2015 Association of Educational Therapists Convention, Chicago, Il What IS Normal?
How Does High Intelligence Affect a Child's Temperament and Societal Expectations
Moderator: Cindy Hansen; Panelists: Paul Beljan, Karen Morse, Kaye Ragland
We will begin our session with an interactive experience and discussion. Please write questions on the cards provided and hand them to our moderator so we may add as many as we can into our discussion. Our initial questions include:  Why do expectations, based on published gifted traits, clash with a child’s experience?  How may study skills and temperament develop differently for this population and what should we expect from our students? How do asynchrony and misdiagnosis fit in relation to these skills? Paul Beljan, PsyD “The SENG initiative, created by Dr. James Webb, is a long overdue grass roots project meant to illuminate professionals about the realities of children with gifted intelligence. To those ‘in the know’ gifted children cannot solve their problems any better than other children, and their normal way of being lends itself to being misdiagnosed with erroneous disorders. Most treating professionals are still in the dark about this simple concept. Every report I write and lecture I give has been in the service of meeting my goal to educate allied health professionals, educators, and parents about how and why gifted children are often misunderstood and misdiagnosed. I feel that too often the appropriate life trajectory of these children is irreparably damaged when they are misunderstood or misdiagnosed. Reason, education, and sound clinical and neuropsychological assessment are the primary tools that assure that gifted children remain on the right path.” Dr. Paul Beljan is the past president of the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology. He holds child and adult diplomate qualifications with the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology and the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology. Dr. Beljan completed two Post‐Doctoral Fellowship programs in Pediatric Psychology and Pediatric Neuropsychology, and just earned his post‐doctoral master’s degree in psychopharmacology from New Mexico State University. Dr. Beljan’s professional focus is on Alcohol/Drug Related Neurodevelopmental Deficit (A/DRND), Gifted Intelligence, Learning Disorders, Traumatic Brain Injury, Trauma, and Attention and Executive Functioning Deficit diagnosis and interventions. In May 2013 Dr. Beljan was appointed to the Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners. Dr. Beljan co‐wrote Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults, and has authored several chapters and articles in various publications. Dr. Beljan is a nationally retained forensic neuropsychology expert and has lectured internationally. Connect with Paul at beljanpsychologicalservices.com Cynthia Z. Hansen, MEd, ET/P “My passion for serving the twice exceptional community and gifted students with executive function challenges began with my two very different children who became my first students and mentors as they journeyed between learning differences, asynchrony, boredom and self discovery. Now in college, we continue to encounter the joys and angst of education and how it impacts their self views. I value the complexities of our internal viewpoints and sharing our varied journeys as we process light, facts, theories, art, philosophy and relationships through the lens of our sensitive natures.” Cynthia Z Hansen, M.Ed., ET/P, is an Educational Therapist/Professional in private practice, the Coordinator of Educational Services for The Knox School of Santa Barbara for Gifted Children, a SENG Model Parent Group Facilitator, and an active member in the Association for Educational Therapy and the Tri‐
County GATE Council serving Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. She specializes in the needs of the high ability community, assisting adults and children to embrace their complex learning profiles by unmasking their challenges, delays, ineffective strategies or disabilities and cultivating new systems to strengthen focus, organization, motivation and study skills. Ms Hansen received her Masters of Education and Teaching Certificates from UCLA and her post‐masters certificate in Gifted and Talented Education from UCSB. Connect with Cindy at [email protected] or CynthiaZHansen.com 2015 Association of Educational Therapists Convention, Chicago, Il What IS Normal?
How Does High Intelligence Affect a Child's Temperament and Societal Expectations
Moderator: Cindy Hansen; Panelists: Paul Beljan, Karen Morse, Kaye Ragland
Karen Morse, MA In the ordinary elementary school situation, children of 140 IQ waste half of their time; those above 170 IQ waste practically all of their time. With little to do, how can these children develop power of sustained effort, respect for the task, of habits of steady work? (Leta Hollingworth 1942). “I read this timeless warning to teachers and parents early in my career and it has guided many of my decisions both as an advocate for this special population and as a parent of highly gifted children. It is a rare educator who has the training or commitment to meet the disparate needs of this minority group. Highly and profoundly gifted children come from all ethnic and socio‐economic groups and all of them are highly at risk for underachievement. As a nation, we are making progress recognizing and accepting differences in our student population, but we have a long way to go for this group that is so unlike their chronological peers that there is no basis for comparison. Effective services in schools often elude the capacity of general education teachers and administration. Misperceptions and inaccurate labeling of gifted children can cause a lifetime of unnecessary challenges. Discussion of identification and effective programming will reveal the importance of intervention for this unique and underserved population.” Karen Morse, MA in Special Education: Gifted, is a long‐time teacher and administrator with more than twenty‐five years’ experience working with gifted children. She has written numerous articles and spoken locally and nationally on topics related to meeting the needs of gifted students at home and at school, with a specific focus on homeschooling and special programming for highly and profoundly gifted young people. Karen continues her work in independent school leadership as Head of The Knox School of Santa Barbara for Gifted and Talented Children, and facilitates continuing growth of the unique community of learners. Connect with Karen at [email protected] . Kaye Ragland Ed.D, MFT, BCET “Since my first teaching job in 1967, I have been passionate about the relationships involved in the delicate, dynamic, and precious process of teaching and learning. In my work as an educational therapist, classroom teacher, resource specialist, administrator, school counselor, psychotherapist, and university instructor I have observed the process from many perspectives. But, by far my greatest qualification for my work with twice exceptional and other students with special needs is what I affectionately call my learning lab household. I have successfully navigated the school systems and beyond with a typically developing child, a child with ADHD, a highly gifted child and a twice exceptional child. The road to the destination of adulthood was different for each of my children, and what I learned from those sometimes rocky journeys was the importance of embracing, honoring, and fighting for, the unique and intricate complexity of every heart and mind as they develop into the best, brightest and most successful adults they can be. It is this perspective that I bring to my work with students, parents, and teachers.” Kaye Ragland Ed.D, LMFT, BCET is a Board Certified Educational Therapist in private practice, the Coordinator of Student Support Services for The Hollywood Schoolhouse, an instructor in the Antioch Teacher Education, and UC Riverside Educational Therapy Certification programs, and a Board Member for the Association of Educational Therapists.. Dr. Ragland received her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Change from Fielding Graduate University and her Teaching Credential and MA in Marriage, Child and Family Counseling from Pacific Oaks College. Collaboration between parents, students and professionals in service of emotional growth and learning is an important focus of her practice. Connect with Kaye at [email protected] 2015 Association of Educational Therapists Convention, Chicago, Il What IS Normal?
How Does High Intelligence Affect a Child's Temperament and Societal Expectations
Moderator: Cindy Hansen; Panelists: Paul Beljan, Karen Morse, Kaye Ragland
Is It a Cheetah?
© 1996 Stephanie S. Tolan http://www.stephanietolan.com/is_it_a_cheetah.htm
It's a tough time to raise, teach or be a highly gifted child. As the term "gifted" and the unusual
intellectual capacity to which that term refers become more and more politically incorrect, the
educational establishment changes terminology and focus.
Giftedness, a global, integrative mental capacity, may be dismissed, replaced by fragmented
"talents" which seem less threatening and theoretically easier for schools to deal with. Instead of an
internal developmental reality that affects every aspect of a child's life, "intellectual talent" is more and
more perceived as synonymous with (and limited to) academic achievement.
The child who does well in school, gets good grades, wins awards, and "performs" beyond the
norms for his or her age, is considered talented. The child who does not, no matter what his innate
intellectual capacities or developmental level, is less and less likely to be identified, less and less likely
to be served.
A cheetah metaphor can help us see the problem with achievement-oriented thinking. The
cheetah is the fastest animal on earth. When we think of cheetahs we are likely to think first of their
speed. It's flashy. It is impressive. It's unique. And it makes identification incredibly easy. Since
cheetahs are the only animals that can run 70 mph, if you clock an animal running 70 mph, IT'S A
CHEETAH!
But cheetahs are not always running. In fact, they are able to maintain top speed only for a
limited time, after which they need a considerable period of rest.
It's not difficult to identify a cheetah when it isn't running, provided we know its other
characteristics. It is gold with black spots, like a leopard, but it also has unique black "tear marks"
beneath its eyes. Its head is small, its body lean, its legs unusually long -- all bodily characteristics
critical to a runner. And the cheetah is the only member of the cat family that has non-retractable claws.
Other cats retract their claws to keep them sharp, like carving knives kept in a sheath --the cheetah's
claws are designed not for cutting but for traction. This is an animal biologically designed to run.
Its chief food is the antelope, itself a prodigious runner. The antelope is not large or heavy, so
the cheetah does not need strength and bulk to overpower it. Only speed. On the open plains of its
natural habitat the cheetah is capable of catching an antelope simply by running it down.
While body design in nature is utilitarian, it also creates a powerful internal drive. The cheetah
needs to run!
Despite design and need however, certain conditions are necessary if it is to attain its famous
70 mph top speed. It must be fully grown. It must be healthy, fit and rested. It must have plenty of room
to run. Besides that, it is best motivated to run all out when it is hungry and there are antelope to chase.
If a cheetah is confined to a 10 X 12 foot cage, though it may pace or fling itself against the bars
in restless frustration, it won't run 70 mph.
IS IT STILL A CHEETAH?
If a cheetah has only 20 mph rabbits to chase for food, it won't run 70 mph while hunting. If it
did, it would flash past its prey and go hungry! Though it might well run on its own for exercise,
recreation, fulfillment of its internal drive, when given only rabbits to eat the hunting cheetah will run
only fast enough to catch a rabbit.
IS IT STILL A CHEETAH?
If a cheetah is fed Zoo Chow it may not run at all.
IS IT STILL A CHEETAH?
If a cheetah is sick or if its legs have been broken, it won't even walk.
IS IT STILL A CHEETAH?
And finally, if the cheetah is only six weeks old, it can't yet run 70 mph.
IS IT, THEN, ONLY A *POTENTIAL* CHEETAH?