[DeafSiren]

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.

[ddhuab]

I am interested in articles about early identification of gifted children, and if there are any differences in parenting them. I mean, I don't want to put added pressure on my daughter, but on the other hand, I want to expose her to experiences that will let her develop any talents she might have.

Our daycare moved dd into 3-year-old pre-K a few months ago, and I am a little concerned that this might be putting too much pressure on her. While she can identify letters (capitals anyway, not sure about lowercase) and can make all their sounds (thank you Letter Factory), I don't know that she is "gifted" so much as that she has an excellent memory -- or is that part of being gifted? On the other hand, she is not doing so great at WRITING -- I think her little hands just haven't developed the correct coordination yet. I was trying to be laid back about it, but then the teacher pulled me aside one day and told me I should be practicing with her at home! I was thinking the next step in her "writing ability" would be to have her try to improve coloring in the lines!

Or do gifted kids just start doing advanced things with little parental involvement (you know, in spite of their environment?). I work outside the home, dd is in daycare, we read alot and watch musicals and educational videos together, and play, all the same things I would do whether dd proved to be gifted, average, or below average. I recently put fun labels around some things in the house 1) because I am a scrapbooker and love to stamp things and 2) because I had heard about the practice of making a "language rich environment". She loves seeing the words and has started putting her clothes away because of these labels, I think. For instance, this morning she took off her gown and said, "I put it in the pajama drawer."

My best friend, on the other hand, has a two year old and four year old, and she seems to think my dd is very advanced. I don't want to be a "bad mother" if I am not doing anything special. on one hand I don't want to seem like a doting, bragging mother, and on the other hand I don't want to cheat her out of anything by ignoring things.

-confused

[sh77sh]

Hello DeafSiren, I'm also a newbie, and can't find any place to introduce myself. Nice to meet you.