Gifted Education Conference 2012, in The Star.

On Sunday, the Star newspaper, of Malaysia, published my article on the Gifted Education Conference 2012, held by the NAGCM (National Association for Gifted Children, Malaysia) and AISM (the Australian International School Malaysia). I was one of the presenters at the conference and spoke on the topic: "Should gifted children receive special educational provisions?" My answer, in brief, was yes.

The article can be found here:

http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2012/12/16/education/12391292&sec=education

Please comment with your thoughts, below. Thanks.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

Is gifted education properly funded?

How much of a priority is gifted education, in the modern world? Gifted people contribute disproportionally to the development of mankind, so it seems natural that education systems would try to support them to grow to their best – after all, this is for the betterment of all, as they blossom into contributors to science, society and culture.

If a society were seeking to maximize its own cultural, intellectual, scientific and technological growth, it would choose to spend a disproportionate amount of its education budget on the gifted, in reflection of their disproportionate contribution to the future of that society. Now, I would like you to consider this: gifted people comprise approximately 2% of the population of America. So, what percentage of America’s education budget is spent on gifted education? Is it democratically fair, at 2%...or is it more or less? Please have a good think.

Well, Jonathan Wai, a research scientist at Duke University’s Talent Identification Program, has revealed that the United States spends just 0.02 percent of the Federal education budget on the gifted. That means that the gifted in America receive 100 times LESS funding per head, than the ordinary child receives. Isn’t “democracy” wonderful?

There are a number of things one can conclude from this. Firstly, America’s education system is run by dumb people. Secondly, America’s politicians have no foresight and cannot understand the cause and effect relationship between effective creative genius and creative products. Quite simply, they don’t seem to understand who makes culture, science and technology happen. The third conclusion one can draw from this is that America is destined to decline pretty steeply in the coming decades, as its ability to draw foreign talent to its shores dries up – because native talent is likely to be in too short supply, since it will not have been nurtured, in any way at all.

The most forward looking education policies would assign a greater than average allocation per head, to gifted education, than the general population receive. The reason for doing so is quite obvious: should those gifted children develop to their best, the entire society would be raised up by them, culturally, scientifically and technologically, just as mankind has been raised by its geniuses since the first breath of the first human. Spending such a proportion of resources on people of less potential would result in no particular gain for that society.

As a minimum, the gifted should receive an equal portion per head, as other students do – yet, in America, they do not. They receive just 1% of the normal allocation. That can only mean one thing: the American education system either does not believe that the gifted need educating, OR it is trying to “level the playing field” by HAMPERING and HINDERING the development of the gifted, so that the eventual outcome is more equal – that is, the gifted are to be PREVENTED from developing to their best, precisely so that they DON’T OUTSHINE the dumber members of society. That, of course, is a prescription for a mediocre society and a moribund economy – which is precisely where America is headed, if all recent indicators develop as expected.

As I am often reminded, we live in dumb times – but the kind of dumb times America is experiencing have been created by EDUCATIONAL POLICY. America’s leaders WANT America to be DUMB. The whole emphasis of the education system is seeking just that outcome.

It is time to change the name of the USA, to the USI: the United States of Idiots...because that is just what the design of the education system is seeking as an outcome.

I am hopeful, however, that other education systems will learn from the mistakes of America and that their gifted children will be nurtured to be their best. Should any country do this effectively, then that country will become a leader among nations, in culture, science and technology. The prize is there for the taking – a nation need only decide to educate its best to be their best. If America doesn’t want to do this for its people, no matter – let other nations take up the mantle of the future of the human race. Such nations might even be Asian ones. Should these nations become the cultural centres of the second half of the 21^st Century, America will only have itself to blame, for not taking care of its own and trying to nurture them to become the best they can be.

Which nations do you think are going to become the new thought leaders, in the second half of this century? Write your views, please, below.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

The value of educational acceleration.

Yesterday, an article I wrote on the value of educational acceleration was published in The Star newspaper, Malaysia. The article, "Adding value to learning ascent" (the paper's title for it), is self-explanatory. I would, however, welcome any thoughts about it below.

Here it is:

http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2012/9/23/education/12045481&sec=education

For those of you who have access to the physical newspaper, the article is listed under Opinion, in the Star Education pull out section.

Please have a read.

Thanks

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

NAGCM Forum on Fast Track Kids - my speech.

I gave a speech, as one member of the panel, at the National Association for Gifted Children, Malaysia (NAGCM) forum, at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the 28th April 2012. The forum was entitled: "Fast Track Kids: should acceleration be allowed - for whom and why?"

I was the first speaker, since my speech was designed to introduce the issues. Following me was Ms. Kylie Booker, a gifted education teacher, who is Head of the Middle School at the Australian International School Malaysia. Lastly, Master Lucas Teh spoke, a teenager, who started University, locally, in Malaysia at the age of 15.

The forum was very well received, attracting lots of interested questions from the audience and plenty of interaction with the panel. I do believe it was the most well received forum/talk at NAGCM that I have personally witnessed (and I am not saying that just because I was on the panel!). Seriously, I think the topic "hit a nerve" and was really important to the audience, many of whom were parents of gifted children, or adults who had been gifted children themselves.

The text of my speech has been pasted below. I wrote it late the night before the forum, thinking it would be best to have a prepared speech - so it was written in a very short time frame. Therefore, it might not be perfect - but these are the words I spoke. 

Thank you.

The essential problem of giftedness in the modern world.

by Valentine Cawley

The modern world is all about equal opportunity for all. Too often, this is misunderstood to mean the same opportunity for all. What happens, however, when a child is born, who doesn’t slot into the one size fits all education models, most countries offer? Too often, such a child does not, actually, receive an equal opportunity, because such a child is too often given NO opportunity to reach their potential. So, my basic view is that children should be given opportunities to match their potentials. A child of great potential, should be given a different response to a child of average potential. This is not being unfair. This is actually being fair to the talents of both types of children.

Sadly, however, my view is not one shared by governments around the world. Sadly, in fact, governments are busy ensuring that education comes in one cookie cutter variety that is supposed to suit all. This is most dangerous to gifted children, since it cannot possibly meet their needs.

There is another problem. Every education system has budget limitations. It is difficult for them to meet the full needs of ordinary children – how, then to meet the needs of a few special ones, too? In most cases, this is considered impractical, so nothing is done, at all. The gifted children are left to suffer, often excruciating boredom, in the mainstream. Their talents are ignored and their gifts wasted. Education systems generally judge that it is not possible for them to run multiple systems to respond to multiple types of kid, with different intelligence levels – for the moderately gifted, highly gifted, exceptionally gifted and profoundly gifted are all different from each other in their respective needs and abilities. There is a much greater difference between a profoundly gifted child and a highly gifted child, than between a moderately gifted child and an average child. This is too often forgotten. Yet, those education systems that are aware of it think, like Singapore did for our son, that it is too “resource intensive” to do anything about it.

Yet, there is a cost effective answer to this problem. It is an answer that doesn’t require education authorities to spend a single dollar more, than doing nothing at all. That answer is educational acceleration.

Quite simply, acceleration means allowing a child who is younger than the typical age of a class, to join that class, either for isolated subjects, or a whole year. It can mean as moderate an intervention as skipping a year – or a major one like having a primary school kid in tertiary education. In all cases, there is no real additional cost to the system, for allowing this. Yet, it affords the gifted child an opportunity to study at a more appropriate level. It is, therefore, an ideal basic form of educational intervention in the lives of gifted children. It costs nothing, yet has definite benefits to the children so accelerated. Perhaps for the first time in their educational lives, such children may be exposed to material that is sufficiently challenging to interest them. This is a great boon for children who find age lockstep education interminably boring.

Research by Miraca Gross of the University of New South Wales gifted programme, Gerric, has shown that gifted children who are accelerated are better adjusted socially than gifted children who are held back in age lockstep classes. So, the argument that gifted kids should be held back, for social reasons, doesn’t hold water – in fact, it is dangerously wrong.

So, acceleration is beneficial and free for education systems. But what happens in practice?

I would like at this point, to speak of our own experience of acceleration.

Our son, Ainan showed very early scientific promise. He passed O level Chemistry at 7 years and 1 month. So, we expected that the Singaporean education system would allow him to accelerate. However, the response was not what we expected. Ainan was offered one hour a week at a High School in Singapore, for Chemistry, at a level he had already covered. They wouldn’t offer him the only thing we were asking for, which was practical classes – and they wouldn’t give him more than one hour a week. Eventually we managed to get six practical classes out of them. But that was it.

We asked them if he could audit other courses like Maths, at a higher level, because he had shown interest and it was necessary to balance his Chemistry, but they refused, saying he had only proven himself in Chemistry. They wouldn’t even let him sit on a class.

Note throughout this period we were forced to send him to Primary School, on pain of a fine and imprisonment if we didn’t. This was despite the fact that he found primary school a torture beyond belief, so boring was it for him. Yet, there was nothing we could do.

We asked for permission to home school him – but that permission never came. Every time I wrote to them, they would write back saying “We will revert to you, shortly” – but they never did. Months would pass, and I would write to them again – only to receive the same delay tactic reply. Finally, I got to speak to someone in the Compulsory Education Department, which is an oddly named place, for securing homeschooling permission. She would only say: “I cannot give you an answer”.

It was frustrating. So we began to make our own arrangements. It took us 22 months, from the moment we first started looking for a practical class for him, but we found them at Singapore Polytechnic, under his mentor Dr. Ng Kok Chin, who has since sadly passed away of a brain tumour. It shouldn’t have taken so long – but it was a good experience for Ainan.

Note that the educational system did not and would not make this arrangement for us. We had to make it ourselves and it took 22 months of knocking on doors to make it happen. That is a ridiculous waste of time in a young boy’s life and growth. So, the resistance to acceleration, in Singapore, had a really stultifying effect on Ainan’s growth. They basically held him back for almost two years.

That being said, Ainan passed O level Physics and AS level Chemistry in this time, by studying at home.

When Dr. Ng Kok Chin fell ill, Singapore Polytechnic withdrew its support of Ainan. So, it was clear where the support from him had come. Now, Dr. Ng Kok Chin was a Malaysian born Chinese man. That gave us a clue that perhaps Ainan would be better supported in Malaysia. So, we contacted the NAGCM President Zuhairah Ali and asked for her help in securing a University for Ainan. In very short order, she secured Ainan a place and a scholarship at a Malaysian University and we decided to emigrate to support Ainan.

So, here we are now, two years later, and Ainan is enjoying his American Degree Programme at Taylor’s University. Despite Singapore’s belief that he would only be able to handle Chemistry, he has also studied and secured qualifications in Physics, Biology, Economics, Maths, Computer Programming, Computer Animation, English and History as well. So he has become a very well rounded person. In his spare time, he composes music, plays the piano, enjoys computer games, reads humorous books, and most all, plays with his two younger brothers. He is so much richer an individual than Singapore was allowing him to be...and all because we struggled with the system, to secure him educational acceleration.

What would have happened had he not been accelerated?

He would have become completely bored with education, switched off entirely and become a kind of dropout. He would have seemed to have failed – but what really would have happened is that the education system would have failed, not him.

We saved Ainan from this fate, by battling very hard to secure what he needed. Yet, it shouldn’t be a battle. I believe that educational acceleration should be the right of every gifted child who needs it. It should be automatic. It should not need to be fought for. It should be there, for the taking.

Save our gifted kids, from wasting their talents. Allow them to be accelerated appropriately, everywhere in the world. That is the most economical answer as to how to educate gifted kids. Every country can do this, since it costs no more than the education system already spends.

So, I would urge the educational authorities to have a flexible approach to the needs of gifted children and to permit acceleration whenever it is necessary. It costs nothing, yet the pay off can be huge. So, accelerate our gifted kids, please!

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

The company of peers.

Last week, I chanced upon a scene that had, about it, a quiet contentment.

I had gone to collect my son, Ainan, from HELP University College. I was running early and had a few minutes to wait before his class was to end. Curious, I peeked in to the classroom, partly to make sure I was waiting in the right place. The scene that I witnessed was one to bring comfort to any father, who had taken the particular path in raising his son that I had.

Ainan sat at a table, in this Physics class, with three other students. He was talking, naturally, to them, and they were listening. What struck me about it was how comfortable he seemed, in that situation: a boy of 11, conversing with young adult students, in a Physics class. It was not his comfort alone that was evident: it was the attitude of the other students – they fully accepted him, as a fellow student, on equal footing.

I saw, then, how right I had been to make this opportunity for him. He seemed so at home, in that class, with young adult students. He had found his place. It seems to me, looking back, that he is more at home, at HELP University College, than he was in primary school. In the latter situation, he always seemed to be holding his true essence in reserve, unable to share it with his fellow school kids, because they simply wouldn’t have understood. Now, however, I think he is able to speak more fully of his thoughts, for understanding is more readily achieved. In other words, he is freer now, than he was before, at least in the intellectual dimension. His playful side is expressed at home, with his siblings, and when he has the chance to mix with kids his own age. So, now, I rather think he has achieved a more complete life: one that allows him to express himself intellectually, one that affords him peers who can understand him – as well as the other aspects of childhood, which are still available to him.

I shall hold that memory of him, speaking in a very relaxed way, with his fellow students. It is an image of contentment that, at one time, I did worry we would never find for him.

All this does make me reflect on all the naysayers against educational acceleration. So many ill-informed educators feel that gifted children should never be accelerated. If only they knew how content Ainan was, with his University, compared to his primary school, they would realize how wrong they are. All they would have to do to realize this, is to peek through that window, and see what I saw, that day.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html
and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks. You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

A child prodigy in your class

"What to do if you have a child prodigy in your class?", asked a searcher from Hackettstown, New Jersey. I am unsure whether the searcher was a teacher or a student, though it was from a New Jersey Higher Education Network IP address. It struck me that this was a good question to ask and answer...so I shall.

Firstly, "child prodigies" are not aliens. They are young human beings - and often sensitive, and somewhat isolated ones, too. So, the first thing to do with a child prodigy, is to WELCOME them. Be warm. Be supportive. Be friendly. Be there for them. Make it clear that they are wanted and not shunned. Also, might I suggest not treating them as some kind of alien visitation - but as another student, of equal rights, and standing, at least, as all the other students.

A child prodigy will not have as much life experience as older students, so an awareness of their special situation will help the teacher - or student - integrate them, into class life. Be aware that whilst the child prodigy might know as much as anyone about the subject under study, that there may be lots of life experiences that they have not yet had time, to experience. Thus, they might feel "left out" of certain conversations, or not fully grasp the implications of others. This is not because they are lacking in reasoning powers, but because what is being spoken of is outside of their experience. Indeed, some conversations may be socially inappropriate in the presence of a child prodigy, so it would be wise to be tactful and watch the topics and contents of any conversations that are broached in and out of class. It would be unfair and somewhat unethical to raise certain topics with, say a ten year old, when everyone else is twenty and fully cognizant of the background to the topic in a way a child could never be.

Having a child prodigy in class, can be quite a complex matter. A teacher may be unsure how to handle him or her. So might the students. The most important thing to do is to make the child prodigy feel welcome - as you might any child in a situation in which they might feel apart and isolated. Make the child feel comfortable. I don't think, for instance, that having a class load of students who stare at the child prodigy throughout the day, is going to make that child feel welcome. It would make them feel odd and out of place. So, it would be a good idea to have a chat with the class before the child prodigy arrives on their first day, to ask them not to stare all the time - and not to treat the child as in any way "alien". Most of all, they should never, ever be hostile or envious towards the child prodigy. Remember this: the child prodigy did not ask to be gifted in the way that they are: they were born that way and should never be punished for it, socially or otherwise. They should be accepted for their differences, even celebrated for them - but never marginalized for them.

A teacher should evaluate the personalities of those in her class and choose a particularly warm individual, who is not overbearing, to sit next to the child prodigy. This role is more likely to fit the personality of a young woman than a young man. It is essentially a "mothering" role - that of being warmly welcoming, supportive and perhaps acting as a guide in the child prodigy's first days and weeks in class. The care with which this choice of class partner will determine, to a significant degree, how quickly the child prodigy is integrated into the class. The "mentor" chosen should also be someone who is, herself (or himself) accepted and respected by a wide range of other students that she or he can effect suitable introductions for the child prodigy and can act as a pathway to building friendships with the other classmates. It would help if he or she were also academically competent and NOT competitive - for they should be able to supportive of the child prodigy, without feeling any jealousy.

Some teachers make the mistake of always putting the child prodigy "on the spot" by repeatedly asking them questions, in front of the whole class, on academic matters. Sometimes a teacher does this to "test" the child - for they may have feelings of disbelief concerning the child's status or presence in the class. This is a big mistake since it will not be long before the child prodigy notices this difference in treatment from the teacher, and they will begin to feel "picked on". This will lead to the deterioration of the relationship with the teacher and a psychic withdrawal of the child prodigy from active participation in the class. This can spoil the attempt to integrate them into the class. With regards to questioning, the child prodigy should not be asked questions any more frequently than a typical student. If the child prodigy should be shy - and many of them are - it might be wise to be cautious over putting them on the spot at all, since they may just clam up in that situation, which might embarrass them. If the teacher wishes to assess understanding of any particular point, it would be better to talk to the child privately after class, rather than potentially embarrassing a frequently sensitive class of child.

The teacher should be aware of the fact that the child prodigy's educational background is likely to be unusual. The child may have great strengths in some areas, but not have had the chance to build up other areas. So, the teacher should find out what the child prodigy has covered and what they have not covered, so as to be able to address any lacunae and to be able to teach in the most efficient fashion.

The teacher should also be aware that some child prodigies may learn more quickly than the adult students in the class. The teacher should be careful not to bring this to the attention of the other students too often as this may inspire jealousy. The same can happen if the child is asked too many questions AND IS ABLE TO ANSWER THEM. This may bring shame to the other students, who may not have known the answer, and, again, may lead to social problems, including exclusion and isolation for the child.

The students should try to be friendly to the child prodigy, welcoming and warm. They should never be critical, or hostile towards the child and should never express jealousy or envy towards the child. Importantly, they should not engage in competitive games of comparative performance with the child, since the child prodigy may then start to dissimulate, dumb down and underperform, so as not to attract attention to themselves. This could severely damage their education.

Accept the child prodigy as another student - but never forget that they are child and conduct conversations and social interactions accordingly. Discussions of boyfriends and girlfriends and what you may or may not have got up to are entirely inappropriate for a prepubescent child to hear...so don't speak of such matters in their presence. So, too, swearing or poor and aggressive behaviour is inappropriate and may disturb the child prodigy - so behave as you would to the presence of a younger brother or sister: with a certain care.

I may write more of this matter at another time...for I am busy and have to go now. However, I hope that this is at least a partial answer for my inquisitive reader and others who might have similar questions.

The best advice I can give is this: care for and take care of the child prodigy in your class and all should go well. Good luck - and happy teaching/befriending (if you are a student).

"Equality" can be a dangerous idea.

My title might have startled some, alarmed others. However, its meaning is not immediately apparent. I agree, in principle, with equality of a kind – it is just equality of another kind, that I disagree, rather fundamentally, with. I shall, of course, explain and you would do well to wait until that explanation is over, before concluding what I mean by “Equality can be a dangerous idea”.

On Monday, I met a Professor in education, who had some rather unexpected beliefs. Though these were not religious beliefs, he clearly held them as strongly as any worshipper could.

He had asked me what I did.

“I am doing psychology research. One of my primary interests is giftedness.”

My last word seemed as a goad to him. He became immediately energized.

“ALL people should be EQUAL,” he expounded vehemently, his face filled with a somewhat disquieting fervor. “There should be no separate group of SUPERBEINGS. You know, “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND” and all that”.

This was a very odd thing to say, considering that we stood in a conference room in which the question of how to education gifted science students had been addressed, all morning. Here was a man who didn’t even believe in giftedness…so why was he here?

His eyes scrutinized me, in challenge.

“Is there a lot of research into giftedness?”, he said, with the hint of a sneer at the thought.

“There is now.”, I said, confidently, which seemed to bother him somewhat.

“Don’t you encounter skepticism?”, he pursued, with a little smile that was a lot like something else.

“Scepticism?”, I asked, puzzled, for I was genuinely so. “Why should I encounter skepticism? I never encounter it.” Except, of course, for today, at this very minute, from this man and his silent, female colleague, who clearly agreed with him.
That thought was clearly in his doubting eyes.

It was obvious to me that this “Professor” didn’t understand gifted children at all. It was a mystery to me how he had endured so long in education, and yet managed to remain in denial about them. I resolved to enlighten him…simply, for I did not detect, before me, much evidence of any “giftedness” of his own.

“Imagine that a child has a ratio IQ of 200, and yet they are 9 years old and are placed in a classroom of agemates. Mentally, the child is an adult, even if physically he or she is a 9 year old. That is just like placing an adult in a classroom with young kids. Can you understand how bored they would be?”

He smirked, the smirk of the incorrigibly ignorant.

“It seems we have different views.”

His body language indicated that the conversation was at an end.

Later, I reflected on the enigma, to me, of how a man could hold such views, lifelong, in his field. He was not a young man: his hair was grey, his face was lined. He could not be any younger than late fifties and was probably in his sixties. He was an educator, yet did not grasp one of the most important issues in education: the realization of the gifted.

It was clear that he had misunderstood what true equality was all about. For him, equality was “equality of outcome”. He wanted all people to achieve the same results. He wanted all people to have the same ability. He had not, however, seen the essential contradiction of this. Equality of outcome is not possible unless there is inequality of opportunity. For outcomes to be equal, then two things must happen: the lower a child’s native ability, the more educational help, they must receive. So, too, the higher the child’s native ability, the less help and the more HINDRANCE they must receive. The only way to achieve equal outcomes is to facilitate the naturally dull and oppose the naturally bright. So, the only way to achieve equality of outcome, is through INEQUALITY of opportunity. The brighter a student, the less opportunity for growth they must receive, in a nation that seeks equality of outcome. This “Professor” was too dim, himself, to see the essential injustice, indeed, madness of such an approach. The very notion cast aside all ideals of fairness and human rights.

For him, “No child left behind”, meant “No child must get ahead.” They are not the same intention at all. The former is meant to raise up the performance of the lowest ability – but the latter, which he was espousing, was that no one bright should flourish. It is the most toxic idea, I have ever heard expressed by a educator, in all my years. If widely held, this idea has the power to destroy a nation, indeed, the world. Were it universally held, that equality of outcome should be the goal, then all that was great about mankind would never get the chance to become…we would become a static, stagnant, unprogressive culture, without new ideas, new technologies, new art. Nothing great would be allowed to be. That is the inevitable consequence of the wholesale application of this Professor’s poisonous outlook.

Equality of opportunity should be the goal. That is all should have equal chances to maximize their abilities. That means that gifted education should be given as much weight, in all societies, as “special education” for the mentally disabled. Only then will there be true educational equality, in the world.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

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On inspiring the gifted.

Over the last week or two, we have learnt something interesting about the consequences of Ainan's move to Malaysia, to receive an appropriate education. His move has, basically, not gone unnoticed, and is not without its influence.

The other day, I was speaking to someone in education, in Malaysia. They observed that parents of gifted children, from as far away as the United States, had contacted her, with regards to finding a place for their gifted child to pursue an education in Malaysia. She spoke of two specific examples, that she was in touch with: one from America and one from Asia.

Now, just think what this means. I spoke to ONE person in Malaysian education and they had had TWO recent contacts from parents wishing to migrate to Malaysia for the education of their gifted child. Both sets of parents had been prompted to make enquiries in Malaysia, on hearing about Ainan.

It seems clear that, in choosing Malaysia, we have, effectively, endorsed its private education sector as a viable choice, for the parents of gifted children. We have put Malaysian education "on the map".

What is most telling about this is that we have only spoken to one person in Malaysian education - and they were personally handling two cases of gifted children, from overseas, seeking a suitable schooling, in Malaysia. How many others, therefore, are there, throughout the Malaysian education system? As I write, there could be many parents, from around the world, making enquiries of Malaysian institutions.

This is about more than Ainan, of course. You see, Ainan's move only highlighted an existing situation in Malaysia's private education sector: the open-ness to being flexible with a gifted child. This is a property of Malaysia's private education sector. Our discovery that this flexibility existed and the move of Ainan to the system, only brought attention upon this open-ness. Had the open-ness not been there, we would not have moved and there would be no spotlight upon Malaysian education. Thus, the credit goes to HELP University for being open, not to us, for going through the door.

It is fascinating to consider, however, that the move of one gifted child, from one country to another, can actually affect the lives and life choices, of many other gifted children. Thus, the effect of Ainan's life choices (or the ones we make on his behalf to open a way for him), ripple outwards and affect many lives. There is no telling how many lives are changed by that simple decision. As other gifted children investigate Malaysia as an option, and some choose to migrate there, their examples, will, in turn, inspire others. So it is, that the decision of one person, to move to Malaysia for an education could have the effect of making Malaysia, what Singapore strives to be, "an education hub".

Malaysia has certain advantages over Singapore that Singapore can do nothing about. The cost of living in Malaysia is much, much lower than in Singapore. Thus, the cost of securing an education is a mere fraction of what it is, in Singapore - for, not only are school fees lower, but the cost of being there, is lower, too. Thus, families can afford a BETTER education in Malaysia, than they could in Singapore, if their budget is in any way constrained (as most middle class and below budgets are).

Then again, Malaysian people are warmer and more friendly than their Singaporean counterparts - who are usually too busy making a living, to make life comfortable for others. So, living in Malaysia, can be more enjoyable, for many.

Singapore thrives on its own legend, which has been carefully crafted over decades of international PR efforts. Yet, it is all just PR. This public relations has had two sides to it: a) Singapore is no. 1 and b) Malaysia is awful. The funny thing is, that neither statement is true, in any way. Singapore is not no.1 in anything significant (most Europeans consider it mediocre in most respects, except public safety, public transport and predictability) - and Malaysia is actually a very pleasant place to be, in most respects. Sadly, however, many people believe Singapore's PR - because they are Singaporean and don't know enough about the wider world to know that Singapore is NOT "no. 1" - or they have not spent enough time in Malaysia to come to know it, and so believe the negative propaganda that Singapore spews out, about it, on a daily basis.

There is a world beyond Singapore and there are viable education choices, outside of Singapore, in South East Asia. Though it was not Ainan's intention to do so, his simple move from Singapore to Malaysia for an education, has been a revelation for many: it has shown them that an education is possible in Malaysia, in the private sector, that it is viable, affordable...and decent enough to be chosen by Ainan. Already, people are reacting to this news and gifted families are now considering Malaysia, for their children's education. This is something we did not expect, but perhaps it is something we should have foreseen.

It will be interesting to see how many gifted families move to Malaysia. I will keep in touch with my friend in education and see what happens in the cases that come their way.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

The need for a challenge.

Too often, gifted children are given no special provision. The understanding of many teachers and educational authorities is that the gifted will naturally do well and need no particular attention. What they haven't actually given any thought to is: do well at what? Should a gifted child be given no greater challenge than that of their average age-mates? Most school systems do just that and give their gifted nothing more to do than they would any other child.

Yet, from my experience, I would say that a gifted child should be challenged. They should be given something that demands more of them. Observing Ainan's quickness of mind when he was six, we decided that he needed something to challenge him - or at least appease, to some extent, the drive to understand that he was exhibiting. Thus it was that he began to take exams more typical of young adults. It was a good decision.

What might surprise some people is Ainan's reaction to being required to take science exams. He loves it. He gets a buzz from doing them. When asked what he felt about one particular science exam, for instance, he said: "Happy." It actually made him happy to sit in an exam room faced with a paper which would distress many average students.

That is a key difference between gifted students and the average child - and one that should not be ignored. Gifted students need a challenge - and the more gifted they are, the more of a challenge they need. Ainan is happiest when he is immersed in an intellectual challenge typical of a young adult science student. This is what gives him a sense of excitement.

Now, that might seem strange to some people, but it is important to understand this type of reaction if gifted students are to receive an appropriate education. Far from being "stressed" by a challenging academic situation, Ainan enjoys it. It is actually what makes him happy.

It seems to me that most educational systems - Singapore's included - do not know this. A happy gifted child is a challenged gifted child - by which I mean that the level of stimulus should match the level of ability. In some cases, this means that a rigorous exam is the recipe for a smiling child.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

The history of child prodigies in South-East Asia

The history of child prodigies in South-East Asia can be summed up in one word: neglect.

My attention has been brought to this matter by an article I encountered on the net (which I didn't bookmark, sadly), that spoke of five South-East Asian child prodigies who have occurred over the last thirty years. The writer remarked that all of them have one thing in common: the educational authorities did nothing to help them.

Now, commentators from other parts of the world, such as America, seem to think that a prodigious child would automatically receive educational assistance and they doubt that a child is prodigious if such assistance has not been given. This is a really wrong-headed view of things. The fact is that in many parts of the world, prodigious and other gifted children are ignored. Their needs are simply not met. So it is, here in South-East Asia.

In each of the examples given the only people attempting to support the educational needs of the children were the parents. The educational authorities, in all cases, stood idly by and did nothing, time and time again, for over thirty years.

Now, it is difficult for most parents to juggle work and the need to homeschool their children, because no-one else is willing to school them - and so it proved in all of these five cases. The parents found it very difficult to meet their child's needs, unsupported and alone.

Why is this? Why do so many countries ignore the special needs of their most gifted children? Imagine it another way. Imagine if the educational needs of ordinary children were not met. Imagine if the educational authorities said to the parents of ordinary children everywhere: "You will have to school your children yourself, we will make no provision for ordinary children."

You would be stunned if an educational system took that stance - yet that is precisely the stance taken by many educational systems, in many countries, with regards to gifted and prodigious children. No provision is made. No attempt to make provision is made. The gifted and prodigious children are ignored and neglected. The educational authorities simply wait for the "problem" to go away.

Sadly, they don't see that this "problem" is in fact an opportunity. It is a chance to groom someone who might truly shine and do something special. Many of them, however, are not given the chance to grow as they should. They do not blossom as they might. They are stunted due to lack of provision, lack of opportunity and lack of an appropriate education.

I am left to wonder, by all of this, why educational systems don't learn from the few prodigious children that appear in their midst. They never seem to acquire any experience from one case, to better prepare for any other that might appear. No accommodation is made for the first case - and no accommodation is made for any other that appears either. It is puzzling. The real costs of making a few exceptions and catering to a few unusual children is really quite small. Any but the most impoverished of countries could cope with it. Yet, they don't. They just ignore it. The parents are left to find a way for themselves and their gifted children.

The funny thing is, that the neglectful societies in which these gifted or prodigious children grow up expect to benefit from these children when they become gifted adults. It never seems to occur to them that the gifted adults that they become might choose to turn their back on the societies that neglected them in youth, and take their gifts elsewhere. Any gifted child who is neglected by the society of their birth should most definitely not stay around to benefit that society in the future. For if the societies see that they get the benefit of such gifted people, without having to do anything to nurture them, then they will continue not to nurture them. Why would they do otherwise, if they can benefit from their neglect? Only societies which nurture their gifted youth, should benefit from that giftedness. Perhaps, then, societies would learn to make the connection between the support they give the gifted in childhood, with the benefits they receive later from their adult gifted performance.

Once that connection is made and understood, perhaps we can expect to see more support for gifted children, when they are children and need such support. Until then, we can expect to see more cases of neglect - like the thirty year history of unsupportiveness unearthed by the writer I stumbled upon.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Giftedness and the assumption of provision

I read comments on gifted issues around the internet and what strikes me most is how much sheer ignorance there is in the words of many of the commenters.

The commenters are often scornful and skeptical of the issues parents of gifted children face. They doubt that the gifted parents could possibly face the difficulties they encounter in getting provision for their gifted children. Their assumption is that the gifted child, if actually gifted, would receive automatic provision. Yet, as any parent of a truly gifted child knows, this is simply not so. Provision has to be fought for, on a daily basis. Most educational systems specialize in IGNORING the needs of gifted children. I know of nowhere in the world where suitable provision is automatic. Yet, skeptics assume that this is so. They assume that any parent of a gifted child who is encountering difficulties in finding educational provision for their child is only doing so because their child cannot be gifted. How ridiculous. The true state of affairs is that the needs of gifted children are commonly ignored the world over. Neglect of the needs of gifted children is the norm. Provision is the exception.

I puzzle why people who evidently have no real experience of the situations they comment on - ie. the issues facing gifted children and their parents - actually feel able to comment on the issues such parents and children face. It does not help the situation and only, in fact, makes the situation far worse. It creates a misunderstanding of the true situation. The reasoning is rather like that of viewing starving children in Africa and observing that: "If they have no food, it is because they are not hungry." The thinking is that, if they were hungry, they would automatically be given food. This is, of course, nonsense. Children starve all over the world because of genuine hunger. So, too, do gifted children "starve" intellectually, from lack of provision, despite their hunger for educational opportunity.

To see a child without food and say they cannot be hungry, despite their evident starvation is absolute foolishness. So, too, is it to see a gifted child without educational provision and to claim that they cannot be in need of such an education, simply because they don't have it.

What is interesting is that many of these negative comments on sites around the world, are written by people who appear to be in anger. It would appear that the giftedness of the children concerned inspires jealousy and rage in them.

The big question, then is, why do the site moderators allow the comments to be posted in the first place? Perhaps they have bought into the arguments given and have no understanding of the true issues involved. I rather hope that is not the case.

Many gifted children, the world over, do not have adequate educational provision. The more gifted they are, the less adequate the provision. This is the true situation. It is about time everyone knew it - and acted upon it.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The notationally gifted

What is a notationally gifted child? Well, it is a child gifted in the use of common notation: that is words and numbers. It is, in fact, what most people commonly think of as gifted.

Yet, there is a problem with this idea of the gifted person as notationally gifted. You see, many gifted children and gifted adults are NOT notationally gifted, and yet are gifted in some definite, real, tangible sense. They may have a gift for music, or art, or may be particularly good with spatial thinking. They may be gifted socially - or may have the kind of inner wisdom that allows them to understand themselves very well (intrapersonal intelligence). These latter types might be good poets or writers, or other kinds of artists who draw on a knowledge of the self. They might even be gifted in a sense that most people don't even consider to be gifted: kinaesthetically gifted - that is, gifted in movement. Such people may be fine dancers or great athletes. They, too, possess a gift. Yet, none of these categories of people might show up on a conventional IQ test, as "gifted" - for they are not necessarily notationally gifted, as well.

So, the common idea of the gifted, which coincides with the concept of the "notationally gifted" is very limiting. It constrains our understanding of what a gifted person may be, and excludes, in fact, most gifted people. There are many more kinds of gifted people out there, than are described by the ability to use words and numbers well. Yet, the problem with most gifted programs and the thinking behind them, is that giftedness will manifest in a gift for words and numbers. This is not necessarily so. Such people are just a subset of the gifted people in the world.

I am not denying the importance of notational giftedness - for such gift is the foundation of effectiveness in the academic world and all its allied professions - but there is more to giftedness than that. We deprive the world of the gifts of the many and varied gifted, if we refuse to see the full range of gifted people among us. Some who are musically or artistically or kinaesthetically gifted, may also be notationally gifted, too. However, many of them will not be. Their gift will stand apart from the more common academic gifts. Let us not exclude them from the opportunities they need to grow just because they don't fit our common understanding of what a "gifted" person is. Picasso wasn't much of an everyday student - but in his art, he shone. I doubt whether he would have been identified as "gifted" by a program that used IQ tests alone to determine membership - but that he had a gift, is self-evident, to anyone who has seen his art. The same may be said by many thousands of unknown gifted people, out there in the world. Many of them will remain unidentified and unsupported, because the educational screening systems are using too narrow a criteria to define giftedness. Giftedness is not just about pure intellect (in a notational sense) - there are other kinds of thinker and other kinds of thinking. We lessen the world, if we ever forget that.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)