I have been treating gifted kids for years. At first, I didn’t know it. I thought they were quick learners, and I knew I needed to adapt my treatment strategies to get the best results, but I never added it all up.
And then I did.
They were gifted, but too young to be tested in almost all situations. Mostly twice exceptional kids, they had issues that I needed to address as an OT. But sometimes they were simply struggling with their giftedness and weren’t interested in learning how to write neatly or behave well in preschool. Get them alone, explain what to do and why it would work for them, and off they would go.
Gifted kids are routinely misdiagnosed, given extra work instead of advanced work, and criticized for their outspoken and intensely inquisitive nature. They are high-energy kids who can frustrate teachers and parents while amazing them with their abilities.
Here are a few of my most popular posts on gifted kids: Is Your Child Bright or Gifted? Spot the Differences , How To Spot A Gifted Child In Your Preschool Class (Or Your Living Room!) , and the most popular, How Occupational Therapy Can Help Gifted Children (And Their Exhausted Parents!) .
I wrote this handout pack for therapists and teachers, but it is completely accessible for parents of gifted kids who would like to understand why their talented child is struggling so much at school and at home. And why they are so tired all the time! Gifted kids cannot stop being gifted, and therapy doesn’t make them less intense. At all. It simply guides and manages their intensity to help them thrive. Educating the educators is often needed. Teachers may be surprised to learn that there are physical manifestations of giftedness. These too aren’t open to change. They have to be accommodated and understood. A gifted brain is always gifted, right to the end of the lifespan. Helping a gifted child understand their mind and their body is part of OT. Offering adaptive strategies for optimal performance and ease is too.
The Gifted Child Handout Pack helps therapists, teachers, and parents do exactly that. I included information about the gifted infant all the way up to the gifted adolescent. I didn’t ignore the challenges in the classroom; I described them and provided strategies that work without making a gifted child feel criticized or allowed to run the class. I added in a sheet on seeing the gifted child versus the bright child (hint: the bright children are often seen as the better students!).
Take a look at this new handout pack on Your Therapy Source, and consider bundling it up with some of my other handout packs. You get a great deal on Your Therapy Source when you buy more than one of my products. They more you buy, the more you save!
