Is Your Child Gifted?
Because the skills and talents of Gifted children are so diverse, not all children exhibit all characteristics all of the time or across all domains.
One of the many interesting things about children is they can be Gifted in some areas and have obstacles to learning other skills. Children may excel at verbal expression, problem solving, or conceptual thinking but struggle with spelling or written math for example.
Gifted screening will help to identify if your child's intellectual strengths meet the gifted programming requirements of your school, while also reviewing any areas of learning difficulties, learning differences or areas requiring supports. Recommendations will be discussed with you regarding the most beneficial programming for your child to pursue based on their unique cognitive profile.
You Have Options
There are many alternative school setting options available such as a full time Gifted Program, a regular classroom, or a combination of placement in a main stream academic classroom with added enrichment, or in conjunction with therapy for anxiety or social skills etc. and tutoring for specific skill sets, which are critical to explore to best address all aspects of the uniqueness of each child’s learning needs. Knowing your child's intellectual strengths and differences through our assessments will help provide the "manual" to what your child needs to reach their full potential, and provides a framework for designing the most effective individual and family therapy program to improve communication, behavioural problems, social and family relationships.
Learn About Your Child
In our Gifted Screening assessments, we focus on identifying not only areas of a child’s development that may reach gifted levels, but we also explore how those strongest skill sets can be applied to support and improve areas of relative weaknesses.
We place importance on carefully reviewing with parents all the educational options available for each child, and will discuss how emotional maturity, social and physical development, as well as additional factors (such as Tics, ADD/ADHD, OCD, ASD) may contribute when making the best decision for their child’s most optimal academic placement.
Common Gifted Traits
There are common characteristics that many Gifted individuals tend to demonstrate, which may include:
- Unusual alertness, even in infancy.
- Rapid learner; puts thoughts together quickly.
- Excellent memory.
- Unusually large vocabulary and complex sentence structure for age.
- Advanced comprehension of word nuances, metaphors and abstract ideas.
- Enjoys solving problems, especially with numbers and puzzles.
- Often self-taught reading and writing skills as preschooler.
- Deep, intense feelings and reactions.
- Highly sensitive.
- Thinking is abstract, complex, logical, and insightful.
- Idealism and sense of justice at early age.
- Concern with social and political issues and injustices.
- Longer attention span and intense concentration.
- Preoccupied with own thoughts—daydreamer.
- Learn basic skills quickly and with little practice.
- Asks probing questions.
- Wide range of interests (or extreme focus in one area).
- Highly developed curiosity.
- Interest in experimenting and doing things differently.
- Puts ideas or things together that are not typical.
- Keen and/or unusual sense of humor.
- Desire to organize people/things through games or complex schemas.
- Vivid imaginations (and imaginary playmates when in preschool).
Let us help you figure out if you child is Gifted when you schedule an appointment.