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There already exists lots of information on giftedness in books and on the internet.  I will be providing links to previous pages and blogs I’ve created as well as some suggested articles to read.  I will also be providing a list of movies about giftedness or gifted individuals. I am putting the link to acronyms for gifted on its own because Hoagies did such an awesome job that I don’t have to write them.  See, originally that is what this blog was going to be, but they already did it!  Just like special education has its own language, the gifted education world has it’s too.  So thank you to Hoagies’ GIfted Education Page for compiling a very comprehensive list.  It is important that you understand the key terms and acronyms used in the gifted education world as K-12 schools, universities, teachers, parents, advocates, doctors, and psychologists all have special terms or acronyms they use.  In addition, the more you know the better you can advocate for your child.

Before I get to the lists of links, I want to provide a list of synonyms (thanks to several online thesauruses) for gifted: Talented, Skillful, Skilled, Accomplished, Expert, Consummate, Masterly, Virtuoso, First-rate, Able, Apt, Exceptional,  Adept, Proficient, Prodigy, Intelligent, Clever, Bright, Brilliant, Smart, Precocious, Top-notch, and Ace.  This is relevant considering the terms floating in the blog world and in the mainstream media.  In addition, the word gifted isn’t always viewed positively by other and is often misused.  The term “Gifted” actually has up to 200 meanings according to an article in New Zealand after you factor all the different countries legal definitions, medical or psychological definitions, and educational definitions.  For most gifted means having a natural ability or exceptional talent greater than 2% of the population.  Not everyone is gifted, only about 2% of the population up to 6% depending whose definition and score cut-off.  Some researchers argue that the actual number is in the 5 to 10% range when factoring that many of the tests used to identify gifted don’t actually measure all the areas in which giftedness can arise.  The point is, the word can be confusing.

Hoagies’ Gifted Educational Pages has an amazing and comprehensive list of all possible acronyms or terms used in gifted education that can be found here. The list is even in alphabetical order.  This saved me from writing them out and should be viewed by any parent or teacher of a gifted child.  More importantly, if you are new to the world of gifted education, please start here so you know the lingo when you attend meetings at your child’s school.

A previous blog I wrote called “What is in all those numbers?” is a great read for anyone trying to understand what various scores mean.  I explain the type of scores obtained and provide links for graphs and charts to help better understand score reports teachers and parents often see but don’t have explained.

Here are previous blogs I wrote specifically for a deeper understanding giftedness:

Here are some relevant online articles and blogs for giftedness from others:

Here is a list of movies based on gifted individuals:

  • Pollock (gifted artist)
  • Rainman (autistic savant)
  • Searching for Bobby Fischer (gifted in chess)
  • Little Man Tate (child prodigy)
  • A Beautiful Mind (gifted in mathematics)
  • Amadeus (gifted in music)
  • Dark Matter (gifted in physics)
  • Finding Forrester (gifted in writing)
  • My Kid Could Paint That (prodigy artist)
  • Akeelah and the Bee (gifted in spelling)
  • Shine (piano prodigy)
  • Billy Elliot (ballet prodigy)
  • Matilda (young gifted girl)
  • October Sky (gifted in rocketry or science)
  • Spellbound (group of spelling bee competitors)
  • Big Hero 6 (groups of gifted students in science & robotics)
  • Dead Poets Society (gifted in English)
  • Gifted Hands (gifted surgeon)
  • Good Will Hunting (gifted in math)
  • Proof (gifted in math)
  • The Royal Tenenbaums (family of gifted prodigies)
  • Rise (documentary on profoundly giftedness)

And, of course, there are lots of help books on giftedness (there are way more than these listed):

  • Genius Denied by Jan & Bob Davidson
  • Accidental Genius by Kevin & Cassidy Kearney
  • Bringing Out the Best: A Resource Guide for Parents of Young Gifted Children by Jacqulyn Saunders
  • The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Kids by Sally Y. Walker
  • Keys to Parenting the Gifted Child by Sylvia Rimm
  • Bright, Talented, and Black: Guide for Families of African American Gifted Learners by Joy Davis
  • Exceptionally Gifted by Miraca Gross
  • 5 Levels of Gifted by Deborah Ruff

I know that there are even more gifted resources out there than listed above.  I hope this at least helps foster a better understanding of gifted.  The more people know, the better they will understand that gifted is a learning difference and they need help too.

There are more current blogs on Gifted 101 at Hoagies’ for this months blog hop!

BlogHopGifted101