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Talk to other parents about parenting a gifted child on this forum.

Gifted and talented

What is this “profoundly gifted” malarkey anyway?

41 replies

The3 · 21/06/2018 21:23

There’s a few threads around referring to profound giftedness. Is this actually a thing or is it a poncey way of saying extra specially clever? Or is it some sort of learning disability? Please enlighten me.

OP posts:
BackforGood · 21/06/2018 23:39

A 'Thread about a thread' is actively discouraged on MN.

We'v all tried asking the poster who first used the term, and she refuses to answer, or engage with any posters, which kind of suggests it is something she has made up.

The3 · 22/06/2018 05:05

There are a few though, not just the one yesterday, so I thought it might be a separate class of thing. I shall google instead...

OP posts:
Ozgirl75 · 22/06/2018 05:29

It means really really REALLY gifted, instead of your run of the mill gifted children.

The next level up is “absolutely fucking totally gifted”, followed by “you cannot get more gifted than this, just you dare to try. You will fail as my child could not BE any more gifted”

TheDowagerCuntess · 22/06/2018 05:31
Grin
Jammycustard · 22/06/2018 05:35

It’s an IQ over 160 I believe. However, I think it’s more of a thing in the U. S. I would imagine the parents are diagnosing the child themselves.

shakeyourcaboose · 22/06/2018 05:38

@ozgirl75 I'm hearing that in a zoolander voice Grin blue steel PG or Magnum....?

Ozgirl75 · 22/06/2018 05:43
Grin
Skittlesandbeer · 22/06/2018 05:46

I thought it referred to how typical 7 year olds get treated at Xmas these days? As an only child, and an only niece/grandchild, she could definitely be said to be ‘profoundly gifted’ by late December Grin

Hey, it’s just as valid as any other made up definition we’ve had?!

user789653241 · 22/06/2018 15:40

Quick google says,

Levels of Giftedness

Level IQ Range Prevalence
Moderately Gifted 130 - 144 1:44 - 1:1,000
Highly Gifted 145 - 159 1:1,000 - 1:10,000
Exceptionally Gifted 160 - 179 1:10,000 - 1:1 million
Profoundly Gifted 180+ Fewer than 1:1 million

user789653241 · 22/06/2018 15:41

So, basically fewer than one in a million! Wow, that's actually amazing.

AornisHades · 22/06/2018 15:44

Sounded a lot like elements of very HF ASD to me when I had a Google.

said as the parent of a dc with HF ASD before anyone shouts at me

user789653241 · 22/06/2018 16:30

"There are a few though, not just the one yesterday"

The3, I got a feeling it's all the same person under different names. It's always same scenario and same posting style of not engaging with posters and not replying to the questions.

sirfredfredgeorge · 22/06/2018 17:39

But remember it's only defined in the context of IQ, and IQ only measures some aspects of intelligence, and even then the actual variability in IQ tests can be high (motivation matters, which in kids can be tricky, essentially those who are rewarded by parental praise etc. for doing well in IQ related things, will score higher than others who's parents don't praise, and kid IQ tests are often scaled such that they are particularly unreliable at the high end.)

So it's a term, like gifted itself, that doesn't really mean anything, the kid is not a number or a label.

Toomanydecisions · 22/06/2018 18:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DrWhy · 22/06/2018 18:24

Aww, boo! Age 11 I just missed the cutoff for profoundly gifted by two points!
In reality I was just rather good at IQ tests and the age adjustment on them is pretty dubious. I’m probably still in the ‘fairly bright’ catagory, did well at school and uni and have a decent job but I wasn’t ready for secondary school at age four or publishing academic papers aged 10! IQ isn’t really a great measure of anything except how much you can think like the designer of an IQ test!

haba · 24/06/2018 00:48

It is the same poster. The child has autism, a visual impairment, and is either mute or selectively mute. That's why she won't answer questions, because she doesn't want to hear that actually he would be best served by helping him with his additional needs and socialisation, rather than only focussing on academics.

AornisHades · 24/06/2018 01:06

Oh that's familiar haba. I hadn't realised but now you say it, yes.

RoboJesus · 24/06/2018 21:01

It's just a classification of gifted. Its useful by giving extra information intantly about a child. Like instead of saying I'm a dancer you say ballet dancer.

I think other posters where referencing my thread and others being the same person but my dd isn't disabled or 12 so ¯<span class="underline">(ツ)/¯ I only just joined Mumsnet to see if I could find a support network. I was wrong. Oh well.

Twofishfingers · 24/06/2018 22:07

It's not a well known classification, I have been on this board for some years now and never came across it before.

Although there is something to be said about categorisation of children, I strongly believe that they are all individuals and their needs are different. You come across as very cagey, Robo.

I have received lots of help from other posters on these boards, but my DS is just standard G&T (or high learning potential, whatever the latest buzzword is) in maths so he is definitely not a one-in-a-million child. Posters are usually helpful if the questions are specific and the OP is prepared to answer questions/give details/be helpful. Or receptive to comments.

I have tried to help you on your other post but you don't seen to notice when people are trying to answer your question.

user789653241 · 24/06/2018 22:26

If you're not the same poster, there is other poster who has a child with similar ability and age to your dc, ready for senior school at age 4. Maybe find her thread/post and tag her or PM her?

yoyo1234 · 24/06/2018 22:27

Robojesus look round lots of schools and get a feel for them. Speak to other parents see how they feel about the school . If a child that is good at something is very well supported they may support your child very well as well ( be it music/sport/academics/performance work etc). I think small can have its advantages ( likewise if very large there may be children at the school with similar interests). If selective academically ( hard at primary age) that may increase the likelihood of similar interests etc as well. Pm me if you want.

Twofishfingers · 25/06/2018 08:06

I have experience in a small school and it's very hard as DS is the only one with high ability maths. In my opinion if it's a state school, it's better to go for a larger school. The child may be able to team up with other high ability pupils, and they can socialise/learn together in a small group. They may also have more specialist teachers, whereas in a small school they have fewer TAs and specialist teachers so may not have resources or ability to commit to high ability pupils.

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user789653241 · 25/06/2018 08:17

My ds's school is 3 form entry, but still, there isn't anyone who is close to may ds's maths ability.
I think it's very difficult to cater for outliers in state school. Better to aim for selective private if possible.

French2019 · 25/06/2018 08:24

Robo, if PG children occur at the rate of fewer than one in a million, then that's not even one being born in any given year. Consequently, you're highly unlikely to find much of a support network on here of parents with children in similar positions. There almost certainly won't be any parents of PG children at the same age/stage as your DS, and there will be no more than a handful of parents of PG children of any age across the entire country. I'm disregarding any parents overseas, as they would probably be working in entirely different education systems.

Of course, that's assuming that your DS is actually as exceptional as you seem to think he is, which we don't know as you won't tell us what exactly it is that has led you to that conclusion.

Hiddeninplainsight · 25/06/2018 09:26

www.iqcomparisonsite.com/iqtable.aspx

www.hoagiesgifted.org/highly_profoundly.htm

Taken together these suggest that PG is a bit more common than 1 in a million. Ultimately, a child who is as far out as 0.005 is an extreme outlier, and one most schools will never have seen. Schools will struggle to cope. Nevertheless, as many posters have said, academic ability is a tiny bit of life. Social skills are so much more important for long term happiness. It would be downright cruel to put a 4 year old in a class with 9 year olds. And it wouldn’t solve the problem academically anyway for so many reasons. So, OP by all means look for a support network, but remember that your child considerably more than just the sum of their IQ.

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