![]() ![]() I think we haven't fully come to terms with the fact that sometimes the things that we value in education, like expertise and intelligence and knowledge, conflict sometimes with creativity.Ĭreativity is just as important, and if we focus on intellectual power we're going to miss out on a lot of these kids that are going to really shake up the world, really change things.Įven at the neurological level, when you look at the brain of high IQ individuals, the network resembles someone who's really good at focusing, concentration, ignoring distraction. The subtitle talks about bright and creative students with learning difficulties. This is important because you shouldn't have to have a certain threshold on an IQ test to be able to make the world a better place. I talk about the 4 C's: capacity, competence, creativity and the fourth C is commitment - a higher purpose or a cause or a personal project that you believe in over the long term, like social activists. ![]() We need a framework that incorporates them into this more positive psychology movement where we see greater potential.Īnd on the other side, you also have an expansive definition of giftedness - talk about that. You have the learning disorders - ADHD, autism, dyslexia - but I wanted to actually expand it to mental illnesses, like kids at risk for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression - a really serious issue in our world today. What do you mean by learning difficulties? This is a loss of a critical resource - students who don't graduate, don't pursue higher ed, become unemployed. ![]() Society still has this false dichotomy of, you're a superior human being or a weak loser with bad genes. Why is this group of students flying so under the radar? The disability can be masked because they are functioning so high, or their disability may dominate, or each can mask the other. And as the authors talk about in the book, these students are found all over the place - in special ed, gifted, and in general education classes, too. So these are students with exceptional, far-ahead-of-the-curve intellectual ability, but who also struggle with a learning disability or difficulty. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. I spoke with him about ways schools and teachers can help these twice exceptional, or "2E," students thrive. He recently edited a volume of experts writing about how to reach students like himself: Twice Exceptional: Supporting And Educating Bright And Creative Students With Learning Difficulties. Now he's a psychologist who cares passionately about a holistic approach to education, one that recognizes the capacity within each child. He struggled with auditory information processing and with anxiety.īut with the support of his mother, and some teachers who saw his creativity and intellectual curiosity, Kaufman ended up with degrees from Yale and Cambridge. They need, like all humans, emotional acceptance, a chance to play, a place to be themselves, and a sense of belonging.Scott Barry Kaufman was placed in special education classes as a kid. ![]() PG kids need more than the emotional satisfaction of intellectual growth. Building, nurturing, and growing long-term friendships becomes almost impossible. These disruptions further interfere with the childrens' opportunities to connect with other children. What worked last year for a PG kid won't work this year (and sometimes, won't work another month.) A patchwork of grade skips, radical single-subject acceleration, school changes, and emergency home-schooling sabbaticals are common. PG kids struggle to connect, as the intellectual, social, and emotional gaps between them and their classmates seem too great to overcome.Īttempts to meet the intellectual needs of a PG student often result in a hopscotch of schools and grades. Few teachers or schools understand these children, and fewer still have resources to meet their needs. These students have extraordinary needs and capacity for immediate assimilation of information, profound reasoning, and construction of new ideas. Beyond intellect, PG kids are often notable for their asynchronous emotional and social development, their extreme vigor and intensity, their emotional sensitivity, and an over-developed sense of justice. 13% of the population on IQ tests, they are at the extreme high end of the continuum of intellect.īeing highly exceptional in intellect produces incredible challenges. Profoundly gifted (PG) kids are the brightest of lights. ![]()
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