well, she has a bit of a perfect child syndrome because she thinks she MUST do well in all courses since she is 'gifted'.
Looking back, I think the labels in some way (since she is not HIGHLY gifted and he is not SEVERLY adhd) may be more harm than help. After all, 'back in the day' kids just went to school. Smart, a bit slow, average, hyper, overly quiet...all in one room, same classes, etc....and it seemed to work. Why do we as a society have the labels as such an important thing now?
Thoughts?
A medical label such as ADHD will explain many behaviors a child exhibits is due to poor executive functioning of his/her brain. That is more likely the reason they may need repeated reminders, help with organization, frequent checks for understanding an instructor will need to incorporate to help with a child be successful in school.
A label such as gifted raises their assignments to a higher instructional level because if a student is constantly repeating work they are already independent in.... they may get used to 'easy work' and learning stops. By raising their work to their instructional level, they become used to challenging work and taking risks.
Why shouldn't all students get 'gifted work' ? When you give students work that is too hard they become fustrated and learning stops.
When a child has both labels gifted/adhd..... I hope they may find passionate teachers who appreciates their uniquness throughout their school years.
"Gifted" by its very definition, applies only to a few kids. In some schools, close to half the kids are identified as "gifted". That is clearly misusing the term.
The label helps get the services a child may need. You are correct that highly gifted kids will stand out and not need the label but moderately gifted kids, like mine, can get ignored. I'd be surprised if my dd has an IQ of over 150 (official gifted mark) but she does need more than the average student. Fortunately, we've never had to prove she's gifted. Her last school placed her into that category and she came into her new school so far ahead of the curve that they didn't question it. Whether she is or not is debatable but the label gets her the services she needs.
As to ADHD, severely ADHD kids can be a handfull. The label insures their condition will be considered. My brother, probably, would have been expelled from school if he hadn't been labeled as ADHD.
The thread about one's child possible being ADHD or Gifted made me wonder...
Why are labels so important to parents and schools? Frankly, very few kids are HIGHLY gifted or SEVERELY ADHD.
Those who are will clearly stand out and thus may need extra services. Otherwise, the basic 'gifted' child (and believe me, that label is thrown around a lot!) and mildly ADHD child (another label applied a lot) will function just fine in school and at home.
I have children with both of the above 'labels'. I think in some ways it is not healthy. My adhd son who is now 13 says he doesn't want to tell all teachers and have accommodations because when he is excited and happy like other kids during an active time in class, he is called out first and often asked if he has had his medication...but no one seems to wonder why the NON adhd kids are jumping around! My older child, labeled 'gifted' back in 2nd grade was told she was in a special program (which amounted to some challenging work and interesting field trips)....well, she has a bit of a perfect child syndrome because she thinks she MUST do well in all courses since she is 'gifted'.
Looking back, I think the labels in some way (since she is not HIGHLY gifted and he is not SEVERLY adhd) may be more harm than help. After all, 'back in the day' kids just went to school. Smart, a bit slow, average, hyper, overly quiet...all in one room, same classes, etc....and it seemed to work. Why do we as a society have the labels as such an important thing now?
Thoughts?
Taben
Completely agree with your gripe, taben.
I really think that this categorization and labeling of children into all types of "special" boxes is damaging in pretty much all respects.
I believe the thread you were talking about was initiated by me. At the time I was simply curious, as these labels, like you said, get thrown around a lot. So you just end up wondering.
My son continues to exhibit fidgetiness, spaciness, impulsive-ness at the age of 5 1/2 (with some reports from school, though they do not think it is ADHD); but he is also doing well in other ways, especially academically.
I will have him tested soon, just out of curiosity; but regardless of what the doctor says, I am nowhere close to agreeing with medication, either way.
I should add though that while I am completely against obsessing over labels, I am FOR knowing, at all times, how the child stacks up against other children in school, and by extension, children of his generation.
It is a very PC yet very competitive, "dog-eat-dog" society out there...and I believe that this popular idea that "you should not even think about comparing your child with anybody else's" is creating even more confusion, suspicions, tension and cut-throat competition among parents. At the end of the day, every parent DOES want to know how their child compares to other children. Such info should be out in the light, imo.
I, for one, would like to know - but opportunities for finding answers to this question have been carefully guarded by teachers in my son's pre-K.
I am not sure how this issue is dealt with once actual school starts (K and up), but I have noticed that teachers EXPLICITLY avoid telling parents about how well the child is doing compared to other kids in class.
If they think this is a way to appease the competitive spirit among parents, they have it all wrong. It makes it worse.
"Gifted" by its very definition, applies only to a few kids. In some schools, close to half the kids are identified as "gifted". That is clearly misusing the term.
Sometimes suburban neighborhoods may have households with two highly educated parents who have high IQs thus increasing the number of students who inherited intelligence. In one such neighborhood, I've seen a school service only the top 7% because students in the 'regular' classroom would already receive instruction tailored to the class' higher instructional level.
I know that our school doesn't diagnosis anyone as having ADHD. It has to be a private physician that the parents have taken the child to. There are kids that I suspect have mild cases of ADHD but the parents don't want to get a diagnosis. The school will not label these kids unless the parents brings in proof from a physician.
Also, when did you see this teacher call out your child? Or did you just hear about it from your child? When ADHD kids haven't had their medication and they are jumping around it is usually out of control. ADHD medications are best when they are taken regularly and many parents don't do a good job of staying on top of their child's medication. With ADHD kids one day you will get a calm controlled student and the next day you will get someone running around in class out of control. Many times they will tell you they didn't take their medication that day.
Also, gifted testing usually takes place with the parent's consent first. You don't usually just get labeled as gifted out of the blue. It is usually someone who performs in the top 10% of their group. In my school it is usually the top 4-6%, 6-8 out of 135 students.
Students don't perform equally well in the classroom with equal instruction. I could go through a lesson and give a quiz afterwards. The scores will range from 30%-100%. SPED students typically make very small improvement even after extensive supplementary instruction, compared to a regular student who just has a hard time in math.
As far as comparing your child to the other students, I do talk to the parent about the class averages on a test. They can see it on the online gradebook, so I don't really need to tell them the class average was an 85% and their child scored above or below that. However, sometimes parents think I can just sit there and talk to them about some other kid who is in the class with their child. This is a violation of professional ethics. When two students do something wrong, one of the parents always wants to know what the punishment is for the other student, instead of worrying about their own child.
I should add though that while I am completely against obsessing over labels, I am FOR knowing, at all times, how the child stacks up against other children in school, and by extension, children of his generation.
It is a very PC yet very competitive, "dog-eat-dog" society out there...and I believe that this popular idea that "you should not even think about comparing your child with anybody else's" is creating even more confusion, suspicions, tension and cut-throat competition among parents. At the end of the day, every parent DOES want to know how their child compares to other children. Such info should be out in the light, imo.
I, for one, would like to know - but opportunities for finding answers to this question have been carefully guarded by teachers in my son's pre-K.
I am not sure how this issue is dealt with once actual school starts (K and up), but I have noticed that teachers EXPLICITLY avoid telling parents about how well the child is doing compared to other kids in class.
If they think this is a way to appease the competitive spirit among parents, they have it all wrong. It makes it worse.
First of all, pre-K is awfully soon to label kids. Secondly, I wasn't that concerned about how my kids measured up against the others, as long as they got good grades themselves. Both did graduate in the top 10% of their classes, in a very competitive high school.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustTess
Sometimes suburban neighborhoods may have households with two highly educated parents who have high IQs thus increasing the number of students who inherited intelligence. In one such neighborhood, I've seen a school service only the top 7% because students in the 'regular' classroom would already receive instruction tailored to the class' higher instructional level.
Well, I believe the standard definition is the top 2%, so 7% is pretty generous.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
