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Talk to other parents about parenting a gifted child on this forum.

Gifted and talented

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16 replies

resolutions · 29/12/2008 16:08

is the iq test helpful as children get older?
I had an odd experience with my eldest son while in primary education.
He was not esp good at spelling when I asked about it they said he found it hard but was so clever could overcome it[yr1].
In yr4 drove v.traditional teacher bonkers by cont asking for chemistry lessons!She put him down quite soundly.
Meanwhile muggins here had to read endless encyclopaedias to him from age 4 and endless chats about spaceetcetc.
Because my dd then was 2yrs after him in same school it seemed she did better as she found reading and language easy [2nd language here welsh]and he didn't.
But I think he's clever in different way and have been interested to read posts on here some of which ring a bell.
Now 17 he is v.talented musician excellent memory but education fairly average due to lack of effort,coasting etcTeachers have said he is very clever tho.
Interested in comments really.Want to think how to guide him.
thanks for reading does this ring a bell with anyone?

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PuzzleRocks · 29/12/2008 17:10

bump

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cornsilk · 29/12/2008 17:11

Do you know what his IQ is?

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resolutions · 29/12/2008 17:30

sorry not making much sense here,
don't know his iq am interested if many of you have tested your older children

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lijaco · 29/12/2008 19:21

to me you are makin complete sense. I have tried to explain this on here before. This is a prime example of gifted and talented that is not measured by academic ability at school. the measure of G & T at school is not really a true measure of gifted and talented. Most true g & t are as you explain not one of the actual labelled g & t. my arguement really.

He may be Dyslexic. In my experience they are very clever verbally but tend to not achieve as they should with formal exams.

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resolutions · 29/12/2008 20:25

He is a deep thinker and reads widely ,gets easily bored,good sense of humour,good at problem solving.When little did all the crazes ahead of the others like pokemon,electric guitar.
Not v.tolerant as child if sister or others not understanding something.Very sensitive now tho.
want to guide him and help confidence re education.

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Bink · 29/12/2008 20:30

What does he want to do? - does he have an understanding of what he's good at? - and/or a sense of what it is he's not so good at? At his age I'd expect guiding to be a co-operative process, so his ideas too ... but I know some 17yos are still a bit vague (I certainly was) so where he's at would be interesting to know?

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resolutions · 29/12/2008 20:57

he's doing A level creative musicwhich he loves and excels at,history which acc to the teacher he's amazingly good at but takes no notes and does no work for altho enjoys in class .Also english good at with no work,sociology dropped after AS due to lackof interest and dull teacher.
Main problem with academic work is maybe dyslexia[not dxed by school but not tested since yr 1]in terms of,can remember everything and can now spell as has learned it,but can't get it onto paper at anywhere near the level of his thinking IYSWIM.Somwhere during secondary school he gave up and stopped taking notes etc.
Going back to primary he couldn't put things into sequence,organise his work.
What I'm quandarying is [Iknow it's not real word ]do I try to help sort out his academic achievement which is way behind his abilities or do I think "he's not academic as such",encourage him to do music tech, which is fine but would be good if he combined it with a second subject?He's in yr 13 so at end of education nearly now.
I don't understand the problem with his written work when he is so able
I don't know if that causes his underachievement or is other cause.

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lijaco · 29/12/2008 21:24

how about voice recording rather than taking notes in classes. Dyslexia is very interesting their intelligence by far out weighs their capabilities shown up on paper.
Sounds very much the case to me. It is common for Dyslexics to have musical and artistic abilities.

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cat64 · 29/12/2008 21:44

This reply has been deleted

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resolutions · 29/12/2008 23:03

thanks very much for replying both of you.
I don't know why the primary school didn't pick up dyslexia if it was there~ unless he overcame it to a passable level;the secondary school english teacher looked at me rather blankly when I was concerned about spelling.They have a dyslexia unit there so I guess it didn't stand out but maybe I should have pushed for a definitive test at secondary level.I remember he could not sound letters and words out so he just memorised all the words to learn to read[in primary]
It is connected to planning and organisational skills and layout of work.However I feel this could have been worked on but his personality then was very touchy about it and quite often refused to let me help him[but when I did it worked well]
More recently have left him to it but this has resulted in no notes and no revision partlydue to above,partly damaged confidencefrom underachievement,part lack of effort.

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lijaco · 29/12/2008 23:49

Dyslexia is not just spelling and reading it also is also lack of organisational skills, etc etc. It may be helpful for you to get some information as regards to Dyslexia as it is a combination of symptons so to speak. The major specific is the intelligence not matching academic results. They also look as if they do not apply themselves. Most Dyslexics develop coping strategies!

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resolutions · 30/12/2008 09:54

thanks lijaco.
I asked about dyslexia a few times over the years.
In yr1he was tested specifically becos[Iasked for it] the letters in each word were in the wrong order also difficulty reading[but in normal range IYSWIM]they said he was rushing over words whie reading ,theysaid not dyslexia; he had spelling prac on pc.Hewas only 5 then tho.I put him in the english class rather than the welsh but I would say his getting work down on paper never matched his ideas etc.I helped him in primary,to sequence and organise his work.
In secy school his english teacher said "what difference would it make if he were?"which i took to mean there was nothing specific to do,obviously he did coursework on the pcwith spellcheck] which helped.
Awareness has increased in the last few years of dyslexia.In the secy school thereis a dyslexia cabin unit but I presumed it is formore severe problems as it is connected to the special needs cabin.
Do you have direct experience of this lijaco and do you know what strategies are used to help?

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resolutions · 30/12/2008 10:14

am looking up info on british dyslexia assoc.remember teacher yr2 talking about how he couldn't count backwards from 20 to10 "children like x are like this,with left and right,and sequencing etc"shame I wasn't advised properly about it tho.In yr 2 he did a sat in science entirely for him tho!

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lijaco · 30/12/2008 21:12

I do have direct experience of this and generally the reading age seems to be in the normal range when tested but in reality it isn't. It is a shame when that happens because they then dont accept the problem as dyslexia. Usually help is only given to children that are well below achievement. where as a typical dyslexic can make it through looking as if they are coping. They are intelligent and don't want to be spot lighted witrh extra help. It is so over looked! most Dyslexics are visual learners and their brain works on the opposite side which makes it very difficult for them with reading and writing/ language skills. Dyslexia the gift is a very good book and the British Dyslexia Assocuiation is also very good.

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resolutions · 30/12/2008 22:56

thanks again,very interesting

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cornsilk · 30/12/2008 23:07

He does sound like a very interesting lad! If you think that he is dyslexic it may be worth pushing for a diagnosis for him, especially if he wants to go to University - there is more help available at that level.

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