在新西兰
By · 冯 琦 ·
相当长一段时间以来，我常听到一些父母亲对于超常儿童（Gifted Children）的一些误解。在此，我根据自己收集的资料和研究，借本文做一点蜻蜓点水般的介绍
科学的革命大都起源与概念的革命。因此，在讨论任何科学问题之前，最重要的是先界定概念。关于什么是超常儿童，超常是否意味着就是天才？（Ｉｓ ｇｉｆｔｅｄｎｅｓｓ ｔｈｅ ｓａｍｅ ｔｈｉｎｇ ａｓ ｇｅｎｉｕｓ？）优异才智是否等同与天才？（Ｉｓ ｂｅｉｎｇ ｔａｌｅｎｔｅｄ ｔｈｅ ｓａｍｅ ａｓ ｂｅｉｎｇ ｇｉｆｔｅｄｎｅｓｓ？）超常儿童是更聪明还是表现在思维方式不同？（Ｗｈｅｎ ａ ｃｈｉｌｄ ｉｓ ｇｉｆｔｅｄ，ｄｏｅｓ ｓｈｅ ｊｕｓｔ ｔｈｉｎｋ ｆａｓｔｅｒ／ｓｍａｒｔｅｒ ｏｒ ｉｓ ｓｈｅ ｄｉｆｆｅｒｅｎｔ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｗａｙ ｓｈｅ ｔｈｉｎｋｓ？）等等问题，不同的角度，解释或有不同有时甚或让人不得要领。其实如同许多学术讨论，上述问题在不同的学术分枝的研究中不一定有完全相同的非白既黑的答案。
根据Ｍａｒｌａｎ Ｒｅｐｏｒｔ（１９７２）的总结，大致可以从六个方面的任何一方面的能力和成就去了解和定义超常儿童：
⒈ 整体智力（Ｇｅｎｅｒａｌ ｉｎｔｅｌｌｅｃｔｕａｌ ａｂｉｌｉｔｙ）
⒉ 特殊学业资质（Ｓｐｅｃｉｆｉｃ ａｃａｄｅｍｉｃ ａｐｔｉｔｕｄｅ）
⒊ 创造性或建设性思维能力（Ｃｒｅａｔｉｖｅ ｏｒ ｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｖｅ ｔｈｉｎｋｉｎｇ）
⒋ 领袖才能（Ｌｅａｄｅｒｓｈｉｐ ａｂｉｌｉｔｙ）
⒌ 视觉或表演艺术才能（Ｖｉｓｕａｌ ｏｒ ｐｅｒｆｏｒｍｉｎｇ ａｒｔｓ）
⒍ 身心运动能力（Ｐｓｙｃｈｏｍｏｔｏｒ ａｂｉｌｉｔｙ）
据统计＊，大约人口中有１．５％－３％儿童被确认为超常儿童，从正态分布曲线看，这个１ . ５％－３％分布在曲线的两端。但这并不意味着每一百个人中一定有２－３个超常儿童。而且，在超常儿童中的只有极小一部分才是真正的天才（ｇｅｎｉｕｓ）。更确切地说，我们平常在北美生活中所说的天才班的天才儿童实际上大多是指超常儿童。
超常者，无论是性格还是智力上超常，或二者兼之，总是引起心理学家和研究人员的注意和兴趣。关于天才和超常儿童的研究自二十世纪二十年代在ＳＴＡＮＦＯＲＤ大学发端以来，已逐渐引起从父母到学校和社会的一定重视。
现代社会的人们大多听说过ＩＱ，通常，心理学家用ＩＱ ＴＥＳＴ来进行智商测验，尽管对智商测验（ＩＱ ＴＥＳＴ）的争论从来就没有停止过，有学术的也有政治的。但是智商测验从来没有消失过。因为人与人之间的一定差异是存在着的，只是怎么去测量和表达，一直不太可能有一个标准，从这一点看，也是说明差异的存在。
根据有关研究和从实际情况的分析，天才又可分为超常天才或俗称神童，和一般天才。据ＢＯＳＴＯＮ大学心理学教授兼哈佛大学 “ 零点计划 ” 高级研究员工Ｄｒ．Ｅ Ｗｉｎｎｅｒ的研究，认为天才儿童的天赋发展并不平衡，通常是在一些领域的天赋比较突出，其他方面则一般。残疾儿童（比如盲童）中也有天才.
总结下来，天才儿童一般是具有以下三种超常特征的儿童：
１．智力早熟。天才儿童智力发育早，他们对一些领域的掌握起步早于平均年龄，而且在该领域的进步也较一般儿童为快，这些领域比如是语言，数学，音乐，美术，国际象棋，以及一些体育项目。比如现今在国际音乐舞台上展露其音乐天才的朗朗等便是最好的例证。
２．按自己的方式行事。天才儿童不仅比一般的儿童，甚至比聪明的儿童学东西还快，重要的是，他们在学习方式上有质的不同。比如在掌握自己领域的知识时极少需要成人的帮助和扶持，常常是无师自通。显示出他们不仅具有超常自学能力且独立性强，而且总是受到自己关于本领域的发现而振奋而鼓舞，不断向下一步探索，常常独创出本领域的规则或新奇的或独特的解决问题的方法。从这点看，天才儿童从定义上讲是有相当创造力的儿童。
３．掌握欲极其强。天才儿童都有一种强烈的内驱力，很想搞懂他们显得智力早熟的领域，因此对有关问题表现出强烈甚至于过分的兴趣，且能高度集中精力，从事他们特长领域的学习时处于执着的神驰状态，长时期全然不理会外界的情形。以来天才儿童同时又具备对该领域敏锐的辨别力和极高极快的领悟力。而这些特质的最佳结合自然会有助于取得更高成就的。
从上面的定义，我们可以了解到，天才的确不多见。而且，有关研究追踪调查的结果显示，天才儿童包括神童，长大成人时并非都能成大器，事实上杰出成人中大多数并不是神童。
历史上，在任何一个关于人类的研究领域，我们都不难发现存在的误解甚或荒谬的神话。仿佛应对了这句哲理：人类认识自己是最难的。对于天才的研究也不例外。在相当长一段时间以来，人们对天才也有一些误解或错误的观点。据有关调查总结，人们对天才的认识有大致下述误解：
误解之一：天才都是全才
最常被冠以天才称号的是那些在学业上展露天赋的儿童，他们一般是在学校重视的两大领域－－－语言和数学方面有突出表现的孩子。心理学家和教育学家通常采用智商测验的方式测定学业方面的天赋，然后从智商测验中得到一个综和分数。根据智商测验的综和分数与有关人群的ＮＯＲＭ相比较，由此，一些儿童获准加入超常儿童特殊教育计划（ＧＩＦＴＥＤ ＰＲＯＧＲＡＭ），这个筛选方式与心理学家筛选被试以纳入天才研究项目类似。
实际上，这里面有一个潜在的假定，即，天才儿童的智力是综合性的。而事实上仅就文化学习方面的能力而言，儿童的天赋也常常并非表现为一种全面能力，儿童既然有强项，也就会有弱项。
误解之二：不具备超常的智商分数（ＩＱ Ｓｃｏｒｅ）就不是天才，
许多在音乐，艺术和体育项目上表现出非凡能力的儿童通常并不一定在现有的智商测验中表现突出，这实际上是由于目前的智商测验的范围局限所制。至今，智商测验所显示的只是人的能力中的小部分。不过，令人欣慰的是，随着科学界对人类自身理解的进步，有关智商测验的研究和应用每年都在不断改进。
误解之三：天才都是天生的，不需环境栽培。这种误解往往忽视了环境对天才发展的巨大影响。这中间，往往家庭的影响比重大于学校和社会。所以，当代发展心理学（Ｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔａｌ Ｐｓｙｃｈｏｌｏｇｙ）特别强调人类发展变化中Ｎａｔｕｒｅ ＆Ｎｕｒｔｕｒｅ的交互作用是最为重要的。
误解之四：天才儿童必成大器。其实无论一个人幼年时天赋多高，我们都不能断定起成人后必定出类拔萃。事实上，许多天才孩子，尤其是神童，的确在他人继续向感兴趣的方向前进时，他们却销声匿迹了。中国文革后的第一批少年大学生中的不少神童就是例证。原因有内在和外在的。另外有的人虽功成名就，却因为种种原因，并没能做出过真正富有创造性的成就。天才儿童虽能独立的在自己的领域中用新奇的方法解决问题，但从改变一个领域的意义上来看，几乎没有人能在不经过多年艰苦的工作能达到创造性的成就。
如同所有爱孩子的父母，许多高成就天才儿童的父母当然也渴望孩子能发挥优势，但仅从对所有儿童取得的成就来看，一般总是那些既鼓励孩子独立自主，同时又树立明确目标的父母，权威但不专制的父母，对孩子的教育效果最好。
众所周知，公立学校的教育准则是给每一个孩子有平等的教育机会。有人问，那为什么加拿大公立学校有ＧＩＦＴＥＤ ＰＲＯＧＲＡＭ？
因为，平等的教育机会并不意味着每一个人都应该在相同的时间做相同的事情。
据长期对有关超常儿童的教育与个体需要的研究发现，如果让那些有特别天赋的孩子与其他孩子一起长时间地坐在教室里保持安静或重复一些他们早已掌握了的东西，是一件十分困难的事，这些超常儿童通常会感到非常烦躁不安，生气或沮丧。或出现一些同龄孩子没有的一些问题或麻烦。如果注意观察，有天赋的孩子在他们的思维方式上与一般儿童是有许多的区别的，比如他们可能会关心核战争，死亡，生命等问题及对人类的影响，笔者最近有机会目睹了大约２５个超常儿童写的作文，同另外３０个普通班的孩子的作文本相比之下，就能看出一些蜘蛛马迹，同样的年龄对待同样的议题，前者就提到对许多现今世界的贫富悬殊，种族歧视，环境污染，城市化过快而使野生动物 “ 无家可归 ” 等问题的看法，当然这在学术统计上只是一个ＣＡＳＥ，对于任何结论都还需要更多的更广的深入研究。不过，超常儿童能看到一些在教科书上没有出现的可能性，注意的话题可能是同龄孩子可能不太注意的话题是一个被公认的现象。他们对于吸收和理解新的思想与概念等远比普通孩子要来得快。而这往往是他们在学校表现烦躁的主要原因，因为在一个正常学生的教室里，一个教师是不可能为掌握知识很快的少数学生单独上课的。
比较遗憾的是，有些父母，由于缺乏有关方面的知识或倾向于从负面的方向认为孩子只是在学校制造事端，甚至有的担心孩子是否患上注意力缺乏症（Ａｔｔｅｎｔｉｏｎ Ｄｅｆｉｃｉｔ Ｄｉｓｏｒｄｅｒ，ＡＤＤ）或注意力缺乏和多动症（Ａｔｔｅｎｔｉｏｎ－Ｄｅｆｉｃｉｔ／Ｈｙｐｅｒａｃｔｉｖｉｔｙ Ｄｉｓｏｒｄｅｒ，ＡＤＨＤ）。由于有天赋的儿童常常高度敏感，自责，如果受到父母未经有关方面检查就断言的误导和指责，孩子有可能会真地认为自己是有问题的人，这对孩子的ｓｅｌｆ－ｅｓｔｅｅｍ也是具摧毁性的。这样一来，有些孩子的天赋不仅没有得到发掘，一生的命运还可能误入歧途。这不仅是个人的悲哀，也可成为家庭甚至社会的问题。所以让家长拥有和懂得有关知识，让孩子知道自己是有天赋的，并向他们解释他们与别人有一些不同是正常的，避免孩子认为与别人有不同的地方便是自己的错误等。因此，有关方面强调，一定要让超常儿童的父母意识到，给予超常儿童一些特别的护理以满足他们特别的需要，对孩子，对家庭，对学校，对社会都是很重要的。
基于这些需要，北美都有类似的机构安排相应的服务，比如美国的Ｇｉｆｔ ａｎｄ Ｔａｌｅｎｔ Ｐｒｏｇｒａｍ．加拿大各省部级有相关的Ｅｄｕｃａｔｉｏｎ Ａｃｔ，如安省的Ｅｄｕｃａｔｉｏｎ Ａｃｔ就要求公立学校的Ｓｃｈｏｏｌ Ｂｏａｒｄ为有特殊需要的孩子提供特殊教育和服务，这样就有了加拿大的Ｇｉｆｔｅｄ Ｐｒｏｇｒａｍ。公立学校的Ｓｃｈｏｏｌ Ｂｏａｒｄ为此建立了ＩＰＲＣｓ（Ｉｄｅｎｔｉｆｉｃａｔｉｏｎ，Ｐｌａｃｅｍｅｎｔ，ａｎｄ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ Ｃｏｍｍｉｔｔｅｅｓ）来鉴别需要特殊教育和服务的孩子。这些Ｃｏｍｍｉｔｔｅｅｓ必须由至少三位成员组成，其中一位必须是学校校长或是一位ｂｏａｒｄ ｓｕｐｅｒｖｉｓｏｒｙ ｏｆｆｉｃｅｒ．ＩＲＲＣｓ的运行也必须依据安省的法律条文（Ｒｅｇｕｌａｔｉｏｎ １８１／９８）
ＩＰＲＣ的功能是根据有关资料（包括来自心理学家的才智测评鉴别报告）和信息，
１）鉴别学生是否属于超常儿童（ｉｄｅｎｔｉｆｉｅｄ ａｓ Ｅｘｃｅｐｔｉｏｎａｌ）
２）学生属于哪个超常领域（根据教育部的分类）
３）决定超常儿童的安置（Ｐｌａｃｅｍｅｎｔ）
４）对鉴别和安置进行每学年的复查（Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ）
目前在加拿大的才智测评鉴别（ Ｇｉｆｔｅｄ Ｓｃｒｅｅｎｉｎｇ）多用ＷＩＳＣ－ＩＶ来测试ＧＥＮＥＲＡＬ ＴＨＩＮＫＩＮＧ ＡＮＤ ＲＥＡＳＯＮＩＮＧ ＳＫＩＬＬＳ。测试的结果是用加拿大的ＮＯＲＭ（比如特定的年龄段）做对比。ＷＩＳＣ－ＩＶ包括几个方面的测试：
1. Verbal comprehension Index （语词理解指数）
2. Perceptual Reasoning Index （知觉推理指数）
3. Working Memory Index （即时记忆指数）
4. Processing Speed Index (PSI) （数据处理速度指数）
另外，虽然通常是学校的老师或父母首先发现儿童的一些超乎寻常的表现或才智，正规的才智测评鉴别（Ｇｉｆｔｅｄ Ｓｃｒｅｅｎｉｎｇ），则是必须由有执照的Ｐｓｙｃｈｏｌｏｇｉｓｔ ＆ Ｐｓｙｃｈｏｍｅｔｒｉｓｔ进行并给予全面的才智测评鉴别。对才智测评鉴别的意义当然也是从不同角度有不同的看法，目前普遍认为的是，至少它为父母和教育工作者们较客观地了解孩子的才智分布有一定的帮助。
才智测评鉴别（Ｇｉｆｔｅｄ Ｓｃｒｅｅｎｉｎｇ）一般是在三年级时进行，凡入选并愿意加入Ｇｉｆｔｅｄ Ｐｒｏｇｒａｍ的孩子可以从四年级到十一年级，同另外一些超常儿童一起在Ｇｉｆｔｅｄ Ｐｒｏｇｒａｍ里学习。十二年级时又回到普通班与所有同学一起准备毕业和备考大学。这样，一方面，天赋儿童能得到他们特别需要的挑战，另一方面他们可以有一个更适合他们需要的互动互助的支持社区。
当然，与所有孩子一样，除了学校的教育和支持外，超常儿童自然也特别需要家庭社会尤其是父母的支持和关注。我们都希望自己的孩子能天生我材，各有其用。如果每个人，都能得到与其天生的才智和能力相协调的培养和发展，那将来就可能会更和谐地融入社会，建立更美好的人生。就象不同的树，都能在与其相合的土壤、阳光、水分的条件下生长，然后成材，并与其他的树木一起再组成一个美丽和谐的森林。
关于Ｇｉｆｔｅｄｎｅｓｓ的研究非常多，无论是从测试的人群，性别，年龄等角度，或是不同的学派都有大量的研究或调查报告，本文无法一一详述，也绝对不能以一概全。在此，笔者只想借Ｅｄｇａｒ Ｆ Ｒｏｂｅｒｔ的话结束本文：
“ Ｅｖｅｒｙ ｈｕｍａｎ ｍｉｎｄ ｉｓ ａ ｇｒｅａｔ ｓｌｕｍｂｅｒｉｎｇ ｐｏｗｅｒ ｕｎｔｉｌ ａｗａｋｅｎｅｄ ｂｙ ａ ｋｅｅｎ ｄｅｓｉｒｅ ａｎｄ ｂｙ ｄｅｆｉｎｉｔｅ ｒｅｓｏｌｕｔｉｏｎ ｔｏ ｄｏ． ”
愿所有的孩子们都能发掘出他们的最大潜能，快乐健康地成长！
＊摘自： Ｇｕｉｄｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ Ｇｉｆｔｅｄ Ｃｈｉｌｄ，ｂｙ Ｊａｍｅｓ Ｔ Ｗｅｂｂ．（Ｐｈ．Ｄ） ｅｔ ａｌ．１９９４ .
（作者保留版权）
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只希望儿子是正常的，不用超常
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by Peter Walters, (BA,Dip.Tchg)
We reproduce here the first part of the article "Why Help the Gifted?" by the founder president of the NZAGC. In answering this question, discussed:
1. What is a gifted child?
2. What are the needs of the gifted child?
3. How can we help the gifted child?
This first part answers the first question. The answers to the other two questions make up the second and third parts of his article, which will be published in subsequent issues.
I do not intend to deal at length with the many studies that have been carried out in the past concerning identification of gifted children and the efforts to establish what is a gifted child. The term itself should not be understood as the child with gifts as opposed to the child without gifts. I understand by the term ìgifted childî, the child who is in some aspects of human potential and/or achievement far advanced beyond what normally would be expected of a child of his/her chronological age. Because of this, that child has particular needs and problems, which need specific attention.
Talented children are those where such advancement occurs in one specific aspect of human endeavour, say, talented in sport or art or music or mathematics.
Gifted children are those children where such advancement occurs on a range of human endeavours. The advancement could be set at about two to three years or more beyond his chronological age. In intellectual potential this means from about the 95th percentile onwards, i.e. the child who in a reputable IQ test does better than 95% or more of the children of his/her age. Many people, especially in the education profession, frown upon IQ tests. It has been said to me that they only test the ability of the child to gain high marks in IQ tests. This is of course true. However, it cannot be denied that there is a very significant correlation between such IQ scores and the potential of high achievement. We emphasise to parents that an IQ score is only a potential. It should not be read as absolute. The child could in fact have a higher potential, as achievement in a test can be affected by various indeterminate factors.
Traditionally, children in the 97 th or 98 th+ percentile were regarded as gifted children. The NZAGC has set this figure at about the 95 th+ percentile to make sure that no suitable candidate will be omitted. We may, as a result, include some children who traditionally would not be regarded as gifted. As these children will fall in the category of ìvery brightî, it is unlikely that any harm will result from their participation in the activities of the clubs set up by branches of the NZAGC.
In a paper presented to the World Conference on Gifted and Talented Children in London in 1975, Professor Parkyn pointed out that we have to look for giftedness in the three areas of human experiences which together make up ìthe wholeness of human lifeî: Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
Truth: Intellectual giftedness - scientific genius
Beauty: Aesthetical giftedness - great artist or musician
Goodness: Ethical giftedness - the person who is able to give leadership in the search for the right behaviour or the good in man's relationship to his fellow creatures in the universe.
Great emphasis has been placed in the past on intellectual achievement, especially in our education systems, which were preoccupied with the search for scientific, technological, commercial or administrative talents. There have been periods in the history of mankind which enabled the development of great artists and musicians. Our education system of the last 100 years, when it has been compulsory, has been less successful in the fostering of these talents. As far as the development of goodness, the ethical experience, is concerned, this, in the history of mankind, was left mainly to the churches and religious leaders, sometimes, unfortunately, with disastrous consequences. The drift away from religion is perhaps an expression of mankind's disillusionment with religion and religious leaders as our guide in ethical behaviour.
It is Professor Parkyn's belief that "the future of mankind depends upon our recognizing, appreciating and encouraging the development of the gifted in all three dimensions". The difficulty is to identify giftedness in these three dimensions. It is relatively easy to identity intellectual giftedness. IQ tests establish this. It is also quite easy to establish giftedness in music and representational drawing, where the evidence of potentiality is not difficult to observe. However, in other aesthetic experiences and in our ethical sensitivity, our perception of what is good in our behaviour towards the rest of creation, our criteria are still very poorly developed and we are uncertain of our ability to evaluate and encourage giftedness in these fields. One only needs to look at modern art, modern sculpture, and the divergent points on this, to realize how difficult it is to establish criteria for "beautiful".
The statement "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" causes even greater confusion. In the field of ethical experiences, the controversy surrounding homosexual law reform, abortion, contraception, legalization of marijuana, etc is an indication of the great difficulty mankind experiences in obtaining guidelines in that field of human activity. And let us not forget that in both opposing sides in these controversial issues there are people who are sensitive to the well-being of ourselves and others, who care for other human beings and living creatures. Professor Parkyn thinks that it is true to say that some people are more gifted in intellectual ability, some in aesthetic perception, some in ethical sensitivity. Yet, in our experience with gifted children, we find aspects of all three dimensions quite highly developed, if given a chance to be expressed.
The Report to the Congress of the United States on the Education of the Gifted and Talented by the US Commissioner of Education, Senator Marland (1972), explores the research on relationships between intellectual giftedness and creativity.
"Studies of the creativity measures and their relationship to intelligence measures have produced a preponderance of evidence that the common term 'creativity' is misleading, since the measures bear no more relationship to one another than they do to measures of intelligence. A number of studies have found a high relationship between general intelligence and the individual tests of creativity, than among the individual measures (of creativity) themselves. Although a few studies have supported the creativity intelligence distinction, the majority have established substantial relationship between creativity and intellectual aptitude. Wallach, after an extensive analysis of creativity-intelligence research, concluded that a reliable index of general intelligence predicts virtually all practical abilities."
The image of an intellectually precocious youngster with a large brain but clumsy with his hands or incapable of creative work is false. Real worthwhile creative activity is only possible if it is backed by high intellectual talent. The great musician does not compose his beautiful music by scribbling notes at random on a music manuscript. It is preceded by and accompanied by a tremendous amount of logical and abstract thinking which only an intellectually gifted person is capable of. The great artist, painter or sculptor, needs to use all his powers of logical and abstract thinking, i.e. intellectual activity, to develop the gem of his creative idea into the completed work. He often goes through many frustrations when his intellectual and motor powers do not enable him immediately to bring to fruition that which his creative mind sees so clearly as the end result.
And in the field of ethical experience? Ethical values are determined by our empathy with other beings, by our ability to feel a oneness with them. Without empathy man would not be able to develop ethical criteria and standards of moral behaviour. Perhaps one gifted person, who felt great empathy with mankind, expressed it most succinctly when he said: "Judge not, for you shall be judged by the same criteria you judge others. Do unto others as you wish them to do to you". His name was Jesus. Another great philosopher, Confucius, expressed the same thing: “Don't do to others what you would not like them to do to youî. These two, one positively, the other negatively expressed; I believe are man's highest moral laws.
In the newsletter of the NZAGC, May 1977, Dr Mary Waddington writes about able children from ancient times till now. She states that as far as can be discovered, Confucius was the first philosopher to believe that gifted children should be sought out and their ability nurtured. These ìdivineî children were searched for by government officials, because the gifted were regarded as portents of national prosperity to be found and encouraged for the good of all. They were cared for by the emperor at court. Special sensitive powers of sight and hearing were regarded as the fountain of exceptional talent. Etymologically, two Chinese characters Ts'ung and Ming, which mean ìkeenness of visionî and ìacuity of hearing”, form the word which means intelligence. They also look for infallible memories and exceptional reasoning powers. On occasion, comparisons were made between those children who were selected for and received special education and those, equally gifted, whose parents were not willing for them to leave home. The abilities of those who did not receive encouragement and the stimulus of meeting other gifted children atrophied and without opportunity to expand their exceptional powers did not develop further. This was ancient China.
Greece, 2000 years ago, also paid much attention to gifted children. Plato called them "children of gold". He wrote, "All of you in this land are brothers, but the god who fashioned you mixed gold in the composition of those among you who are first to rule. So the first duty which the gods have placed upon the rulers is to scrutinize every child from birth and to select all children of gold, whether they come from parents of gold or parents of silver or bronze". This was the care of gifted children in the Greek civilization, which has contributed so much to literary form today and whose philosophers, mathematicians and astronomers are still quoted.
The Romans made some effort to help their able children along Greek lines, but eventually, like the modern world which worships footballers, boxers, film stars and pop-group leaders, they followed the cult of celebrities in their chariot racers, animal baiters and gladiators. Although the Romans conquered the Greeks, it is not Roman might, but Greek thought, that is still valued today.
In the 16th to 18th centuries what turned England and Holland into great nations? These two countries opened their gates to all able and gifted people who were ruthlessly persecuted and murdered by the Inquisition of the established church because they dared to think for themselves and express opinions contrary to the teachings of the established church. Commerce, art, architecture, music, learning, all flourished in the northern part of Europe, while they languished in the southern part. The only exception was art and architecture, which was allowed to express itself but only within a very restricted range of religious experiences, so-called to the glory of God, but more often than not, to the glory of a particular religious leader. This resulted in great cathedrals while the people lived in poor hovels. What made America a great nation? Because it opened its boundaries to all people who were persecuted in Europe after the French Revolution and after the Industrial Revolution, when, again, vested interests tried to stifle the minds of those who had independent and creative thoughts and wished to express these.
It is characteristic of a gifted person that he will not start a revolution or fight a war. He or she will quietly look around for a country or place where the mind can pursue its interests without interference from anybody. If that place is found, it is a simple matter to transfer loyalty from one to the other. Loyalty does not depend on the place of birth, but on the place where the mind and body is free to explore all facets of human experiences, not to serve the interest of some industrialist or the state or the people or religion; but simply to satisfy one's innate curiosity. If the by-product is of benefit to mankind, it is welcome to it. If it is not to the benefit of mankind, the gifted person will try to hide its harmful effects from those who would be inclined to abuse it for their own selfish ends.
This brings me to the question: What are the characteristics of a gifted child? Again there is a large amount of literature on these aspects. Merry Brewster, Director of the Gifted Children's Resource Centre in California, wrote in her article "Early Childhood Developmental Factors in Gifted Children",
"Charlotte Malone and her research group in San Diego learned in their studies that gifted children are so unique from others and from each other that in designing a measure to use to locate preschool children, it was useful to create a measure that would fit non-gifted children; the ones left over were the gifted ones. In other words, non-gifted children are very similar as a group in comparison to gifted children who are different both from non-gifted children and from each other. They are so unique that it is hard to find a single testing tool that would apply."
Some of the signs in young children that may indicate giftedness are:
- Early interest in surroundings
- Less need for sleep
- Ability to talk early and fluently
- Ability to read early, often self-taught
- A questioning attitude: How do you know? How does it work? Why?
- A thirst for knowledge about the most unlikely subjects
- Unusual powers of concentration
- Insatiable curiosity
- A critical attitude, especially self-criticism
Another characteristic, which can be quite baffling to parents, is the gifted child's capacity for clear, logical thinking. This can result in some traumatic experiences if matters are drawn to their logical conclusion, but the experiences the child has had do not permit it to see divergent points of view. Dr M.L. Kellmer Pringle in her book Able Misfits quotes the case of a three-year-old child who went through a period of refusing to go to sleep, insisting that one of his parents remained in the room. When his father's patience gave way, he slapped the child saying, "You must go to sleep!" to which the child replied tearfully, "If only you would tell me where to go to when I have to go to sleep, then I would try harder." I find it interesting that Dr Pringle gives this as an example of a child requiring little sleep or objecting to the waste of time this entails, when in fact it is an example of, for a three-year-old child, superior logical reasoning.
This child was familiar with the term "go to": "go to school", "go to the shop". "Go to" meant a movement towards a particular location, so logically "go to sleep" meant "going to a place called 'sleep'". Having drawn this conclusion, the three-year-old was now worrying how he could find this place "sleep". First of all, where is it? A most baffling question which virtually caused him to become neurotic. As many parents of gifted children have experienced, logic or reason is the gifted child's only authority. It is no good to tell him: "Do this because I say so". Parental or any authority will only be accepted if they are backed by sound logical reasoning with which he agrees. He will state his logic with conviction. However, he is quite prepared to accept a logical argument which defeats his logic and will then adopt the opposite point of view with equal conviction.
They live very intensely. In everything they do, it is "all or nothing". They throw themselves into any new venture with intense enthusiasm, such enthusiasm that it frightens other people and may result in derision and ridicule from their peers who are more lethargic and apathetic and cannot see why he should bother.
What really goes on in the mind of a gifted child, a child with high intellectual potential?
Can you imagine what it is like for the child of two or three years old whose intellectual capabilities enable him to picture exactly what he wants to make with his blocks but his motor co-ordination does not allow him to reach that perfection? So he throws a temper tantrum out of sheer frustration with himself.
Or the four-year-old child who is fascinated by weather forecasting, cloud formations, maps of the world, has taught himself the time and is starting to read, now enters kindergarten and is shocked by the banal activities that go on there, finds no point of communication with the other children, so plays quietly on his own, living in his own dream world; subsequently is regarded "backward" by the teacher who treats him as such and speaks to him in one-syllable words. Imagine his frustration when even the adult does not understand him. Or the six-year-old girl whose family shifts from one end of the country to the other and for weeks cannot sleep, not because she is so excited but because her intellectual capabilities enable her to see clearly all the many problems that are involved in such a shift but her immediate experiences have no answers to all the questions that tumble through her mind. And the doctor prescribed Valium!
Or the child in Standard Two, whose teacher discusses the Olympic Games, stating that these games are held every four years and have never been interrupted. When the child disputes this and offers to bring the encyclopaedia which states that there were some occasions when the games had not been held, she is on the receiving end of the teacher's anger, and the principal of the school rings the mother asking her to stop the child reading encyclopaedias.
Or the children who go through our education system and desperately look for challenge, for something to learn, to know, new facts, new experiences, and are dished up day after day experiences which to them are so painfully obvious and boringly repetitive, leading to such frustrations that they refuse to go to school, start bed-wetting or show other kinds of neurotic behaviour.
There was a highly intelligent eight year old at a Catholic school and the nun was discussing God as the Trinity. The child raised his hand and said: "I know a good example of this concept. Steam, water and snow: three manifestations of the same thing", only to be told not to be so silly, "We are talking about God, not water". When the mother at a later interview stated that this was really quite a brilliant suggestion, the teacher's retort was, "I wish he did not try to be so clever". Not try to be so clever: he cannot help but be so clever.
So the gifted child moves through the system, no challenge, everything comes easy. He sees other children working for hours on problems he can solve in minutes, learning material that he has exhausted in a quarter of that time. Yet there is only one conclusion he can draw. "These other children must know more than l do, because they spend much more time on it." The difference between him or her and the other children becomes more and more pronounced until he doubts his own self-image and comes to the inevitable conclusion that something is peculiar in him, something is wrong. It cannot be his body because that looks the same as the other bodies, so it must be his mind. Nobody understands him. He is the only one in the world who is so peculiar, and loneliness invades his life. He feels an intense desire to share his ideas with a friend who would understand him, but no such friend can be found. Ayn Rand, herself a highly intelligent woman writes, "Loneliness is specifically the experience of a thinking child or adult; it is the experience of those who have something to offer. The emotion that drives conformists to belong is not loneliness, but fear—the fear of intellectual independence and responsibility. The thinking child seeks equals; the conformist seeks protectors."
So the child reaches the age when he is confronted with the drug culture. It is not without reason that so many drug addicts are highly intelligent. Drug addiction is the confession of an unbearable inner state; it is an escape from oneself. It hunts, it hurts, and the cause of it is the mind. Drugs affect the mind. They do not solve the problems, but they do remove the pain.
Marijuana causes one to see the world in a state of euphoria, even makes one discover that everybody is lovely and everybody loves you, even if it is a phoney love. One is too stoned to understand that. Harder drugs such as heroin will kill one, but then death is quite a pleasurable experience and will remove the pain forever.
However, perhaps this did not happen. You struggle through the system, even succeed in obtaining suitable qualifications and now enter into the wide world. Enthusiastically the gifted person throws himself into the work that is offered to him, only to be met with apathy and ridicule at his enthusiasm. Take it easy, have a break, donít work too hard, stop a moment, if you do too much it would be a bad show for me, slow down. The message that is transmitted to him is "phoney"; the world is a phoney place.
Or he may be in a conference and a problem is posed that demands solution. His intellectual capabilities enable him to state a logical solution to the problem within the next ten minutes. Oh no, this cannot be accepted. First each person has to have some say about it and for the next hour or so there is discussion, often riddled with trivia and irrelevant matter, which only confuses the issue. Until after a long time somebody produces the solution which had been hanging in the air all the time, your solution, but by now everybody has forgotten that it was your solution, but you don't mind, you heave a sigh of relief that the session is over, the solution is found. If the other person wants to receive the glory, good luck to him. Your aim is to find solutions to problems, not glorification.
Now, you call these gifted children? At times they regard it as a curse. You ask of these children that they should learn to adjust? They do nothing else but adjust and adjust, a frustrating repetition of adjustment. Is it not time that some adjustment is made towards them?
I may be accused now of emotionalism. To the nine-year-old child who has the mental capabilities of an adult but the emotions of a nine-year-old child, it is an emotional issue, and do some parents know how emotional the issue can be.
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正常就好。。。不想太多
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Gifted children often experience asynchronous development – their emotional maturity is out of synch with their intellectual ability. This creates heightened emotions and increased sensitivity.
In short, gifted kids tend to have very big emotions and can become easily overwhelmed.
Gifted children also tend to have strong affective memory. What this means is that they are likely to relive feelings that accompanied an event long ago and re-feel those feelings long afterward. They don’t simply remember the event; they remember every detail of how it felt.
Gifted children often strive for perfectionism and become easily frustrated when they can’t reach their own goals. Many gifted children lag in the area of fine motor skills, making it hard to complete their ideas exactly as planned. Tantrums and meltdowns are likely to erupt when things don’t work out as planned.
It’s essential to help gifted children learn to regulate their emotions so that they can work through frustrating situations and learn to problem solve. The following tips can help you to do just that.
Stay calm
The truth is that it’s very difficult to remain calm when your child is having an enormous meltdown. It’s stressful. You want to fix it because you want it to stop. But calm in the face of great stress is exactly what your gifted child needs to see.
Help your child label his feelings. Describe what happened and empathize.
Validate feelings
Because people tend to view these meltdowns as overreactions, gifted children often feel isolated. Validate your child’s feelings. Let him know that you understand just how angry, sad, or overwhelmed he is.
Teach relaxation breathing
Teaching your child to recognize to physical signs of stress and respond with relaxation breathing helps your child to calm his body first and then work through his difficult feelings. Bedtime is a great time to practice relaxation breathing. Have your child lie on his back and take a slow breath in through his nose (count to four while he inhales). Have him hold that breath for one second, then slowly exhale through his nose for a count of four. Repeat for three to five minutes.
Practicing in the calm moments helps children internalize strategies so that they can use them during the frustrating moments.
Self-talk
Teaching your child to talk back to negative and intrusive thoughts is another strategy to practice during a calm moment. Have your child come up with a list of thoughts that race through his mind when something isn’t going according plan. Encourage him to talk back to those thoughts (i.e. “I can build this tower; I do know how to stack the blocks”). It’s a good idea to come up with a list of replacement thoughts to swap out negative thoughts with positive ones. When you see your child becoming frustrated, cue him by reminding him he can talk back his angry brain.
Use an emotional response scale
It’s difficult to regulate your emotions when your emotions escalate quickly. This is the challenge of the gifted child. Download a template of a blank thermometer and make several copies. Have your child come up with a scenario that makes him feel calm, a scenario that makes him feel a little bit upset, and a scenario that makes him feel very angry. Write them next to cool, medium, and hot on the thermometer. When your child exhibits signs of anger, sadness, or frustration, check in with the thermometer. Have him color it red to where he feels on the scale and then ask him what he thinks is the worst thing that might happen, and what he can do to avoid it.
Gifted children need patience and guidance as they learn to recognize and regulate their emotions. With daily practice during the calm moments, the big emotions will start to feel a little bit smaller over time.
Do you have a gifted child? Does your child struggle with emotional regulation?
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正常就好，超常和天才太少。
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我女儿幼儿园的老师建议我带孩子去做个assessment好安排有针对性的教育。我猜她这样想，一定是因为我女儿实在是难管。新西兰好多教育工作者是这样看的，如果这个孩子特别不听话，特别难管，自己的想法特别强，就要去查查这孩子是否gifted。但是我目前不想自己孩子像个怪物一样的，贴个标签。不过真怕啊，因为她确实是很难控制，无论是我还是老师。如果真的是gifted，家长这十几年是遭了罪了，要多费多少心，多死多少脑细胞阿。
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其实这个词并不是褒义词。。。。
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我家俩孩子都是普通孩子，，很庆幸啊。天才的幸福指数太低了，，，
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应该叫反常儿童
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天才儿童有些特征自闭症小孩相似，玩起来特别专注，不受外界打扰。
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天才儿童很容易走偏，如果教育跟不上或不匹配的话，最后成为社会的麻烦。而且白种人里天才的比例比较高，这种人比较多。所以西方国家对待天才儿童，远比中国有经验。
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gifted 和autisic 还是有很大区别的。
autistic的孩子有些会有某方面超常的变现，但是主要是缺乏社交能力。
gifted孩子没有社交能力的缺陷
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明白了
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虽然不是缺乏社交能力，但是天才儿童的交流方式和普通孩子不同，所以还是容易产生沟通问题影响社交。另外学习方式的不同也导致天才儿童在学校的学习有个不适应，有时会导致成绩差或者是丧失学习兴趣。这些都是很危险的，会进一步影响孩子情商的发展。所以天才儿童需要特殊教育，不是仅仅一切提前就可以。
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我想，楼上各位说的，其实是指：阿斯博格综合症/ Asperger Syndrome
阿斯博格综合症~泛自闭症， 有被称为“高功能孤独症”。 通常过度专注某样单调事物 (尤其数字), 不怎么善于沟通, 但是语言能力无障碍, 记忆尤其好, 不善于运动, 兴趣单调.......等等 。 总结说：低功能自闭症儿童“活在自己的世界里”， 而阿斯博格综合症的儿童“活在我们的世界里，以自己的方式生活”。
但是阿斯博格综合症,并不代表就天才, 因为机械的记忆力, 不善于创造与变通, 只会死记硬背......导致随后的学习会出现问题. 当然, 应该说阿斯博格综合症儿童不一定是天才, 但天才偶尔是阿斯博格综合症.， 比如：美国电影《美丽心灵》讲述的那位数学天才， 另外有些IT 公司非常乐意聘请有数学天赋的阿斯博格综合症患者， 因为这类人擅长编程，极度专注！
阿斯博格综合症, 幼儿时期表现并不十分不明显, 近十年才逐渐被人所知， 并引起医院关注， 因此特别容易被家长忽视!
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好专业啊，我是觉得某些特征，天才儿童和自闭症儿童都有类似的
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原来天才还有这么多的分别，学习了。
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我也是因为我儿子，研究了这个“阿斯博格”好久！其实还是有区别的，尤其社交与沟通方面。
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你家儿子现在几岁了？
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5月差2个月