Knowing a child’s IQ and understanding some of the concomitants of giftedness is only the beginning of the “gifted journey”. What happens when the gifted child fails to thrive at school? Or begins to have behaviour or social-emotional problems? Could it be a so-called “overexcitability” or “asynchronous development”? Or might it be an unidentified learning disability, an undiagnosed medical or neuro-developmental issue, or a mental health concern? Is it worth delineating the exact cause of a gifted child’s academic underachievement, and does it really matter what it’s called? And what are the obstacles which can sometimes get in our way while we’re trying to solve this puzzle?
This presentation will focus on the child who is gifted “with something else going on” which can sometimes interfere with school achievement and/or social/emotional well-being. Not all learning impairments are apparent in early childhood - indeed, the higher the IQ, the later they are usually identified. In this session, you’ll be offered some explanations for your child’s difficulties other than, “He’s certainly bright, but he’s just not trying!” If you’re keen to learn practical strategies which will enhance your relationship with your child and with their teachers - next week and next decade - then come along and compare experiences with other parents.
No prior knowledge assumed. No unexplained jargon. And no PowerPoint in sight!
Our presenter Carol Barnes is a Canadian who lives in Australia where she holds a part-time honorary appointment as a Visiting Fellow (gifted education) at GERRIC within the School of Education at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney. Carol is also national coordinator and Sydney meeting convenor for GLD Australia, a not-for-profit online learning community/support group focussing on gifted learners with disability (GLD) – also sometimes called ‘twice-exceptional’ students (2E). She is vice-president/parent support group convenor of the Queensland gifted association’s branch on the Gold Coast, where she is a PhD candidate in Law at Bond University.
Before beginning her volunteer work in GLD/2E, Carol earned a Grad LLB/JD at UNSW in 1986 and worked as a finance lawyer with a large international firm in Sydney. Prior to moving to Australia in 1981, she completed three degrees in languages and linguistics at the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa, administered education research funding programs in the Canadian Secretary of State Department, and lectured for a decade in English, linguistics and TESOL at the University of Ottawa.
Carol has provided GLD/2E training for parents and teachers for a wide variety of schools and gifted and disabilities associations. Since 2009, she has made over 100 presentations at gifted, disability, medical, and legal conferences on five continents. She has consulted on GLD/2E to government departments, and has testified on the needs of GLD/2E children before parliamentary inquiries.
All Carol’s advocacy work and presentations are done as a non-paid volunteer.