My work with gifted children and adults did not start as a crusade to heal the unidentified gifted child in me, but the work is meaningful to me for many reasons. Too often, gifted children, like me, go unidentified. The unusual behaviors that are normal for gifted children are often misattributed as willfully poor behavior or having one diagnosis or another. My … [Read more...] about Dumb Kid
First Edition - Our Relationship to Giftedness
Winter 2020, Volume I, Edition, I.
In our first edition, we asked our writers to share their connection to giftedness.
Conversations of Sustenance
So many mentors have nurtured and sustained me—the gifted therapists, the systems thinkers and second order cyberneticians, the deep ecologists and naturalists, the school founders, the teens I have mentored who have become my peers in time, and the children who have trusted me and grace my life. I know I’m not unusual in going through much of my early life feeling like … [Read more...] about Conversations of Sustenance
The Long Winding Path of Giftedness
Suddenly, there was this community out there who knew my battles, who didn't make me feel like a parental failure because of my outlier son, and who understood that it was possible to have a preschooler who demanded scientifically accurate bedtime stories on the same day he got his head stuck in a friend’s banister. Late 1970s. Books, books, and more books. No one got … [Read more...] about The Long Winding Path of Giftedness
Fitz and the Tantrums; or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gift
I know who I can't be now. I also know I have something to offer. I don't crave success, but I crave usefulness. And I crave someone who can help guide me. But the more I think about trekking into the great unknown—to be that iconoclast forging beyond charted territory—I know there are no guides. Julia Child's kitchen is on display at the Smithsonian in D.C. It’s a grand … [Read more...] about Fitz and the Tantrums; or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gift
Discovering and Connecting
Growing up, no one ever called me “gifted.” I was, however, often referred to as “smart,” which I took as a great compliment. In grade school, I knew everyone, and everyone knew me. Although the term “gifted” wasn’t used, everyone accepted me as “smart” and treated me just like everyone else was treated. I really felt like I belonged. By the time I began junior high, … [Read more...] about Discovering and Connecting
Being Seen—An Elixir for the Sensitive Soul
“I see you.” Three magnificent little words. Yet they're powerful enough to heal us because, as human beings, we all have an innate need to be seen. Even if we don’t admit it, most of us have a sincere wish for someone to accurately and kindly witness what’s happening inside of us: what we really feelwhat we fearwhat we want and needwhat we love and cherishwhat … [Read more...] about Being Seen—An Elixir for the Sensitive Soul
MY GIFTED-RELATED JOURNEY: INSIGHTS, LEARNING CURVES, AND DESTINY
Life is a work in progress, no matter how old one might be. Each person is “under construction” while reading, writing, observing, listening, playing, thinking, and questioning. When curiosity fuels one’s efforts, the tank never runs dry. And when people stretch their capacities, they become role models for others, and everyone becomes stronger. Experiences: I’ve … [Read more...] about MY GIFTED-RELATED JOURNEY: INSIGHTS, LEARNING CURVES, AND DESTINY
Of Liminality and Finding Ourselves
As a girl, and now a woman, who was still trying to figure out why she didn’t fit a mold or follow a specific path, I began to realize that our identities aren’t about how well and firmly we’re holding a place on one path. It’s about being able to let go of that place or veer off that path, just as long as we’re steady with our own values and dreams, as esoteric and amorphous … [Read more...] about Of Liminality and Finding Ourselves
The Extraordinary, Personal Journey of a Twice-Exceptional Child
Then very early one morning, around 5:00 am, I heard a little voice coming from the living room. I quietly tiptoed down the hallway, before poking my head into the room. I saw Nicholas sitting cross-legged, dressed for school, and reading a book. Tears ran down my face as I watched him achieve something that once appeared impossible. “There is no correlation … [Read more...] about The Extraordinary, Personal Journey of a Twice-Exceptional Child
Connecting with Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration
I’ve learned, during my work over the past few years, that most people in the gifted community are unaware of the origins of the overexcitabilities as disintegrative elements within the theory of positive disintegration. One of my goals with this column is to introduce the aspects of Dabrowski’s theory that haven’t been explored in the gifted field. It’s an honor to have … [Read more...] about Connecting with Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration