Is Your Child Gifted?
Warning: I’m about to tick off the parents of “gifted” children.
Yes.
Every single child in this world is gifted.
I detest the word, “gifted”, it implies “my child has gifts, yours does not”. It’s usually based on testing, which anyone with a little knowledge of test assessment knows they are flawed instruments and speak to only a small percentage of humans who’s brains are wired for that sort of evaluation.
A child on the spectrum can have skills far reaching our comprehension, but more than likely will not test as “gifted”.
Anyone who has ever met a child or adult with Down’s Syndrome can attest, they have gifts of love, joy and compassion the rest of us strive for and will most likely never attain.
Here are some people whom would not have tested as “gifted”
Albert Einstein – Didn’t speak until he was 4. His parents thought he had a learning disability. His educators thought he was lazy and sloppy.
Jules Verne – Did poorly in school, had an inability to focus, probably would have been diagnosed with ADHD.
Leonardo da Vinci – Savant like skills dedicated to art and science, probably would have been diagnosed with Asberger’s.
Agatha Christie – Diagnosed with Dysgraphia which affected her ability to understand the written word.
Thomas Edison – Severely dyslexic, was taken out of school and taught by his Mother because he wasn’t able to do the work.
F. Scott Fitzgerald – Expelled from school for his inability to focus. Most likely would have been diaganosed with ADHD.
Alexander Grahm Bell – Struggled with school most likely due to dyslexia.
The point I’m getting at is this, when are we going to stop putting people in boxes? Why do we need a category for everything? Everyone is unique and everyone is born with gifts. When we start taking our littlest minds and putting them in a box we have failed them. We have decided a future for them and handed them a label.
What would this world look like if all those great minds listed above had been labeled all the many names we have for the uniqueness of children and put in a box?