The Gift of Gifted?

Posted on September 12th, 2011 by

The Gift of Gifted?

“All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talent.” ~John F. Kennedy

This was one of the quotes that Dr. Patricia Gatto-Walden, Ph.D. shared with students and teachers on her recent visit.

On Thursday, September 8th, 2011, Dr. Patricia Gatto-Walden, Ph.D., an expert and counselor for gifted and advanced students, came to Citrus County to give a presentation to our gifted, middle and high schools students. She also gave training to a number of our teachers and administrators. This is not Dr. Gatto-Walden’s first presentation in Citrus County. Dr. Gatto-Walden has come to Citrus several times in the past giving presentations.  After each of her visits, several parents and teachers would ask me if I had an opportunity to attend her presentations.  I unfortunately had not. So I was most excited, this time, to be able to attend both her student presentation and teacher training.

Dr. Patti Talks to the Students

“Dr. Patti” as she asked the students to call her, was most invested in empowering the students to better understand why they often learn differently than their peers. Understanding a gifted person is often complex and multifaceted but Dr. Patti used examples that were clear to the students, and me.  One example that Dr. Patti used was “comparing the students to television sets”. She explained that a “Typical Student Television Set” would receive (or process) 3 channels. The “Gifted Student Television Set” would receive (or process) about 80 channels. The “Exceptionally Gifted Student Television Set” would receive (or process) about 500 channels and the “Profoundly Gifted Student Television Set” would receive (or process) about 5,000+ channels. This means that while the average student is able to process in their brain about three or so pieces of information and communication at a time the gifted student is able to process approximately eighty pieces of information. Dr. Patti shared with the students that an average student, or person, needs to hear or see a piece of information typically 6 to 7 times for it to be learned while a Gifted students needs typically only to hear or see the information 2 or 3 times to learn it. This can be frustrating for both the student and teacher as the student has learned it and moved on and if they don’t have something new to learn then their mind begins to wander and they become bored and/or sometimes act out. Knowing and understanding this, and becoming more self-aware, Dr. Patti explains, helps both the student and teacher to self-modify their learning. Another important reflection Dr. Patti shared was the “Imposter Syndrome” which often affects the gifted girl students much more often than the gifted boy students. The examples she shared were of what typically (not always) happens with a girl who has Imposter Syndrome. A gifted girl student takes a Math exam and gets an “A” and when she shares how she did she will often say things like, “Wow I was lucky that test was easy”, or “it is good that the teacher covered that as I wouldn’t have passed otherwise” or maybe “the teacher gave an easy test”. On the other hand the gifted boy student who gets an “A” will say, “I am great in math” or “I knew every answer”. Then she shared what often happens in reverse is If the same gifted girl comes back with a “C” she will often say, “See, I told them I am not smart in Math”, or “I did not try hard enough”, or maybe “I feel bad I let the teacher (or my parents) down”. In the same situation the gifted goy student may say if getting a “C”, “that test was stupid”, “I didn’t want to pass it anyway”, or maybe “the teacher didn’t know the right questions to ask”. This syndrome can be devastating to the success of our young women.  The person who often plays the greatest, and most critical role with these young women, are their fathers, the male teachers and coaches in their life. I implore you if you are a father, male teacher or male coach to empower our young women, lift them up and give them the great confidence they need. We must fill up their “cup of life” with so much confidence, love, support and compliance, so that when they face the negatives in middle and high schools (and they will) their “cup” can handle the negatives that they will face.

Double Labeled Gifted Learners

Double-Labeled gifted children are those that are physically or emotionally handicapped in some way and who also have learning disabilities. Often the handicap or disability is what are primarily treated or addressed first and thus the gifted programs do not always identify these children, nor do they offer differentiated programming that addresses and integrates their gifted special needs. This is another reason I have become a supporter of the Florida Department of Education having gifted students under the Exceptional Student Education department.  Dr. Patti shared the one of her own children is “double labeled” being both “Gifted” and “Severely Dyslexic”.

There was just so much information Dr. Patti covered that it is impossible to adequately share it all with you, but I encourage you, if you have the opportunity, to attend one of her next presentations when she comes to Citrus County.  You will learn so much helpful information.

Gifted Resources

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