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I'm sure you know, though, that just because a given person doesn't know something doesn't mean it doesn't exist, right? I mean, I've never met a person from Kazakhstan, but I know that Kazakhstanians exist. One's profession has much to do with it also: if a person is a nuclear physicist, she's more likely to meet colleagues with a similarly high I.Q. then she might if she were in a less intellectually demanding profession.
Oh, certainly! I was just opening the floor for people to share if they know any gifted adults. I live in Austin, a city with a high number of engineers, IT, advertising, creatives. I know lots of 'smart' people who are 'smart' at lots of things, but no one who is just really out there smart. My husband is a PhD in electrical engineering/computer sciences, and he agrees. That's as intellectually demanding as it gets, I would think.
If you think your child is truly gifted, as another poster said, put your child in a good private school (not montessori) if you can afford it.
Just a caveat. Make sure the school can accommodate a child ahead of other students or that the school only lets in kids that are advanced/gifted performers. Otherwise, many private schools just do not have the money or staff to deal appropriately with children that perform outside the academic parameters they set.
I went to a private school that had two levels for each grade ("A" group and "B" group - doubt they'd use those names now). "A" group was on a faster track. One still had to test into the school and perform well on the ERBs (the standardized test at the time). Not all schools are that flexible.
I work with teachers on a regular basis and regularly assess children for giftedness. Seeing both sides, I will tell you honestly that teachers like to make up their own minds about whether or not a child is gifted. Many teachers will not respond positively to this inquiry. If you need a fair assessment, I would couch it with a different phrase - asking the teacher for their input or assessment of how your child performs relative to other children - academically, socially, listening skills, etc. You will get a more honest answer (although it may not be the one your looking for). I do have many children that indeed are gifted, but struggle with attention and focus and the teachers would not necessarily agree they are gifted because of their challenges with behavior. It may be helpful to seek out an assessment with an educational psychologist if you don't agree with the feedback from the teacher.
I'm sure they do.
Let me tell you, though, I'm kind of amused by the self-styled "experts" who told me very frostily "she really isn't gifted material" because they were either unable or unwilling to see past her disabilities. Which was annoying, but ultimately fine because that school system had a pretty crappy gifted program, and I supplemented more than they would have, anyway.
She had IQ testing as part of a neurodevelopmental workup a year or so later. Blew the top off our old friend Wechsler. I was vastly amused, though not surprised.
Totally as an aside, she's no longer in that school system.
Just a question. If there are so many gifted kids...why aren't there more gifted adults? I sure don't know any. I know smart adults, but 'gifted' in a way that stands out among the other adults?? No.
Well, the cut-off in our local system is 130. I'm not sure you could really tell someone with a 130 IQ from bright average in most working situations (particularly if that individual has a job which doesn't value creative thinking).
And then there are those who are gifted who "simply aren't living up to their potential" (c'mon, y'all know you've heard this one from your teachers). Or, as we pointed out to a brilliant but flaming alcoholic in rehab, "yes, you're bright, but in your case that means you can think of ever-more-entertaining ways to screw up your life than anyone else on the unit".
As a parent, I'm amazed at how competitive some parents are and how early it starts. I have a dd who did everything early and learned fast not to mention it because other mothers get competitive really fast. Then I have to deal with mothers claiming rediculous things like their babies were speaking at 4 months old or walking at 6 months old. It amazes me how much of their self esteem these mothers have in their children's early accomplishments when I just wish mine had been normal (when babies do things early, it's often becuase they have no fear so they can end up in trouble. One of the first words dd#2 spoke well was "Stuck" ). I just shake my head when I hear rediculous claims. It's really hard to take these women seriously.
Oh, I think it's funny. I like to tell people my daughter was reading before she was potty-trained, just to mess with their minds. (Of course, she wasn't potty-trained until she was almost five, secondary to some physical issues, but in her defense she was rather fond of Sylvia Plath and Sharyn McCrumb's ballad novels at six.)
If I spent time hanging around doctors, lawyers, professors, engineers, or CEO's* would I be able to tell which ones had an IQ over 130 and which ones 'only' had an IQ of ... let's say 119/129? I'm thinking that unless they brag about their membership in Mensa I probably couldn't tell the difference myself.
My experience is that you can knock ten points off their IQ every time they bring up their Mensa memberships in social conversation.
Too often gifteness is aheadness in children. My dd is considered gifted and they rank her and her peers by grade level.
And that also assumes that development is an even progression, and identical across all planes. Which is a bald-faced lie, as any girl who was doing calculus at 12, but didn't get her period until fifteen, can tell you.
Just a question. If there are so many gifted kids...why aren't there more gifted adults? I sure don't know any. I know smart adults, but 'gifted' in a way that stands out among the other adults?? No.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aconite
Well, the cut-off in our local system is 130. I'm not sure you could really tell someone with a 130 IQ from bright average in most working situations (particularly if that individual has a job which doesn't value creative thinking).
And then there are those who are gifted who "simply aren't living up to their potential" (c'mon, y'all know you've heard this one from your teachers). Or, as we pointed out to a brilliant but flaming alcoholic in rehab, "yes, you're bright, but in your case that means you can think of ever-more-entertaining ways to screw up your life than anyone else on the unit".
At the risk of knocking 10 points off of my IQ for mentioning it (JK Aconite) when I was tested as a child I had a 135 IQ. I met many people who were just as smart. I don't think 135 is exceptional, just above average, but it did qualify for the gifted program.
Now, 30 yrs later, I am a stay-at-home mom of four kids. My Phi Beta Kappa key is put away in some jewelry box somewhere, and I am not saving the world, but it does not mean I am no longer intelligent. Not every kid in the gifted program grows up to save the world (or destroy it).
Oh, certainly! I was just opening the floor for people to share if they know any gifted adults. I live in Austin, a city with a high number of engineers, IT, advertising, creatives. I know lots of 'smart' people who are 'smart' at lots of things, but no one who is just really out there smart. My husband is a PhD in electrical engineering/computer sciences, and he agrees. That's as intellectually demanding as it gets, I would think.
"Gifted", though, is a label drawn for school purposes. Once you're out in the working world, there's no artificial line that says "Fred with the 130 IQ is more similar to Jeannie with the 140 IQ and less similar to Angie with the 120 IQ". And it's a fluid label, since different districts define "gifted" differently and offer differing services to support gifted kids.
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). I just shake my head when I hear rediculous claims. It's really hard to take these women seriously.
