This caught my interest because when I was in the classroom, I was always concerned about meeting the needs of children with differences, including gifted students. I was bored a lot in school, so I know how it feels to have your time wasted day after day while the teacher reviews things for the other kids.
My interest now is regarding giftedness and autism. My two sons and one cousin are diagnosed autistic. The first one diagnosed (at age 10) was my older son. I had read many books trying to find the answer to his unexplained difficulties. One was called "Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of GIfted Children and Adults." I wasn't sure after reading the book, but I knew he must be very bright, and he was identified as gifted by the school at age 7. When the school tested him for special education, they found he had a very high IQ. I don't remember the number, but they described it as "near genius." The description you have on the first slide of "Giftedness and Asynchrony - the Neuroscience" sounds very much like my son (and me). It also lines up with autistic characteristics. He does have additional difficulties with social interactions, and during testing he showed a complete lack of reciprocity. I just wonder what your thoughts are about distinguishing autism from giftedness, or how they may go hand-in-hand at times.
Here is Dr. Gopika's response- you may write to her directly at gopika.kannan@gmail.com if you wish to continue to the discussion further.
The short answer is, yes, giftedness and autism can co-exist (twice exceptionality), but it is less common than we think. It really depends on who is testing the child. Sometimes the child may be preoccupied or withdrawn due to boredom and can appear to have the same behaviors and characteristics as autism. So, the question is- is the lack of reciprocity constant? Has that behavior changed over the years? Do the difficulties with social interactions stem from anxiety or a lack of exposure to other kids (if the child is homeschooled and radically accelerated)? These are some indicators which can help distinguish autism from giftedness.
Like I mentioned in the talk, there are overlapping characteristics but some very distinguishing features as well. Gifted children demonstrate rapid comprehension and skip thinking, a tendency towards abstract and big picture thinking, emotional awareness at an early age, concern for existential issues, need for complexity and thrive in chaos, need for deep interpersonal connections (which are not typical of autism).
Also, if giftedness and autism go together it is important to celebrate the neurodiversity and not try to normalize the child. Also, it is important that any therapy/support services the child may be tailored to accommodate the giftedness or the child will be bored and withdrawn. I recommend reading "The Spark".
Thanks for your comment Beth. We are ourselves not qualified to comment on the question you have raised. But we are sharing this with a couple of specialists and will revert once we hear from them.
This caught my interest because when I was in the classroom, I was always concerned about meeting the needs of children with differences, including gifted students. I was bored a lot in school, so I know how it feels to have your time wasted day after day while the teacher reviews things for the other kids.
My interest now is regarding giftedness and autism. My two sons and one cousin are diagnosed autistic. The first one diagnosed (at age 10) was my older son. I had read many books trying to find the answer to his unexplained difficulties. One was called "Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of GIfted Children and Adults." I wasn't sure after reading the book, but I knew he must be very bright, and he was identified as gifted by the school at age 7. When the school tested him for special education, they found he had a very high IQ. I don't remember the number, but they described it as "near genius." The description you have on the first slide of "Giftedness and Asynchrony - the Neuroscience" sounds very much like my son (and me). It also lines up with autistic characteristics. He does have additional difficulties with social interactions, and during testing he showed a complete lack of reciprocity. I just wonder what your thoughts are about distinguishing autism from giftedness, or how they may go hand-in-hand at times.
Here is Dr. Gopika's response- you may write to her directly at gopika.kannan@gmail.com if you wish to continue to the discussion further.
The short answer is, yes, giftedness and autism can co-exist (twice exceptionality), but it is less common than we think. It really depends on who is testing the child. Sometimes the child may be preoccupied or withdrawn due to boredom and can appear to have the same behaviors and characteristics as autism. So, the question is- is the lack of reciprocity constant? Has that behavior changed over the years? Do the difficulties with social interactions stem from anxiety or a lack of exposure to other kids (if the child is homeschooled and radically accelerated)? These are some indicators which can help distinguish autism from giftedness.
Like I mentioned in the talk, there are overlapping characteristics but some very distinguishing features as well. Gifted children demonstrate rapid comprehension and skip thinking, a tendency towards abstract and big picture thinking, emotional awareness at an early age, concern for existential issues, need for complexity and thrive in chaos, need for deep interpersonal connections (which are not typical of autism).
Also, if giftedness and autism go together it is important to celebrate the neurodiversity and not try to normalize the child. Also, it is important that any therapy/support services the child may be tailored to accommodate the giftedness or the child will be bored and withdrawn. I recommend reading "The Spark".
Thanks for your comment Beth. We are ourselves not qualified to comment on the question you have raised. But we are sharing this with a couple of specialists and will revert once we hear from them.