Giftedness
What is Giftedness?
A wide variety of definitions of giftedness exist, depending on the purpose and focus of the organisation proposing the definition. For the purposes of Nebula College, we find the definition by the Columbus Group of 1991 a very helpful and practical definition that gives guiding principles which can be used very effectively in gifted education:
“Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching and counselling in order for them to develop optimally.”
Gifted children do not develop equally advanced in all areas of their being. The term ‘asynchronous development’ indicates this reality that gifted children experience. This means that a child can for example be very advanced in Mathematics, but not in Social Sciences. Or possesses significantly advanced language skills, but her emotional development might be lagging. This leads to interesting complexities that are crucial to consider when planning an educational environment for gifted children. Furthermore, the heightened intensities seen in gifted children also need to be taken into account and supported in order for a gifted child to feel safe in his / her environment and to be able to learn optimally.
The third component touched on in the first sentence of the definition is advanced cognitive abilities. This is the characteristic that is traditionally most associated with giftedness. Though our understanding of the complexities of giftedness has grown significantly in the past decades, a keen mind and advanced intellectual ability are still important aspects of giftedness. In order to create an environment where gifted children can be intellectually stimulated and challenged, we need to ensure that a prospective learner has the potential to benefit from our enriched and advanced learning environment. In order to ascertain this, a report from a counselling or educational psychologist is required as part of your initial application.
Twice-exceptionality (2E) is a term that was developed to describe people who are intellectually gifted but have another diagnosis that complicates or hampers their functioning, e.g. dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, ASD, etc. At Nebula, we focus on an educational environment for gifted learners. For twice-exceptional learners, it is imperative to ensure that the most pressing needs of the child are met. That might be his / her need for gifted education and heightened stimulation and Nebula might be the best fit, provided that the child can function well in the environment we create. It may however also mean that the need for special support in a remedial environment is truly needed, in which case Nebula would not be the appropriate choice of environment. 2E children will be considered on an individual basis.
Screening & Admission
Due to the specialised nature of our learning environment, please note that registration is by invitation only, after a process of screening.
Online resources related to giftedness:
- SENG (www.sengifted.org): Focused on social & emotional needs of gifted people; also a wide variety of general giftedness articles.
- www.davidsongifted.org: Davidson Institute for highly / profoundly gifted. Many articles related to general giftedness as well.
- https://brightandquirky.com: Great variety of resources regarding parenting 2E children; support for 2E families.
- Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (Facebook & www.giftedhomeschoolers.org): Started as gifted homeschooler’s support, now extended to more services for the gifted population, especially related to education.
- www.gro-gifted.org: Scientific information and research.
- www.gifteddevelopment.com: General information regarding giftedness.
- Raisinglifelonglearners.com: Gifted parenting blog.
- Rainforestmind.wordpress.com: Gifted adult blog
- My-little-poppies.com: Gifted and 2E parenting and homeschool blog
Recommended books:
A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children
Webb, Gore, Amend and De Vries
Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students: Helping Kids Cope with Explosive Feelings
Christine Fonseca
Living with Intensity
Susan Daniels, Michael M Piechowski
Recommended professionals: