Gifted children - New group starting in Edinburgh.

[Flaxhigh]

Calling all 'gifted' kids in and around Edinburgh. A new social group is starting so kids can meet up (with their parents at first.) If you have a child who has been assessed by a child psychologist as 'gifted' with a high IQ I'd love to hear from you. Please contact me at [email protected].

[Flaxhigh]

Primary school age at the moment.

[schoolrunmummy]

This could be the answer to our prayers! Our 6 year old has had his IQ assessed at 152 and his vocabulary is similar to an adults - it's driving me nuts! While other kids enjoy looking at Ben 10 comics, he has his head stuck in an reference book of World War II and anything on the natural world.His elder siblings are also very bright but this little guy is like an old man cut down and his constant questions can be very wearing.School have been fab but how do teach such a child and how socially does he feel when his peer group should really be 12 year olds and not P2's.He's very popular mostly because he has such an amazing imagination and he enjoys sharing his knowledge but to be honest he gets very little from school and can't wait to get out of there!He can't wait to join his brother at boarding school but we have another 6 years before this will be happening! It would be great for him to meet other children similar to him.
Well Done - i'll be in touch

[Flaxhigh]

Hi there,
So glad to hear from you schoolrunmummy. Do email me or message me. We have also started a Scotland forum within NAGC (National Association of Gifted Children) - though apparently there are only 5 members from Scotland -(I think because it has been very England based and Scotland has been left out of the loop so no one has bothered to join. If you join the NAGC there are forums for both adults and kids). There was a Scottish NAGC but it is defunkt.

We're going to try and get a group going by linking up primary schools (though the head teacher) within their system to contact any gifted kids. If you are in the independent sector - could you do the same thing, I wonder? Our son is 8 with a IQ of 170 plus (we went to see the expert in the field Prof Freeman in London after seeing a programme on telly and realising: that's our son!)Ted sounds very much like your son - loves those reference books!! But unfortunately people don't 'get' him at primary school (nor independent school - which we took him out of as they were useless - primary is actually better for this as they are legally obliged to respond to his needs) and so he is definitely isolated whereas his 'bright' but not necessarily 'gifted' (not that I like that word) brother has loads of friends...(breaks my heart a bit...)
Anyway, look forward to hearing from you!

[githa]

I would like to know what kind of help parents provided their gifted children before they were at school, ie. when they are 2-4years old.

[Flaxhigh]

None. My son didn't go to nursery nor pre-school. He started primary school at 5.

[nurserymummy]

Hi, typing in "gifted in Scotland" as I do with some regularity these days and low and behold..... an actual ray of hope!

I am a mum to a 6 year old boy who has had some difficulties to say the least. The short version is that he has had behavioural problems since nursery and is now in P2. During the course of our extensive investigations into why he behaves as he does, the consultant psychiatrist ordered cognitive assessments for him. He scored in the 99th centile for two areas and the high or very high average in the other two. The psychologist stated that he "has special educational needs due to his high intellect and is therefore entitled to help under the Additional Support for Learning Act" She then put her report in writing, after two reminder telephone calls from me. The report does not now reflect what she and the trainee psychologist stated verbally to myself and my husband. It does state that he scored in the 99th centile for two areas but in average for the other two. As such my child's school class his intellect as average and will therefore make no additional support available to him. I have now had to organise private psychometric testing at a cost of around £500 in order to establish once and for all whether my child has a high intellect and will therefore be entitled to extra help, more challenging work etc.

I am exceptionally frustrated at the situation in which we find ourselves and wondered if anyone else has similar issues, experiences.

[Flaxhigh]

Nurserymummy,
We are collecting names for a group precisely because so many kids who have a much higher intellectual capability find they have difficulties at school, with their peers especially because they are on a different level. Do get in touch direct with us and we'll hopefully get something organised when we have a few people (we have 3 other people in Scotland - 2 in Edinburgh apart from us).Do contact the NAGC who can help further and also have a new Scottish forum.

Squidgy12 - we're not really focused on the academic aspect(we kept our son at home for several reasons - none of them to do with education) - though I know a lot of people who may or may not have a so-called 'gifted' child are often very concerned about this. For us, we knew something was up because our son had very individual aspects to his personality which I recognised immediately on a TV programme about gifted kids/kids with very high IQ. For us, it was about his behaviour, and I think for people with genuinely 'gifted' kids this is nearly always what brings them to seek help/more information about their child - they know their child is different and they want to know why.

I would recommend anyone to go and see the UK expert Professor Joan Freeman (she has a website and books etc - look her up) as she has spent her life studying this subject and assesses children . We found seeing her very helpful. Without a report from someone like her I think it would have been hard to get extra help at school. We have managed quite easily to get our primary to make some changes (for example letting us control what homework our son does, which is of enormous benefit.)

[Flaxhigh]

Githa,
In response to your question again, we didn't know our son had a high IQ or anything until very recently once we had him assessed. As a 2-4 year old and at that point our only child, we just got on with meeting his needs as best we could which was giving him lots of attention, letting him get his hands on loads of books (we're bookish people)and doing the normal things any parent does - playgroups, parks etc...nothing special.

We then had another son, and realised how hard it had been with our first son. Because we had no experience we thought his intensity and very bad tantrums and pretty insistent 'demands' (not that we minded them much) - but we thought it was normal. And it was normal for him. Then my second came along and we saw how different things could be. We didn't think anything more at that point than, oh well, each child is different. It was only when our first got older, went to school, found other children uninteresting, preferring adults etc, that we started wondering. Then I saw that TV programme.....

[Flaxhigh]

Thanks Squidgy12 - sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick! My main worry is for my son's happiness - I hate to see him unable to socialise with other kids and do fear as he gets older that there will be problems because of his difference. Then again, that's life - people who are different are treated differently (I know for different personal reasons...)we're just trying to support him as best we can.

[Flaxhigh]

Just to let you know that the National Association of Gifted Children has broached the idea of organising an event in Scotland. You need to be a member of the NAGC to read the message on their Scottish forum board, but if you are not a member and are interested you could email Denise, the Cheif executive at [email protected]

We have had nine responses from parents to the messages we put up , which is not really enough to make it worthwhile organising a meeting as the geographic and age range is also too wide. If the NAGC organises something, this might generate more numbers.

It might be an idea to circulate email addresses, so let me know if you are happy for me to do this, and I will send out a contact list of those who are interest.

Best wishes,
Frank

[sofiele]

hi, have gifted 7 year old daughter, would like to meet other parents/kids, please let me know when/where, thanks.

[sofiele]

I will contact emails above as you suggest, but if anyone is in Edinburgh area in the meantime with similar aged kids, please contact me directly.

[Flaxhigh]

Sofiele, We're going to circulate a list of those I have been contacted by - not only on mumsnet. If could you confirm for me that you would like to be on this list, and give details of your childs age and where you are I'll put you on.

We have only been contacted by a few parents and the age range and
geographic spread of those I have been contacted by is wide so I
thought circulating this list would be the best thing to do at the
moment. Will keep you inorfmed of

[sixp]

Hi,
I haven't really used mumsnet before - so I hope someone replies! I found your link while searching for gifted summer programmes in Scotland. I am the mother of a 7 year old gifted boy, living in Edinburgh. he currently has been identified by the school as a high ability pupil and is about to undergo assessment by an educational psychologist. He has an Additional Support Plan in place, which is a piece of nonsense really. But, the school seem very new to all of this. They are trying but I think they are learning as they go. It would be amazing to meet up with some other mums and similar children. Please let me know if anything is being organised.
Thanks,
Joanna

[KarenSHighland]

Hi. My son is 7 and is showing exceptional ability at school. I have always known he was very bright but I've now had it confirmed by school that he needs to have his IQ tested and a plan for his learning put in place. They have been very supportive. It is difficult to talk to other mothers about this as I'm worried how it comes across, I don't want it to sound like showing off. I'm near Inverness and new to the area. I haven't joined NAGC yet as waiting until he has been seen by the educational psychologist which may take some time. Is anyone out there nearby?
Thank you, Karen

[emmal84]

I'd love to know how to get my child tested?

Like everyone else, it is awkward discussing her abilities with other school mums.

[lyndie]

Just adding my name incase anything comes of this. My son is 6 and was tested in nursery but is now P2 in state school and nothing has really happened since. I would like to know more about whether to 'do' anything about it or leave things as they are. I would also be interested in play dates with similar age boys - he tends to veer towards female company as I think their conversation is more intelligent! Would be happy to start new thread to chat or meet up if anyone is interested.

[tara277]

Hi, we're living in Scotland - not Edinburgh but would be happy to travel there! My daughter is 6 and has just been assessed by Peter Congdon and we were stunned by the results. Although we thought she was bright we were surprised by how gifted she is and we would really welcome the opportunity to meet up with other families in similar position.

Would it be possible to set something up? Are you all in and around Edinburgh? I'd be happy to try to get something arranged if people would be interested?

[KarenSHighland]

Hi tara277. Where abouts are you? Edinburgh is a bit of a trek for us.