[ExI] Gifted children

[PJ Manney]

On Sun, Nov 4, 2012 at 9:21 PM, Adrian Tymes <atymes at gmail.com> wrote:
> From your description, I suspect it was your friend's
> connections, and/or that specific program's connections,
> that got the attention.  If such a thing were nationwide,
> MENSA would have heard of it.

Time to clear up this discussion...

There are many programs that track and monitor gifted children
nationwide, both civilian and government operated.  For example, my
children have been scouted by JHU-CTY, because they live in CA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Talented_Youth

You'll notice on the map that other University-based programs cover
other parts of the country.  These schools monitor every kid they want
to 1) pay for their advanced education/enrichment programs; 2) apply
to their college; and 3) share/sell their information with "relevant
parties."  And there are many relevant parties, including government
agencies.  Every kid who passes math or language state tests above a
certain metric gets tapped.  I repeat: EVERY KID.  But then they still
have to be tested yet again, and not all children make the final cut
into the program.  The super-gifted are given scholarships.  No Uni or
agency wants them to fall through the cracks.

My children have been scouted by other programs, too.  My son decided
to attend JHU-CTY one summer and not only made many gifted friends
from around the world that he corresponds with regularly on social
media, but is still dating his girlfriend from the program 16 months
later...  :-)

And by the way, her father and his twin brother were among the
original gifted "lab rats" Johns Hopkins studied back in the 70s to
create the program.  Her dad and I are the same generation and we both
remember the 70s as a time when being gifted was studied intensely.
They just didn't have programs developed yet to feed our heads.  We
had to feed our own...  ;-)  My IQ tests (and I was tested repeatedly
as a child and young adult, because I was the test case for grade
skipping in my public school district) more than qualified me for
Mensa, but I never saw the point of a group centered just around IQ,
since IQ is really bullshit...  But that's just me.

So don't say the gifted kids are left behind, unrecognized or not
tracked.  There has never been more identification, opportunities or
assets available to gifted children than there are now.  The fact that
Mensa doesn't recognize them simply baffles me...

PJ