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

Gifted and talented

International Mathematics Olympiad on BB2 yesterday

82 replies

spokette · 15/10/2007 12:14

Did anybody watch this about the young mathematical geniuses who were competing to represent GB at the IMO? These teenagers were exceptionally gifted and on a completely different level to 99.9% of the population.

Being exceptional gifted is very rare and I suspect a lot of children who are now singled out for G&T programmes are in fact just very intelligent.

This programme was an eye opener for me anyway!

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sKerryMum · 16/10/2007 14:15

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isgrassgreener · 16/10/2007 14:32

I thought that it showed very well, that if you are that gifted, you are different and being different can be quite difficult and it means that you do not fit in with the average.
The AS children had the added situation of having social communication problems, but maybe that makes it easier as the don't care about fitting in as much.

spokette · 16/10/2007 15:10

I think there was too much focus on Daniel and Jos who both have AS but I don't believe it did a disservice to people with AS. The fact that Daniel had a girlfriend who he married illustrated that inspite of having socialisation issues, he was able to form a close bond with someone he clearly loved and cherished.

OP posts:

TellusMater · 16/10/2007 15:18

I disagree sKerry. In fact I think it showed the opposite. Jos was clearly socially isolated in a way that most of the other boys were not. And the lovely Saul even talked about it. And he was best man at Daniel's wedding. And the others were there too.

Tiggiwinkle · 16/10/2007 15:45

isgrassgreener-it is a myth that children with AS don't care about fitting in-many of them do care, very much. This is one of the ways in which AS differs from classic autism.

TellusMater · 16/10/2007 15:51

Daniel cared very much I think.

nimnom · 16/10/2007 16:14

Isgrassgreener,
I was actually watching it from the point of view of someone doing a maths degree who has an interest in maths. I agree with you that it showed the difficulties in being different for whatever reason, but don't you think they concentrated too much on Jos and Daniel. I appreciate that it showed the children with AS behaving as children with AS do, but that wasn't the whole story. The programme was about the IMO, not children with AS and I felt that they were making Daniel and Jos look "wierd" without a full explanation.
Hope that makes sense.

Wisteria · 16/10/2007 17:43

I certainly don't think the prog did a disservice to those children with AS, quite the contrary in fact.

It was clear that Daniel had a real issue with not fitting in (as did most of the children, genii are often misunderstood), I think Jos didn't, only because he had a different viewpoint on it.

I would imagine that the individuals had as much or as little involvement as they required, maybe the other children did not want such intrusion into their lives and the parents of/ children with AS felt that it would reflect the real side of AS and possibly raise public awareness....just a thought.

nimnom · 16/10/2007 18:08

When I say did a disservice to children with AS, what I mean was that this programme was not about children with AS, it was about children who are mathematically gifted, some of whom happen to have AS. As a result, I felt that throughout the programme Daniel and in particular Jos were both highlighted and their unusual social behaviour was not explained fully. In fact if you came in to the programme late like I did the fact that they both suffered from AS was hardly mentioned.
I hope that makes sense!

Tamum · 16/10/2007 18:10

To be fair, the Asperger's was mentioned a lot in the earlier stages, you saw Daniel being interviewed for a diagnosis and the mothers discussing it. I thought it was a really good program.

cornsilk · 16/10/2007 18:13

I understand your point nimnom. I would have liked to have seen more about the AS kids. If the programme makers are going to make an issue about the fact that they had AS (which they did in a subtle way) they should have shown some more about the condition. We didn't see much about the positives of having AS. Not all AS kids are a maths genius!

Piffle · 16/10/2007 18:13

I watched this as it is something that ds1's maths teacher mentioned ... eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeks

cornsilk · 16/10/2007 18:14

I also thought it was brilliant. Missed the start unfortunately.

nimnom · 16/10/2007 18:17

Cornsilk,
At last someone understands what I was on about.And I enjoyed it too but it wasn't what I was expecting.

nimnom · 16/10/2007 18:19

Piffle,
sounds like you might have a clever boy on your hands.

PS Shame about the rugby - I was actually looking forward to the wonders of Wilkinson and Carter on the same pitch again.

isgrassgreener · 16/10/2007 18:22

Tiggi - yes sorry I said that in the wrong way about AS children not caring so much, I ment it in a "theory of mind" way, where they can often appear socially less skilled and less effected by the way others view them.
I didn't mean that AS children don't care what others think about them.

cornsilk · 16/10/2007 18:34

Daniel's girlfriend was stunning. They should have some beautiful and very clever children!

isgrassgreener · 16/10/2007 18:36

Cornsilk yes you are right, I was so happy for him to have found someone who loved so much.

isgrassgreener · 16/10/2007 18:40

Nimnom yes you are making sense, but I suppose it would have been a problem if they had advertised it as a programme about AS children gifted at maths, because all of the others weren't AS.
In the end they were all amazing.

snorkle · 16/10/2007 18:57

I missed this - does anyone know if it will be repeated? Ds has done well in Junior Olympiads but definitely not in this league (kudos to Piffleboy)! Would have still been interested to see it though.

nimnom · 17/10/2007 07:58

isgrassgreener, yes, they were all amazing.

Piffle · 17/10/2007 09:19

I knew he was damned clever at matsh, but did ont know he might be of anything close to that...
As it happens he does not like maths much, just that he is insanely good at it so not sure he has the desire to put into IMO if he ever got near it that is....
He is however quite keen to ditch academia for drama and art...
decisions indeed

I thought Daniel was lovely too, not sure that a quick marriage very young was the right choice but I think for him it seemed to provide something very important.

It woudl be ace to find out what happened next

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snorkle · 17/10/2007 10:04

It's generally true I think Piffle that to reach the top in any area as well as ability you need real drive or passion for the subject. But it must still be nice to feel he could do it if he was so inclined . Ds isn't that struck by maths generally either - he has a brief burst of enthusiasm for about a week once a year when he gets invited to do the Olympiad and does little else the rest of the time. Never entirely sure if that's because maths is too easy for him the rest of the year or because he prefers other things - I've come to the conclusion it's most likely a bit of both.

The only other child I've heard of who's been told they might do the IMO in a few years got top marks in maths GCSE aged 12!

Clairwil · 17/12/2008 21:05

Many years ago, when I was a student at Cambridge, I was at a small party in someone's room when the subject of mathematics came up.

It turned out, of the 10 people in the room, 7 of them had competed in the Maths Olympiad.

lijaco · 17/12/2008 21:21

sKerryMum a lot of children have difficulty fitting in not just highly intelligent kids?

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