Identifying Gifted Children
By Carol Bainbridge, About.com Guide
Characteristics
Gifted children are often recognized by their distinctive traits and behaviors. From their excellent memories to their emotional sensitivity to their "rage" to learn to their ability to learn quickly, gifted children stand out from other children. Knowing and understanding these traits is the first step in recognizing these children.
- Characteristics of Gifted Children
- Characteristics of Young Gifted Children
- Signs of Giftedness in Infants
- Gifted Babies
- What is a Gifted Child?
- High Achievers, Gifted Learners, and Creative Thinkers
- Chart Comparing High Achievers, Gifted Learners, or Creative Thinkers
- Dabrowski's Overexcitabilties or Supersensitivities
Development and Developmental Milestones
All children develop in much the same way, but for gifted children, there are some differences. For one thing, gifted children tend to reach developmental milestones early. For another, while other children develop physically, emotionally, and cognitively at roughly the same pace, gifted children's development is uneven, or asynchronous.
- Asynchronous Development
- Developmental Milestones - Three Months to Five Years
- Gifted Children and Language Development
- Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration (Moral Development)
Issues in Identification
Identifying gifted children is not always easy. Some people believe that there is no such thing as a gifted children, while others believe all children are gifted. Experts, of course, believe that only a certain percentage of the population is gifted, but don't agree on how to identify them or even on what a gifted child is.
- Different Perspectives on the Term Gifted
- A Response to the "All Children are Gifted" Comment
- Creating Gifted Children - Nature or Nurture?
Testing
To test or not to test? That is a question many parents ask about their potentially gifted child. It is not always necessary for a child to be tested, but when it is, you need to know what kinds of testing should be done. You should also know who should do the testing as well as what the results of the tests mean.