Honoring Overexcitabilities Allows Us to Soar Safely
Overexcitabilities to gifted and twice exceptional people are like wind to a kite. They allow us to fly high but can also cause us to perilously fall toward earth, often in a dizzying and uncontrollable descent. Overexcitabilities are those intensities that come forth in the intellectual, emotional, imaginational, sensual (sensory) and psychomotor domains as identified […]
The Why Behind the Why – Causes Behind Gifted and 2e Kids’ Challenging Behavior
Parents and teachers often talk to me about behavior. “What can we do about this behavior?” “How can we stop the behavior?” “I can’t deal with this behavior.” In order to durably address challenging behavior, we first have to understand it. Behavior is communication. Challenging behavior signals that something is not right in that child’s […]
Giftedness and Emotional Intensity
We went to see puppies the other day, a litter of 11 standard poodles. I warned my highly gifted, emotionally intense and fiercely loyal son that he was likely to make an immediate attachment to one particular puppy but that there were 5 of us in the family and we all had to have a […]
The Smarter They Are, the Harder They Are…or Are They?
I’ve been thinking a lot about the effect of words used in psychological diagnoses; particularly for the diagnoses of ADHD and Gifted. Yep, “Gifted” is a diagnosis. I was surprised too. When my 5 year old was diagnosed ADHD and Gifted, I didn’t think the Gifted part was a “diagnosis.” I thought, “Ok, so he’s […]
Sometimes Good Enough is Good Enough
When I was in law school, Moot Court was the big thing. Famous judges came to critique us. The issues were timely and interesting. The catch; it was completely overwhelming for me. I was paralyzed because I knew there was no way I could do Moot Court “perfectly.” Law school and perfectionism should not appear […]
Don’t Ride the Wave
I stood in the ocean five feet away from shore, looking over my shoulder at the approaching wave. Anticipation. Without effort, I am lifted high on the crest of the wave. Exhilaration. Until…wham! I waited too long to swim away and crashed directly onto the ocean floor. Riding the wave of your child’s, spouse’s, or […]
