Gifted Kids with Special Needs
Some Links on Gifted Kids and Special Needs:
- Resources for Gifted Children with Special Needs
- ERIC Clearinghouse on Gifted and Special Needs Education
- Special Needs and Liabilities of Gifted Children
Gifted Kids need enrichment or acceleration and a challenge in school, or they become bored. They can show some of the same symptoms found in kids who have ADHD, or Asperger's Syndrome. Being gifted is certainly not a disorder, but there are still some educational and social challenges.
My daughter, Emily, is gifted. My daughter Emily also has Asperger's Syndrome. In school, these two things can't be seperated. We can't only teach gifted Emily and we can't only accomodate Asperger's.
In our experience, special needs students are often taught to the lowest common denominator. A gifted child who needs some accomodations, would obviously not flourish in that environment. An intellectually gifted child would not do well, if they also had a disability that was not accomodated. Both parts need to be adequately given attention to ensure a child's success.
Here in Pennsylvania, we have the AIM program. It is for intellectually gifted students and those who are in the program have their program written in a Gifted Individualized Education Plan, or GIEP.
For special needs students, the document that details their needs and accomodations is called an Individualized Education plan, or IEP.
They both sound pretty similar, but there are some major differences. GIEP progress isn't by law reported quarterly, and goals aren't measured in the same way as an IEP. There is no way of measuring whether special needs goals are being met consistently in a GIEP as it is defined now. For a gifted special needs student, an IEP is necessary for measuring those goals, and amending them as necessary. It's called a dual diagnosis. An IEP is a legal blueprint about how your child will progress, and by what measure of success.
An IEP is necessary to protect an identified special needs child's legal right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education.
For more information please visit the links at the top of this page.
