Were you deaf and 'gifted' ?

Silentwolfdog said:
Hey is it possible for one to be bright and at the same time be very forgetful? I never understood why I am like that. Laziness maybe?

I was some of smartest kids at my deaf school. But they never had resources to place kids like me in advanced or gifted classes. I kinda got ignored in middle and high school. I even asked to be placed in honor classes but they said they cannot because they don't have anything like that for students like me. So in the end, I just got sick of it and transferred to public school to get more challenge but because I transferred so late they did not place me in honor classes. That was okay because I was still adapting to different pace of their education system than those in deaf school. My sis was placed in gifted program.

But yeah, I hear the comments that I am "smart" all the time and even won award for highest GPA at deaf school. Now I look at that award and don't really feel proud of it. I just feel a bit ashamed for getting that award for some reason.

I was in top 10% in public school despite not being in honor classes and I am currently attending graduate school.

But yet one of my weakness is whether I don't use skills I tend to forget them. Dunno why. This is one reason I should have been placed in advanced classes so I can be challenged.

I was one of those day dreamer, at deaf school I was so bored that a lot of time I ended up wandering in "other" world. Heh. That probably saved my sane.

It is such a shame that my deaf school did not provide anything to aid "gifted" or "bright" students during my time. Hopefully, other deaf schools provide something for those kids.

I just think in the end, whether you are bright or not, if you are deaf then you won't get equal access to education in some places anyway.
Click to expand...


Since I am a faculty at a deaf school and able to understand the policies and how things are run. I have asked about why many deaf schools didnt have programs for gifted students and I was told that the problem was with the state approving to establish a budget for gifted programs. Many educators and administrators agreed that deaf schools should offer them but due to the small number of gifted deaf students, the proposals made to the state has been turned down. As usual, it is all politics when it comes to the budget.
 
And also because many admin' in the admissions department feel that if a child is gifted, then s/he should be placed in a public school setting not a residental school (which is wrong because the residental school provides other things that a regular education settign would not, such as direct interaction with peers and staff). Many times a student is transferred to a deaf school because of behavior problems and/or failing the public school setting due to whatever reasons. It is rare for a student to transfer to a deaf school when s/he is on a good academic track, etc.

It is ironic how they preach the whole individualized instruction concept but is quick to shoot down providing GT programming for a child...when in essence, the child is supposed to get the very individualized educational programming s/he needs. Money should be of no object when it comes to education.
 
shel90 said:
Since I am a faculty at a deaf school and able to understand the policies and how things are run. I have asked about why many deaf schools didnt have programs for gifted students and I was told that the problem was with the state approving to establish a budget for gifted programs. Many educators and administrators agreed that deaf schools should offer them but due to the small number of gifted deaf students, the proposals made to the state has been turned down. As usual, it is all politics when it comes to the budget.
Click to expand...

what i don't understand is why a deaf or blind gifted student couldn't be placed in a gifted and talented program at the local public school for academic courses and attend the school for the deaf or blind for the remainder of the day (for non-academic courses)?
 
Hear Again said:
what i don't understand is why a deaf or blind gifted student couldn't be placed in a gifted and talented program at the local public school for academic courses and attend the school for the deaf or blind for the remainder of the day (for non-academic courses)?
Click to expand...

I think some schools are doing that now. I can ask around some more. :) I am in full support of the magnet idea.
 
I don't think we have gifted and talented here in England. Although I might be out of date. I knew a gifted girl and she just got moved a year ahead so she was with older students.
 
I can relate very well to these posts. I am HoH, highly/exceptional gifted, TS, probably have an ASD, etc. People (Hearing) often treat me as if I were "crazy" or "stupid" or not Deaf. Even my own family doesn't get it. They can't even sign. Don't want to learn either.:confused:
 
defgrl said:
I can relate very well to these posts. I am HoH, highly/exceptional gifted, TS, probably have an ASD, etc. People (Hearing) often treat me as if I were "crazy" or "stupid" or not Deaf. Even my own family doesn't get it. They can't even sign. Don't want to learn either.:confused:
Click to expand...

what does asd mean? autism spectrum disorder?

also, what is ts? tourette's syndrome?

if you don't mind my asking, have you ever been evaluated by a psychiatrist for autism spectrum disorder? (you don't have to answer this question if you don't want to).
 
dreama said:
I don't think we have gifted and talented here in England. Although I might be out of date. I knew a gifted girl and she just got moved a year ahead so she was with older students.
Click to expand...

dreama,

i did a google search for "gifted + talented + england" and a list of articles came up which discussed students in england who were identified as gifted and talented, so the program does exist in your country.
 
Maybe I was out of date, because my experience is over 30 years ago. Maybe things have changed since then?
 
dreama said:
Maybe I was out of date, because my experience is over 30 years ago. Maybe things have changed since then?
Click to expand...

yes, times probably have changed over the past 30 years since the links i read were all currently up to date.
 
Are you referring to something like Malcolm from the television show Malcolm in the Middle?

I've never been placed in a program for "gifted" people.

My mom has always told me that I was "God's gift"... :roll:
 
I started with preschool classes for deaf kids and then went to elementary school deaf classes in mainstream school. In 6th grade, they told me that I was reading at 8th grade level. Another time, they told me that I was learning math that the other kids in the class didn't understand, but I don't know what it was because it all seemed normal to me. Back in preschool, the teacher singled me out to teach extra astronomy stuff to. So I guess they recognized the giftedness early. I even won a schoolwide spelling bee at the 6th grade level. :eek:

Then I was fully mainstreamed in middle and high school. In 8th grade, they put me into the same classes as other smart students and we took all of the honors and AP classes throughout high school. There were so many good students that they honored the top 20 instead of 10 during our senior year and I ended up as #2. It's funny that when I first learned of my ranking back in middle school, I was #2. I never worried about ranking after that until finding that I was the salutatorian. I just did all of the reading and all of the work and more. I think I was lucky to be with so many other good students because the class graduating after mine didn't have so many.

Every three years, the school psychologist would give me IQ tests as required for all special ed students. I was special ed just to get the support services, so he liked to test me because I was a good break from the usual subjects. :P For my last test in 11th grade, he used the adult test with some questions skipped because they were hearing related, giving me a range of scores of 135-147. So I most certainly was gifted.

Then I went off to RIT and graduated from the College of Science there.
 
Last edited:
RedFox said:
Every three years, the school psychologist would give me IQ tests as required for all special ed students. I was special ed just to get the support services, so he liked to test me because I was a good break from the usual subjects. :P For my last test in 11th grade, he used the adult test with some questions skipped because they were hearing related, giving me a range of scores of 135-147. So I most certainly was gifted.
Click to expand...

i wish the psychologist at my high school would have been equally attentive to my congenital total blindness. he administered the wisc (weschler's intelligence scale for children) in 9th grade and my culmulative score was lower than it normally would have been given the fact i was asked questions that were visual in nature. because of being born totally blind, i didn't understand some questions since i've never had sight to understand what they mean.

for example, one question might ask me to evaluate two pictures and indicate what was different about them. the psychologist would describe the pictures to me and i was expected to give an answer based on his description. after answering a number of questions in this fashion, it became overwhelming to the point where i could no longer concentrate on the questions themselves.

another question might require me to look at a picture of an odometer and ask me to analyze specific information about it. since i don't know what an odometer looks like, it would be impossible for me to answer this question.

like you, i was also good at spelling. in 7th grade i was chosen to represent my middle school at the district level spelling bee.

i also felt quite comfortable with writing and won a college scholarship in 11th grade.

in addition, i loved public speaking and was a member of my high school's forensics team. i placed 2nd at the state level in oratory junior year (only missing nationals by 2 points) and 3rd at the state level (also in oratory) during my senior year.
 
Last edited:
IQ testing for deaf and hard of hearing students is VERY tricky indeed. How do we modify and accommodate appropriately, and yet the results will still reflect the true intergrity of the test?
 
deafbajagal said:
IQ testing for deaf and hard of hearing students is VERY tricky indeed. How do we modify and accommodate appropriately, and yet the results will still reflect the true intergrity of the test?
Click to expand...

you do this by substituting questions based on hearing with those that focus on facts which have nothing to do with one's ability to hear. you might also restructure the test so that questions are written in asl format to accomodate students who are strong asl users.
 
I was told during my 10th or 11th grade year of highschool that I was reading and writing on a college graduate's level. At the time I didn't think much about it because I was just a goofy kid having a good time.

I usually made straight A's in English and Composition, in math I did OK, but I was bloody bored with it 90% of the time, mostly because my dad always made me take remedial math courses because I wasn't good at math.

Science wasn't a problem, I could just sit there and absorb all the information I needed like a sponge in class without having to take notes.

The only reason I didn't make all A's in high school was simply because I had no interest in subjects other than English, Composition, and Literature. Yes, I am a Shakespearean dork that adores her edition of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare". I also found Moby Dick interesting.

When I interviewed for my job at PJP, the woman in there just flat out asked me "What is a smart bright person like you doing down here applying for a job at the chicken plant?"

My response was "Until I get a job, I can be the smartest person on the planet, but I'll also be the poorest smart person."

Ironically, the son of the company president also has a very high IQ and is a member of MENSA. But he has a lot of interest outside of academia. He's gone skydiving, he's travelled to London, he's been known to have a bad four-wheeler wreck on the farm and broke both of his arms (which also ended his high school athletic career, not that he is particularly athletic, but when he broke of his arms he found it difficult to play basketball even after they had healed.) and yes, he is a video game junkie. He's got every Zelda and Final Fantasy game known to man, he also has every game console imaginable. As smart as he is, he does find social situations awkward.
 
while i was growing up i was consider a gifted child but when i becoming a teenager i just gave it all up.. because of pressure from everyone, including teachers and my parents.. later on when i became older i found out i have adhd
 
my psychiatrist told me that many people (like myself) who have bipolar are very creative and intelligent individuals. many bipolars are heavily into the arts, writing and literature.

in fact, if you do a google search to find names of famous people who have/had bipolar, you would learn that many of them are authors, artists and actors/actresses. some of them include mark twain, edgar allen poe, darryl strawberry, patty duke, buzz aldrin, ted turner, axl rose, sylvia plath, jim carey, mariette hartley and jimi hendrix.

many people (myself included) find that their level of creativity reaches its peak during a manic episode. (see the link in my signature entitled, "what is bipolar disorder?" for the definition of a manic episode) they are filled with all kinds of creative ideas and can be extremely productive during these times.

unfortunately, all of this quickly comes to an end after a person "crashes" and experiences severe depression, irritability and agitation.
 
Hear Again said:
my psychiatrist told me that many people (like myself) who have bipolar are very creative and intelligent individuals. many bipolars are heavily into the arts, writing and literature.

in fact, if you do a google search to find names of famous people who have/had bipolar, you would learn that many of them are authors, artists and actors/actresses. some of them include mark twain, edgar allen poe, darryl strawberry, patty duke, buzz aldrin, ted turner, axl rose, sylvia plath, jim carey, mariette hartley and jimi hendrix.

many people (myself included) find that their level of creativity reaches its peak during a manic episode. (see the link in my signature entitled, "what is bipolar disorder?" for the definition of a manic episode) they are filled with all kinds of creative ideas and can be extremely productive during these times.

unfortunately, all of this quickly comes to an end after a person "crashes" and experiences severe depression, irritability and agitation.
Click to expand...

I've heard of that before. I think Emily Bronte also had mental health isssues but I'm not sure which. Probably the diagnoses of Bipolar didn't even exist back then. Their is also the case of Van Gogh who sliced off his own ear.
 
Back
Top