Special Needs/Gifted & Talented

Comment

Comment by Heather Brown on October 3, 2009 at 10:12pm

I started out by trying to get a SEPTA in our area. Instead I found out about SAGE (special and gifted education). It's a committee of the PTA that meets the needs of diverse learners without having to do our own fundraisers, collect additional dues or have a complete board. Instead, our members are able to focus on their passion rather than having to fill board positions. Instead of a small group of parents advocating for our diverse learners, our entire PTA stands for the needs of all students.

Comment by Diane Kerchner on October 2, 2009 at 11:14am

Hi. I just want to say that here in Los Angeles, California we have a dearth of Special Ed PTAs and we desperately need them. Diane Kerchner

Comment by Chantal Cravens on September 29, 2009 at 4:01pm

There is a lot of great information online about gifted kids. Visit these websites: www.hoagiesgifted.org; www.sengifted.org, www.pagegifted.org.
Join your school's School Site Council and be a voice for these students. Ask how their needs are being met.
One way to meet the needs of individual learning differences is to have leveled classes: not ready- ready to go- and ready to run (low-med-high). Have flexibility within these groups. Reassess often to see their progess and make sure that placement meets their needs.
Let kids switch to an upper grade class in a single subject strength area- for example, a gifted first grader attending a third grade reading class.
Also, patch holes while looking at strengths. Use technology to assist with their learning. There is a free program called ReadPlease 2003 which reads electronic text aloud. This could be used for kids with vision problems, ELL students and struggling readers to make the content more accessible. For kids with typing issues, there is a free download from Microsoft with the Service Pack 3 download. It is a speech to text function. You can speak into a microphone and the computer types what you are saying.
No child has time to learn what they already know. Therefore, we need to use assessment and small groupings to meet their needs. I agree that it is not realistic for each child to have an IEP. But, there are do-able options, especially when teachers team up on planning.

Comment by Carol Fairshter on September 29, 2009 at 12:56pm

I have two daughters, one is "gifted" and one is "special needs". In response to the comment by LearnAdaptGrow...First, can anyone really define "normal"? A preferred term is "typical". You refer to 3 distinct groups, but many children actually fall into two or all 3 of those groups. There are children who are gifted in certain areas, typical in others, and may also have a learning disorder. Wouldn't it be great if EVERY child had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP)? Obviously unrealistic, but many of the concepts used for individualizing a "special education" (SpEd) kid's learning can also be applied to gifted students -- assess strengths/weaknesses, clear measurable individualized goals, time frames, goal progress tracking. It just isn't really done that way currently. Differentiated learning helps, but isn't quite the same thing. I must say though, that in our District, middle school (and probably HS) support gifted students much better than at our elem schools.

Comment by Teresa MacBride on September 23, 2009 at 10:14am

I was wondering the same. I am attemtping to start a parent resource center at our school and there is so much focus on the kids that are struggling. What can we do for the gifted in the resource center. Any ideas????

Comment by LearnAdaptGrow on September 22, 2009 at 5:28pm

How do we balance the needs of talented children, versus normal children, versus challenged children to keep them engaged throughout the year. There seems to be more and more focus on bringing the 'bottom up', but can lead to leaving the talented children with little encouragement to challenge themselves.

How do we strike a balance?