Over the years, I’ve wondered if I was teaching ‘children with special needs’. We have so much passion and resistance and energy. In my mind I convinced myself that it was just the sheer numbers, Ken and I have been outnumbered since Portia was three after all. But, now that I’m out of the diapers and nursing stage, I’ve taken the time to have R.A. examined by a child psychologist. I suspected high functioning Asperger’s. Her frequent and sudden rages, her acute fear of missing out, her need to hang onto anyone who left our home by racing them to the end of our property and watching them drive up over the hill until they were out of sight (or when the weather is bad, asking them to flash their hazards as they left so she could watch thru the window). Her quick learning and general brightness. And she is particularly dependent on me. I can’t seem to do anything right, she finds fault with every action and yet she insists that I be involved in much of her care.
I remember saying that N. was as much work as seven of his siblings. He and R.A. share a lot of traits. He got much better right around age 9 when he turned to reading long chapter books and playing complex strategy games.
I also remember how much work Paris was, and still can be. This all lines up with behaviors my mother and Lyle exhibited.
The Child Psychologist didn’t find quite enough evidence to suggest Asperger’s per say, but definitely not normal. R.A. scored 3-4 standard deviations above norm in 5 cognitive areas while her Processing Speed Index was below normal. She is considered gifted, with a slow processor. So, she thinks a lot, has good self-awareness and understands much, but it takes her extra time to put it all together. Her fear of missing out is very real! While I’m several steps ahead of her she’s still processing an earlier event and has now missed out on important stuff. Ugh! And I am a fast processor.
Just this little bit of information and testing process has opened my eyes to understand our whole family better. We’ve been looking into resources for gifted learners and miracle of miracles Ken, Raven and I will be attending a Conference on “Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted” in Chicago next month, on scholarship from Professional Advocates for Gifted Education (PAGE). I’m so excited to learn a new skill set, to understand my own childhood family better and to support my children in their uniquenesses. This is so personal to me, as a mother, child, sister and educator. Finally, some help.
I think there’s some stigma on identifying a child as ‘gifted’ it sounds so great but in reality it’s challenging to be different from the world around us and people who have higher level cognitive skills often struggle with social skills. They also often are misdiagnosed with depression and learning disabilities without factoring in giftedness. This answers a lot of stuff for me. One of the outbreak classes at this conference is “Fandoms” these kids/people often use them as a source of ‘belonging’, sort of the same social appeal as joining a gang. I’m so excited to go to this and look forward to sharing my favorite take-aways.
If you’re interested in further study on the topic, check out the book, Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students by Christine Fonseca, look up ‘SENGifted’ and ‘2e’ (twice exceptional, a person who is both gifted and challenged, this is R.A. and several of her siblings).
And now we will be re-watching the Marvel X-Men Movies. Lol
I remember saying that N. was as much work as seven of his siblings. He and R.A. share a lot of traits. He got much better right around age 9 when he turned to reading long chapter books and playing complex strategy games.
I also remember how much work Paris was, and still can be. This all lines up with behaviors my mother and Lyle exhibited.
The Child Psychologist didn’t find quite enough evidence to suggest Asperger’s per say, but definitely not normal. R.A. scored 3-4 standard deviations above norm in 5 cognitive areas while her Processing Speed Index was below normal. She is considered gifted, with a slow processor. So, she thinks a lot, has good self-awareness and understands much, but it takes her extra time to put it all together. Her fear of missing out is very real! While I’m several steps ahead of her she’s still processing an earlier event and has now missed out on important stuff. Ugh! And I am a fast processor.
Just this little bit of information and testing process has opened my eyes to understand our whole family better. We’ve been looking into resources for gifted learners and miracle of miracles Ken, Raven and I will be attending a Conference on “Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted” in Chicago next month, on scholarship from Professional Advocates for Gifted Education (PAGE). I’m so excited to learn a new skill set, to understand my own childhood family better and to support my children in their uniquenesses. This is so personal to me, as a mother, child, sister and educator. Finally, some help.
I think there’s some stigma on identifying a child as ‘gifted’ it sounds so great but in reality it’s challenging to be different from the world around us and people who have higher level cognitive skills often struggle with social skills. They also often are misdiagnosed with depression and learning disabilities without factoring in giftedness. This answers a lot of stuff for me. One of the outbreak classes at this conference is “Fandoms” these kids/people often use them as a source of ‘belonging’, sort of the same social appeal as joining a gang. I’m so excited to go to this and look forward to sharing my favorite take-aways.
If you’re interested in further study on the topic, check out the book, Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students by Christine Fonseca, look up ‘SENGifted’ and ‘2e’ (twice exceptional, a person who is both gifted and challenged, this is R.A. and several of her siblings).
And now we will be re-watching the Marvel X-Men Movies. Lol