WHAT's GOING ON WITH DAKOTA?

It’s day one of first grade!  Yay!!  You see little Dakota off at the bus stop and turn around hoping that this school year is more fruitful than the last.  Your stomach knots thinking about the constant stream of phone calls that you received last year in reference to your kid’s behavior.  “Little Dakota isn’t getting along with the other children.”  “Little Dakota keeps interrupting me when I’m speaking.”  “Little Dakota is being disruptive.”  “Little Dakota this.”  “Little Dakota that.”  “Little Dakota… wah wah woh wah wah wah.”  (Think Ms. Othmar, the teacher from Charlie Brown.)

Day one passes uneventfully and your child returns home smiling and all is well with the world!  Days two and three are uneventful as well and you allow yourself to take a few shallow breaths.  Week two passes and you think you’re home free… perhaps Little Dakota has finally made a transition in terms of maturity!  Then the phone calls begin… sigh.  The teacher is complaining that your child is a behavioral issue and that perhaps he needs to be evaluated.  Now wait a minute!  Little Dakota doesn’t need an evaluation!  Dakota is perfectly able to follow rules at home and is quite amazingly able to focus effectively when he’s engaged in an activity that he’s interested in.  Dakota is also quiet and focused when he is lost in a book.  All of these things you relay to “Ms. Othmar”… who is, by the way, convinced that Little Dakota is an amped-up, alien-baby who’s an imminent danger to the future educational advancement of all his human classmates.  Sheesh!   What’s a parent to do? 

The truth is that Dakota may be bored out of his young, first grade mind and looking for alternate ways to entertain himself while enduring forced sequestration with children who he feels are no company for him.  The truth is that Little Dakota is very likely gifted.  Parents often wonder at one point or another whether their child is gifted.  What does gifted mean anyway?  What measure is used to assess the level of a child’s abilities?  Is it possible to be gifted in ways other than academically? 

The term, gifted, is used by different schools, organizations, and cultures in many different ways.  Little Dakota may have a well above average IQ (Intelligence Quotient), an extraordinarily high emotional IQ or a great level of maturity, but those aren’t the only gauges of gifted ability.  Gifted children may be gauged by a broader range of criteria.  The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) offers the following definition:

"Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10 percent or rarer) in one or more domains. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports)."

Well before you think to have your child formally tested, consider that kids are often commonly identified as gifted by the observations of families, teachers, and friends.  Below are some of the characteristic traits of children gifted in terms of general intellectual ability, adapted from a detailed checklist from Austega (a group for people interested in resources for the gifted child).  Note: no one gifted child exhibits all the traits.

1. Learns rapidly, easily, and efficiently 
2. Has exceptionally large vocabulary for their age
3. Demonstrates unusual reasoning power
4. Has an unusually strong memory, but is bored with memorization and recitation
5. Needs little outside control — applies self-discipline
6. Has a liking for structure, order, and consistency
7. Is flexible in thinking patterns; makes unusual associations between remote ideas
8. Displays a great curiosity about objects, situations, or events; asks provocative questions
9. Makes good grades in most subjects
10. Has a power of concentration, an intense attention that excludes all else
11. Provides very alert, rapid answers to questions
12. Is resourceful, solving problems by ingenious methods
13. Has avid interest in science or literature
14. Reveals originality in oral and written expression
15. Has a power of abstraction, conceptualization and synthesis
16. Is secure emotionally
17. Tends to dominate peers or situations
18. Uses a lot of common sense
19. Displays a willingness to accept complexity
20. Is perceptually open to his or her environment

Your child may also show exceptional abilities in other categories such as specific academic aptitude, creative thinking and production, leadership, psychomotor ability, and visual and performing arts.

Academic aptitude specific to a particular subject

• shows similar characteristics to general intellectual ability but concentrated around one or a few fields
• has a long attention span in specific areas of interest
• learns rapidly, easily and with less repetition in one or a few specific areas (probably not all subject areas)
• likes or loves one or a few areas of knowledge
• likes to study some subjects more than others
• spends time voluntarily beyond ordinary assignments on projects of interest to him or her
• is able to extend learning from these key areas to various situations somewhat unrelated in orientation
• is able to show broad perspective on one or more subject areas
• is able to judge own and others' relative abilities in key areas of interest
• seeks assistance of others beyond his age or peer group for the purpose of extending knowledge in areas of interest

Creative thinking and production

• is fluent in producing and elaborating on ideas
• makes unusual associations between remote ideas
•  is flexible in thinking patterns
• senses when problems exist
• acts spontaneously, intuitively
• tolerates ambiguity and uncertainty
• senses inconsistencies and discontinuities
• readily guesses and makes hypotheses
• juggles or redefines elements of a problem or task
• can show intense concentration on a task
• retains own ideas in a discussion or collaboration
• provides multiple solutions or responses to problems
• is uninhibited in expression, sometimes radical
• is intellectually playful, interested in fantasy, imagination
• always trying to adapt or improve things
• has a keen sense of humor, seeing humor in situations others don't
• doesn't mind being different
• doesn't accept authoritarian pronouncements without own judgment
• asks provocative questions, challenges parents, teachers, written texts and other authorities
• is bored with memorization and recitation
• displays energy, sometimes disruptively
• produces unexpected, sometimes "silly" responses
• is considered, and perhaps resented, by some peers as "odd"
• can show unusual degrees of originality, concentration and persistent hard work on projects that capture their interest and imagination 

Leadership

• can stimulate and arouse others
•  organizes others
• recognizes skills and abilities possessed by others
• interacts with others easily showing social skills
• recognizes and can articulate the goals of a group
• can articulate ideas clearly
• can listen to others empathetically
• understands how people feel and how groups function
• can give directions clearly and effectively
• exercises authority reliably and responsibly
• can adopt non-leadership roles within a group
• can establish the mood of a group
• supports others in a group when appropriate
•  can coordinate the work of several individuals
• is often asked for ideas and suggestions
• is looked to by others when something must be decided 

Psychomotor ability

• is rhythmic
• is athletic
• likes to play physically
• has a suitable body build
• is coordinated, balanced and confident in physical activities
• is inventive in constructing or modifying games
• is energetic
• is able to understand the intellectual aspects of psychomotor activities
• demonstrates endurance, stamina and persistence in physical activities
• demonstrates prowess in physical activities 

Visual and performing arts

Music

•  has good sense of rhythm
• is well-coordinated
• discriminates musical and other sounds well
• understands musical relationships
• enjoys musical activities and demonstrates musical feeling
• shows tonal memory
• responds readily to rhythm, melody and harmony
• uses music to express feeling or experience
• makes up original tunes
• enjoys dance and dramatic activities with musical elements 

Drama/theatre

• demonstrates interest and enjoyment in dramatic activities
• readily shifts into role of another character, animal or object
• uses voice to reflect changes in mood
• demonstrates understanding of conflict when acting out a dramatic event
• communicates feelings by means of facial expressions, gestures and bodily movements
• enjoys evoking emotional responses from listeners
• demonstrates ability to dramatize feelings and experiences
• brings a dramatic situation to a climax with a well-timed ending when telling a story 

Art

• draws a variety of objects
•  puts depth into drawing, showing planning and good proportion
• treats art seriously and enjoys it
• shows originality in modes of undertaking art
• is willing to try out new materials and experiences
• pursues art in spare time
• uses art to express feelings and experiences
• is interested in other people's art, both appreciating it and criticizing it
• likes to model three dimensionally with clay, soap carving, plasticine, etc. 

Before you run out and have Dakota evaluated for a learning disability, consider that Dakota may be asking for a more challenging environment.  Give Dakota the benefit of the doubt… he just may be thinking on a WayBeyondZ level.

Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.