GIFTED, the challenge of knowing them Por R. H

Gifted, the challenge of knowing them

The identification, education and needs of gifted, beyond the

academic, are some of the topics that the Ph. D. Jim Delisle, addressed in the conference “Meeting the social emotional needs of gifted”, as part of a set of lectures that took part of The Inclusion School congress. The event was organized by the InterAmerican Academy, the United States Embassy and Casa Grande University, on the premises of this educational institute, on January 22 nd of 2020.

Por R.J.

Delisle graduated from the University of Maine in 1975 with a B.S. in Elementary and Special Education. He also studied Medicine in Special Education at the University of Millersville in 1976 and earned his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology —directed at gifted students— at the University of Connecticut in 1981. In addition, for over 30 years he has dedicated himself to gifted students and has written over 250 articles and 28 books.

In his speech, Dr. Delisle emphasized that gifted people are not only about the mind, but about the heart and feelings. “It’s very easy to see gifted show they are smart; they go to school very easily. But many of them also have a higher degree of emotion at younger age...”, he noted before mentioning that, in his professional career, he has noticed that gifted have something unique that identifies them and finding it is the responsibility of parents and educators. “Giftedness is who you are, not what you do”, he said.

However, paying attention to their emotions doesn’t mean you have to be less rigorous with their academic

development. In that sense, Delisle shared cases of his students who had a difficult start, such as a 5-year-old boy named Jacob who did not wanted to do his kindergarten homework. In cases like this, if this continues, Delisle warned that teachers should be careful, because by the time they get to school, they’ll “be totally disconnected from the school’s teachings”.

On the other hand, he also addressed expectations involving the gifted, both academically and professionally. Returning to the case of Jacob, the speaker said that, after a teacher-student conversation, this kid’s professor asked him “what do you do well on school?” and “what do you like to learn in school that you haven’t learned yet?”. Jacob replied “Nothing. I don’t need your help”. This happens not because of fear, but, as Delisle emphasizes, because of a more common issue: in many gifted children who, although they do things well on a first attempt, when they have bigger and more complex challenges, they come to doubt their ability; the main reason is their fear of doing something wrong and not being ‘perfect’ anymore. Another set of expectations comes from their parents, friends or relatives, when it comes to their future. The lecturer exemplifies this with the case of his son, Philip, who wanted to be a writer since school.

However, his teachers told him that he was too smart to be a writer and that he should study medicine. To this, Delisle commented that people currently think that gifted young people will fail if they do not follow traditional careers such as being a doctor, lawyer or others.

This is noticeable, according to Delisle, from the moment a child is asked “What do you want to become when you grow up?” and answers “football player,” “actor” or “writer”. The speaker explains that instead of saying “that’s so silly” or “you’re too smart for that”, he suggests digging deeper into what he likes about that profession, because at a young age they don’t care about money but instead if that’s something they like to do; “when children became older, they get very confused about what they want to be”. Delisle illustrated it by taking up the case of his son who, after several academic majors, at the age of 40, he does TV writing and has been nominated for an Emmy and a Grammy for his work.

In the same vein, the speaker highlighted how the gifted think differently. He recalled the profound question about life and death that his 4-year-old son asked him one night: “Do you feel the same way right before you were born and right after you die?” With this, Delisle, exemplified that gifted children have big questions in their heads that question everything around them.

In addition, he talked about the restrictions that are often placed on children and the anxiety and anger that it causes in them for not being able to share. The lecturer suggested that allowing them to help, even in small ways, helps them to channel those feelings. However, they also need to understand that, “even though they might not be able to fix the whole world, they can save small parts of it”.

Foto: cenecuador (Facebook)

On the other hand, he remembered his grandmother, when she mentioned that the hardest part is identifying them. She had knowledge of psychology from her work with Sigmund Freud and was devoted over 70 years to gifted children. Delisle learned from her that “gifted children are often identified before they come to school by their parents” through different signs: children that think in a complex way and asks profound questions, or a 2-year-old that put together a picture puzzle.

Also, the speaker suggested “looking into” what the parents say about their child’s development. However, some signs also occur within the classroom when a child falls asleep in class, “not because he is tired, but because he is bored”.

In this regard, Delisle stressed that parents, teachers and tools such as I.Q. tests are key elements when comes to identify a gifted child. If not, he presented the U.S. estimate that about 25% of high school dropouts are probably gifted, and that, he believes, is a big loss.

WWW.CASAGRANDE.EDU.EC GUAYAQUIL - ECUADOR AGOSTO 2020 ISSN:1390-6313