For Psychologists, School Psychologists, Clinical Social Workers and Other Mental Health Professionals
Deirdre V. Lovecky, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Letsch, Ph.D.
October, 25, 2024 9 am to 1 pm EST
Via Zoom. 3.5 APA CE Credits
Register: http://www.ripsych.org/events
THE WORKSHOP
Starting from the early part of the last century, research has shown gifted children to be both academically advanced as well as different cognitively, emotionally, socially, and morally from children of more average intellectual ability. These differences are more marked with increases in intellectual potential (above 3 Standard Deviations), with neurodiversity (gifted plus ADHD or ASD), and for gifted children who are of ethnic or racial minorities or are LGBTQAI+.
Because gifted children and adolescents differ from more average IQ peers, it is important for clinicians to know about and take these differences into account to avoid missed identification, inadequate evaluations, misdiagnosis, inadequate recommendations, and therapeutic errors.
Identification
Identifying giftedness in children and adolescents through use of observational data, developmental milestones, characteristics of giftedness, and understanding common challenges faced by gifted children will be presented. Such concepts as asynchrony, levels of giftedness, qualitative differences, feelings of difference, use of camouflage and overexcitabilities will be described. The concept of twice exceptional and how children who are gifted and neurodiverse will also be discussed with some common issues introduced. Finally some of the additional challenges faced by gifted children who are of ethnic or racial minorities or are LGBTQAI+ will be noted.
Assessment and Diagnosis
This part of the presentation will focus on assessment issues with gifted and twice exceptional children. Testing on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fifth Edition and the use of its Expanded and Extended Norms, as well as using those norms in identifying giftedness, looking for specific strengths and weaknesses and finding the basis of comparison in neuropsychological evaluations will be described. Alternatives to the WISC-V will be examined. In addition, screening practices, common checklists used by clinicians to diagnoses neurodiversity and how gifted children with and without neurodiversity function on tests of executive function will be discussed.
Treatment
This part of the presentation will focus on issues that can arise in therapy, how to avoid some pitfalls unique to the gifted population, and ways to really listen to the inner experience of the gifted person, to see the inner depth and richness of the emotional, moral, and intellectual life of many gifted people. Concepts such as camouflage and the forced choice dilemma, the double dilemma for many children who are black or from ethnic minority groups, uneven development (asynchrony), acute sensitivity, intensity and reactivity, awareness of differences from others, longing for true peers and feelings of loneliness and isolation even if popular with age peers, and the concept of suffering fools gladly will be explored.