Hello everyone. I've been on the forum for a few years, but just found the Gifted category tonight. I'm looking for some ideas and advice if anyone has some time to do that.
DS is only 7 months 3 weeks old right now. DH and I have always had a "laid back" philosophy of parenting...meaning don't pressure the kid to accomplish, don't compare timing of milestones with other parents, etc. However, we have a very open adoption and DS's birthmom was over tonight and noticed how "wiggly" he is during changing time...he's not content to lie still, is constantly looking around, wanting to go and check things out. She told us that her mom said this was a characteristic of gifted children, so that caused me to do some research tonight...despite the books saying that gifted children cannot be identified in infancy...and I found some characteristics that matched DS *exactly.*
So, here's the scoop: birthmother is highly intelligent, his birth aunt just scored 33-35 (out of 36) on her ACT tests for college, birth uncle didn't speak until he was two and then just started in with complete sentences, he tests high, is a C student and is about to "take a break" from college. Birthdad we haven't met in person, but from what information we've been given by birthgrandmom he has symptoms of undiagnosed Asperger's or something similar.
DS has been extremely active since birth. He's never needed much sleep, he's very curious and not content to be still. He first rolled over at 3 months, crawled at 5 months, stood up by himself at 7 months and started cruising in the past few days. He's constantly making his way around the house trying new things. We have babyproofed as much as we can and so we let him roam and explore as much as safely possible. He's always been bored with his toys extremely quickly. When a new toy is presented he very happily plays with it...for a day or two. The bathtub is the first place he went from lying on his stomach to sitting, and from sitting to standing. He has figured out how to unplug the drain and now is working on figuring out the faucets. Linguistically, I'm not sure how he will do. Because DH and I are hard of hearing, we use ASL with him in addition to talking, but mostly we are focusing on signing. He hasn't shown babbling with his hands yet, but he does a lot with his voice as far as we can tell.
Sorry this post is so long, but here are my questions: is it too early to treat him like he is gifted? How can we encourage his talents without pressuring him or raising our expectations? Do you have some suggestions to nurture him even at this young age? I found the website for the National Association of Gifted Children, but it seems it wasn't working...are there other organizations you'd recommend?
Many Thanks,
L.