by Cecil Tamura
GIFTEDNESS IS STILL very mysterious. Even among developed countries where funding and legislation are available in order to further understand the subject, experts say that there are many questions left unanswered. They said that for the past ten years, it seems as if they have not taken off.
We are very thankful that in this country despite the absence of both,
advocacy on giftedness is slowly gaining awareness so that the gifted minority will be helped on one way or another.
Q: Did you do something special during your pregnancy?
A I had three pregnancies and I was working all throughout even up to the "labor" Stage. I remember signing checks while I was having contractions for the delivery of my first son as it started on the 15th and it was pay day. With my second son, I still conducted a product knowledge lecture to our Marketing Staff in the morning and went to the supermarket before I checked in to the delivery room. With my third, I was helping arrange for the wedding of my cousin the whole day.
In my younger years, I had readings about recommendations based on studies on how to make one’s babies "geniuses." Many prescribed the Mozart effect where one plays classical music to the fetus and many also recommended frequently talking to the child. They said that this is a good form of intellectual and artistic stimulation amd will contribute to the coping skills of the child. Some studies on this claim positive results. I just did not have the opportunity to do that. All I remember was a rage to read more than I always did.
Q: How did you know that your child is gifted? Were there early signs?
A: My first son, Cy, was a very alert infant. At three months or even earlier, he would respond to action songs with great enthusiasm. He had a very long attention span. At six months, he would spend hours watching National Geographic on TV. He taught himself how to read at about a year and a half and was voraciously reading science books till he was five. He was observant, curious and had a vivid imagination as a toddler.
It never entered our minds that he could have been potentially gifted till he was four years old when we were experiencing problems with him in school. He was bored and would basically sleep during classes. We found out later that the cause of his boredom was because he had mastered the subject long ago.
To help solve the problem, we consulted a psychologist who later confirmed his gift and we had him tested at the Philippine Association for the Gifted.
When my second son came, I had the shock of my life despite the beginnings of my advocacy. He started to speak at two months old, counted up to 100 when he was nine months, told time when he was two years old, and watched the impeachment trial everyday when he was three.
It was a totally different kind of experience with my daughter who started to speak later than her two brothers but was unusually adept with puzzles and blocks.
It’s a unique experience for each child and for each family. However, if you will check further, you will see that there are common traits, skills, interests, personalities, and social behavior common among gifted children for comparison and contrast to
average children which I will be discussing intensively in a future article.
Q: Is giftedness inherited?
A: Genetics play a very important role in the transmission of giftedness. In most longitudinal studies, parents and grandparents of gifted children have very much to do with the abilities of their children or grandchildren. If there is one gifted child in the family, chances are the I.Q. and skills of the other family members will be plus/minus 10 of the gifted child.
In very rare instances though, some studies also showed that giftedness was displayed by children coming from families without gifted history although I think that the researchers should check for generation skips.
Debate has been done about nature vs. nurture. Nurture is very important in order to hone the potentials of the child. Ideally, the child should be given all the opportunities to develop his gift. The doctors in our Philippine Association for the Gifted usually used the term potentially gifted in identification reminding parents and our society about their role on nurturance.
Q: My child has been identified as potentially gifted, what now?
A: Parents are usually overwhelmed when their child is identified as potentially gifted. They are faced with the challenge of educating and guiding their child in a setting such as ours in the Philippines where there is no support given by the government and no legislation is done to foster the needs of this minority. Although incomplete
and still facing issues, the governments of other countries celebrate giftedness.
Once a child is identified as potentially gifted, people and institutions assist them for counseling, education, and enrichment. In our case, we have to be very resourceful in finding ways to cope with the situation.
Parents are faced with the question of how to balance being over reactive and at being too humble about their potentially gifted child. The former gives stress both to the child and the parent and the latter lowers the child’s self esteem. Experts recommend intervention, the degree of which depends on the personality, interest, learning style, and degree of giftedness of the child.
Our Parent Support Group in PAG has been a pillar for most parents with gifted children. As gifted childred grow, their needs also change. Shared experiences and personal readings of the parent members helped many in gaining some insight on how
it could be helpful to their child.
Q: How shall we formally educate our potentially gifted child?
A: In order to address the issue, let us remember that there are several levels of
Giftedness: The Moderately Gifted, the highly Gifted, and the Profoundly Gifted not to mention those whose gifts are outside the realm of standardized tests vs. bright children.
In this country where traditional education is prevalent, it is not very easy to judge where one should send his/her child to. It is very difficult especially for a highly gifted and profoundly gifted child to cope with this kind of education but somehow most of our Filipino children do and are mainstreamed because they have nowhere else to go.
Many internationally acclaimed experts recommend home schooling as it could adjust to the child’s pace and interests. However, it is also highly recommended that one of the parents should go full time in guiding the child for the program to be successful. Enrichment of your children’s interest is also very important. This can be done through small classes or mentoring.
Q: Do most parents of gifted children experience problems about their children’s school?
A: Yes. The fact that gifted children see the world with different eyes makes it really a big challenge for them to go mainstream. Our general system of education is not really kind to gifted children and most of our teachers lack the proper training and skill to cope with them.
Boredom is often a problem. Some children even sublimate their abilities to avoid intimidating the teacher or to solicit peer acceptance. They intentionally under-Achieve. Some childred who are pushed too hard by their parents overachieve but are generally not happy.
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