This past weekend, Bridges 2e Center for Research and Professional Development hosted the . I had the honor and privilege of attending its Super Sunday program, which offered a diverse range of presentations by leading experts in the field of Gifted and Twice-Exceptional research, advocacy, talent development and education. While not the full picture of the many wonderful conversations I had with new and familiar faces, here are a few highlights of the people, places and presentations that I learned from at this special event.

Susan G. Assouline, Ph.D. is a research, scholar and director of the at the University of Iowa, as well as 2019 2e Hall of Fame inductee. Her presentation, The Paradox of Twice Exceptionality: Unlocking the Door to Talent Development, introduced psychoeducational implications of clinically-based research with twice-exceptional individuals, as well as interdisciplinary research aims of neuroscientists, educators, computational geneticists and clinicians to help unlock and celebrate talent development.

Rick Olenchak currently serves as Head of the Educational Studies Department, Professor of Educational Psychology & Research Methodology, and Professor in the at Purdue University. His presentation, Twice-Exceptional Persons, the 21st Century, and Lifespan Development as Viewed through an Affective Lens, emphasized the importance of socio-emotional development on all other development, and as it relates to Affect Development areas of need on the Bull鈥檚 Eye Model, including Natural Affect, World Context, Meta-Affect and Personal Affect.

Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli established the University of Connecticut鈥檚 annual with Professor Sally Reis, with whom he is also a co-founder of the Joseph S. Renzulli Gifted and Talented Academy in Hartford, Connecticut. He received the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Award for Innovation in Education, considered by many to be 鈥渢he Nobel鈥� for educators and was a consultant to the White House Task Force on Education of the Gifted and Talented. His presentation, A Curriculum Enrichment Infusion Process for Jazzing Up The Standards Driven Curriculum, introduced guiding steps to incorporate higher-level thinking skills, creativity training activities and application of skills into curricular content.

Sally M. Reis, Ph.D. holds the Letitia Neag Morgan Chair in Educational Psychology at the and is past-president of NAGC, co-director of Confratute, and former Vice Provost of Academic Affairs at University of Connecticut. Honored as a 2019 2e Hall of Fame inductee, her presentation, From Deficits to Strengths: Past and Present Turning Points on 2E Students and the Education They Deserve emphasized the need for presenting each individual with challenging learning that is strength-based, that enhances interests and task development, and that results in a positive reaction to challenges

Ann Smith is Executive Director of and serves as Past-President for the California Association for the Gifted, on the advisory board for the Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, on the Editorial Board for the Gifted Education Communicator, on the Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee for the USC/US Department of Education Jacob Javits Grant, Project CHANGE, and on a Public Policy Committee for the Institute for Educational Advancement. is an interdisciplinary language arts curriculum created by Gifted Support Center that uses poetry and music to engage across disciplines for PreK through 8th-grade students. The Leave Your Sleep for Educational Project: How an interdisciplinary curriculum can help 2e learners be recognized for their gifts, introduced non-negotiable elements of an interdisciplinary language arts curriculum that is designed to provide opportunities for sustained engagement and talent development.

We look forward to incorporating many of the takeaways from these fantastic presentations into the programs at 优蜜视频. 

For more resources for 2e students,

Are you having trouble finding the ideal resources for your gifted child? Are you overwhelmed by the quantity of resources but desperate for a way to narrow down your search? Our (GRC), a free public tool created and curated by 优蜜视频, currently has over 650 carefully-vetted resources sorted into six categories: Advocacy, Articles and Media, Gifted Programs and Services, Scholarships and Competitions, Schools and Twice-Exceptional (2E). Viewers can search for a keyword and filter their results by location, grade range, resource type and more. Each GRC entry includes a description, contact information and a direct link to the website.

As the number of entries expands, the GRC continues to grow as an exemplary online database of resources for gifted preK-12 learners. The number of visitors for the first half of 2018 has almost surpassed that for all of 2017, which means the GRC audience is doubling in size!

Have you explored the GRC lately? Get started by perusing the 10 most-viewed resources so far in 2018:

1. (Grades K-12)

The Independent School Alliance (ISA) is a leading organization in private school admissions counseling and placement. Since 1985, ISA has provided access and opportunities at the elementary and secondary level to thousands of students across Southern California on behalf of parents of color who are seeking an independent school environment for their academically strong and motivated child.

2. (Grades 9-12)

The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science in conjunction with the Engineering Science Corps Outreach Program offers an eight-week summer program that encourages each of its high school participants to consider a future in engineering.

3. (Grades 3-6)

The Nicholas Green Distinguished Student Award Program awards $500 scholarships to high-ability students in grades 3-6.聽 Review their website to see if the program is available in your state.

4. (Grades 4-10)

Designed and led by experts in the field of gifted youth, 优蜜视频鈥檚 own Yunasa Summer Camps support the whole gifted child, encouraging growth and support of campers intellectually, socially, emotionally, spiritually and physically. Camps are offered every summer in Sedalia, Colorado and Flint, Michigan and are open to campers nationwide ages 10 to 15.

5. (All Ages)

This article by Barbara Swicord, Ed.D., discusses how problem-based learning, also known as project-based learning, can be a great start to help educators who are looking for a solution to many problems in the classrooms as well as a way to meet the needs of gifted students.

6. (Grades 5-8)

Formerly Reid Day School, the Learning Academy as part of Stepping Stones Therapy in Orange County believes that education is a personal journey for every family and offers a variety of specialized and individualized programs. Through small group instruction, with high teacher to student ratio, they will promote and execute success for your learner鈥檚 home school program. Stepping Stones also offers educational, occupational, speech, and physical therapy in addition to social skills training.

7. (Grades K-12)

The American Association for Development of the Gifted and Talented (AADGT) helps young, extraordinarily gifted classical musicians and artists. AADGT was established in 1993 and since then has helped hundreds of artists and aspiring young musicians from around the world.

8. (Grades 2-8)

The Noetic Learning Math Contest is a semiannual problem-solving contest for elementary and middle school students. The goal of the competition is to encourage students鈥� interest in math, to develop their problem-solving skills and to inspire them to excel in math.

9. (Grades 6-12)

Since 2003, the Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) online school has provided a unique learning experience carefully designed for outstanding students interested in studying online. AoPS offers a full math curriculum for middle and high school, introductory programming courses and specialty courses to prepare students for particular math and science competitions.

10. (Grades 1-8)

The Gifted Students Academy is an intensive summer program for gifted students in grades 1 through 8. Participants select courses in each of the major subject areas of math, science, language arts, social studies and the arts and may attend as a commuter student or reside on campus in the UCI residence halls.

Visit the to explore more resources for parents and educators.

What are some resources that have helped you as a parent or educator? Share them in the comments section below!

Being gifted is not always easy. It is a far-too common misconception that gifted children are luckier or better off than non-gifted children and don鈥檛 struggle in any aspects of their lives. The natural assumption is that gifted children are academically advanced and therefore can sail through school and their childhood. What is not obvious to many is that some things that come quite easily to some may, in fact, be a source of confusion and anxiety for gifted children. One concept that can be difficult to grasp, understand and embrace is gratitude, which can be an all-too abstract idea for gifted and twice-exceptional children. The definition alone requires one to understand the concepts of thankful and appreciation 鈥� which, not unlike gratitude, require the ability to make emotional connections:

Gratitude: the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

Thankfully, the science of gratitude and its effects on happiness and overall wellbeing have been studied intensely over the past decade and new strategies for helping Gifted and 2e children understand, embrace, and reciprocate gratitude have been developed. What was once thought to be a self-explanatory concept has now been broken down into manageable strategies that turn the abstract into tangible exercises.

1. Break it down mathematically. For those gifted students that think concretely, linearly, or literally, breaking the concept of gratitude into measurable terms can help make it more understandable. Not unlike a mathematical equation, the following example questions can get students to think of kind and helpful acts as realistic by placing a value on them:

• How much did your sister help you on purpose? (This aims to measure intent.)
• How much did your sister give up to help you? (This aims to measure cost.)
• How much did your sister help you? (This aims to measure outcome.)

Instead of asking open-ended questions such as 鈥淲hy should you feel grateful for what your sister did?鈥� break the act up into more manageable pieces 鈥� the sum of which will then become clearer.

2. Break it down scientifically. In recent years, the science of happiness has been a hot topic and countless books have been written about it. Gifted students with a passion for STEM disciplines can understand, scientifically, how gratitude leads to increased happiness and what effect that has on the brain and the rest of the body. Infographics and articles are tremendously helpful in this respect, such as the following:

For example, the fact that happiness releases serotonin in the hippocampus is something STEM-minded students can understand in a tangible way.

3. Break it down visually: The YouTube channel The Science of Happiness has wonderful videos that capture the power of gratitude and the effects it has on ourselves and those around us in relatable ways. In one video, , viewers see the immediate and long-term effects of being on both the receiving and the giving ends of gratitude.
4. Use Your Talents! Saying 鈥渢hank you鈥� or presenting someone with a tangible token of one鈥檚 appreciation are not the only ways to express gratitude. For example, through the project, a student-led initiative part of the Design for Change movement, students experience a service learning project that brings STEM education to children鈥檚 hospitals. Their talents in leadership, project design, and the STEM fields serve children who are unable to participate in traditional schooling, increasing participants鈥� gratitude, appreciation, and empathy through their efforts.
5. Write it Down! Gifted students may feel shy or embarrassed about verbalizing what they鈥檙e grateful for, which is where gratitude journals come in handy. This can be integrated into the school day by teachers or into a daily or weekly routine by parents. Gratitude journals can be blank journals in which students practice free writing, or journals with templates or prompts that give students ideas for how to get started. The idea is simple: Your writing won鈥檛 be judged or reviewed; it is for you and you alone. You can be as concrete or descriptive as you鈥檇 like 鈥� the main thing is, put pen to paper and chronicle the people, events, and experiences that you鈥檙e thankful for. For some great gratitude journal ideas, .
6. Think Outside the Box: Too often, students are encouraged to show gratitude only for the great things they have, for example their friends, their family, their successes, and their accomplishments. But gifted students are creative thinkers and adept at seeing things from other perspectives. Therefore, they should be challenged to think about 鈥� and be grateful for 鈥� difficulties they鈥檝e encountered. You might ask, 鈥淲hat is a shortcoming you鈥檝e experienced that you are grateful for? What has this shown and given you, and why are you a better person because of it?鈥� By viewing failure as a learning experience, students can focus on embracing challenge and risk as part of the learning process 鈥� and something to be grateful for.
7. Random Acts of Kindness: In school, club, and camp settings, Random Acts of Kindness is a great tool for giving shout-outs to students for doing everyday kind acts. When someone witnesses another person doing something kind, such as staying late to help clean up, holding the door for someone, or carrying a heavy object for a peer, they write down that person鈥檚 name and the kind act on a slip of paper, then put it in a box. During a designated time each day, one slip of paper is drawn and that student is recognized publicly, such as at mealtime or during a break in activities. This initiative works well for those students who find it difficult to show gratitude face-to-face 鈥� and the anonymity and suspense factors of this initiative create a sense of mystery and community!

What strategies and exercise have you employed to get your Gifted students or children to understand and show gratitude?

Like this post?聽聽to receive more stories, information, and resources about gifted youth straight to your inbox.

Fall is here. School has started again, and the wonderful freedom and chaos of summer has come to an end. As a parent, I do my best to embrace the fullness of each summer season. The loosening of the scheduling belt, the extended bedtimes, invitations for play and rest, and the messy, frivolous fun. But to be honest, by the tenth week, I鈥檓 ready for it all to be over. For the routine to resume, the schedules to be set, and for the intensity to diminish. Often for families of gifted children, the summer can be a time of , or it can be a season of , boredom or frustration for parent and child.

With the passing of each season, and the beginning of each new year, I am reminded of how parenting is a long-distance journey. Sometimes it feels as if I am just 鈥渟urviving鈥� each passing season, while experiencing the fullness of life and living from a place of intentionality eludes me. My deep desire is to live each season of my child鈥檚 development being engaged, present, and intentional. This is far from being a 鈥減erfect parent,” and includes giving myself permission to not necessarily like each challenge and struggle that my child and I face. Rather it is about making sure that I show up and be present with and for my child. To be able to attain this desire, I have to regularly practice awareness of my own strengths, resources, and most of all, my own needs.

As parents we are so diligent in preparing our child for their future, making sure that their academic, relational, and physical needs are met. Additionally, parenting gifted, 2e, and can pose a unique strain on our personal and internal resources. Yet, as parents, we often neglect our own needs for connection, renewal, and personal growth. We鈥檝e all heard the saying before, 鈥淧ut on your own oxygen mask first before assisting another person.鈥� Tending to our own physical, emotional, intellectual, relational, and spiritual needs is vital for our own health and well-being, but also for our children鈥檚. Daily, our children are seeing a model in us of what adulthood looks like. How we tend to our health, growth, or relationships can set a valuable example to them that
they may emulate in their own lives.

For me, the beginning of a new school year has become a time to reevaluate my own life and needs, and set new intentions for the season ahead. This fall, I encourage you to take some time to reflect on your own life. I like to call it a 鈥渓ife inventory.鈥� Reflect on the five domain life areas and which ones you tend to favor or nurture, and which tend to be forgotten or even dismissed. Ask yourself the sustainability question: 鈥淗ow long could I go on this way, and what would be the results?鈥� Sometimes the answer to that question can be fairly revealing or shocking. After taking inventory, set some intentions for yourself to develop some of your more tender areas. This isn鈥檛 about packing your schedule with more 鈥渢o do鈥檚鈥� or activities for yourself. It鈥檚 about listening deeply to your life, and recognizing what changes you need to pursue to bring about more intentionality, meaning, and wholehearted living. Not only will you be refueled for the continued journey at hand, but I fully believe that our children will benefit from us modeling a life well-lived with purposeful engagement and authenticity. Wishing you a wonderful fall season, and may we all never stop learning and growing!

For those readers in the Pasadena/Los Angeles area, beginning on September 26th I am leading an eight week parenting support group for mothers raising children with high emotional intensity. This unique group provides a place to share with other mothers, give and receive support, and to reflect on yourself as a parent. If you鈥檙e looking for an opportunity to grow in your own awareness and move towards intentional parenting聽then go to to learn more.

Michelle Bodwell, LMFT, ATR specializes in providing individual and group therapy for women in all seasons of life. Her goal is to provide each woman with a safe and therapeutic place to explore their feelings, be supported, find creative solutions to problems, and to become a more fully integrated whole person. She is a mother to two amazing gifted sons, who have been by far, her best teachers in life.

Like this post?聽聽to receive more stories, information, and resources about gifted youth straight to your inbox.

As parents of gifted children, we all have our own memories of the moment or moments which led to our realization that we had a gifted child. Whether it was the comment of another, the feedback from an evaluation, or our own intuitions, we remember it clearly. Our world changed in that moment, and marked the beginning of our journey into the world of giftedness.

My own journey as a parent began with the birth of a wonderful son, who after his first birthday went from an observant baby to a highly verbal, quite independent, and intense toddler. Since his birth had ushered me into parenthood, I didn鈥檛 have any other benchmarks to compare his development against, but there were times that I noticed that his seemed different from his peers. When my mother would marvel at my son鈥檚 quickly paced development, I shrugged it off as a grandmotherly-bias. However, about 5 years into his life, when a psychologist friend, who also had a child of the same age said to me, 鈥淗e鈥檚 gifted,鈥� the light finally went on for me. This was my moment of realization.

After testing confirmed that he was highly gifted, I threw myself headlong into learning more about this new world that now was my reality. Reading books, attending SENG parent meetings, pursuing various evaluations, seeing therapists and doctors, and researching educational options were part of my life for the next several years. Navigating the 2e path for my second son who came along 18 months after my first, proved to be a little smoother since part of it had already been paved. Now, more than a decade later, I can say that I am still learning as a parent, how to address all the needs that gifted children have: intellectual, educational, emotional, physical, relational, spiritual, etc.

One of the biggest challenges for me as a parent of gifted children, has been learning how to address to their emotional sensitivity and intensity. My bookshelves hold a host of books aimed at parenting sensitive, intense, explosive, inattentive and out-of-sync children. Even though prior to motherhood, I was educated and trained as a Marriage and Family Therapist, I had to dig deep to find new tools and methods to handle what my parenting duties required: navigating huge meltdowns at transitions or changes, soothing the deep anxiety and existential crises that would ward off sleep night after night, or quelling the anger and rage that ensued after a perceived injustice. I remember the relief that came when I learned of Dabrowski鈥檚 research on overexcitabilities, which normalized these responses for gifted children who felt deeply and expressed fully. This knowledge also helped me to adjust my responses to my children鈥檚 behavior; to offer more understanding and empathy, and to work on reinforcing the connection that I had with them, so that when we had rough times, we had a strong foundation to support us. Through these changes, I was able to shift from seeing these challenges as 鈥渋ssues or problems,鈥� and rather to acknowledging them as the gifts that they are, the capacity for deep emotional awareness and relational depth.

As I learned more about giftedness, I began to see more clearly that some of the clients I was seeing as a therapist were raising gifted children, or dealing with their own giftedness as adults. As parents of exceptional children, they expressed feeling exhausted and tired from the non-stop energy of their children, or being overwhelmed with handling intense emotions, or feeling isolated and lonely from those around them who couldn鈥檛 relate to their parenting stories.The mothers described all the energy they were directing towards getting all the necessary support for their children, while desperately being in need of support for themselves.

This became another moment of realization for me. In response to hearing about these needs, I launched A Mother鈥檚 Retreat, a group designed to support the mothers of children with emotional intensity and sensitivity. By providing a safe and nurturing environment, my desire is for each person who attends to be encouraged, supported and to most importantly, know that they are not alone. Taking what I have learned from the past decade, I now have the opportunity to provide for others a unique space where mothers can come together and share their lives, to gain insight, and be refreshed. And so my own journey continues, being informed by what I see and learn as I raise myown children, while listening to the stories of others. Wherever you are along your own unique journey of raising a gifted child, I hope that you have understanding people to encourage, support, and share the road with you.

To learn more about A Mother鈥檚 Retreat or gifted friendly therapy services, go to聽

Michelle Bodwell, LMFT, ATR specializes in providing individual and group therapy for women in all seasons of life. Her goal is to provide each woman with a safe and therapeutic place to explore their feelings, be supported, find creative solutions to problems, and to become a more fully integrated whole person. She is a mother to two amazing gifted sons, who have been by far, her best teachers in life.

Like this post? to receive more stories, information, and resources about gifted youth straight to your inbox.

In The Little Prince, the narrator describes a picture he drew as a child. He was rather proud of this drawing and was certain it would inspire fear in those who viewed it. When he revealed his masterpiece to the adults in his world, however, they were not afraid; all they saw was a simple drawing of a hat. The narrator was indignant: 鈥淢y drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant.鈥� Upon offering an explanation of his piece, the narrator expressed his honest thoughts about grown-ups: 鈥淭hey never understand anything by themselves and it is exhausting for children to have to provide expectations over and over again.鈥�

Twice-exceptional (or 2E) children 鈥� those who are both gifted and have a learning disability 鈥� are often rendered exhausted as they try to explain how they think and learn to 鈥済rown-ups鈥�. What is going on inside of them may differ greatly from what other people, including their teachers, are able to see.

鈥淚 saw a very different child than the teacher was seeing.鈥� 鈥� 优蜜视频 Parent

Twice-exceptional students are seldom identified as gifted, as having a disability, or as twice-exceptional. Often the disability masks the giftedness, the giftedness masks the disability, or the giftedness and disability mask each other, preventing the rest of us from understanding the inner workings of these children.

Although 2E students were identified as a 鈥渄istinct鈥� group in 1977, data regarding the number of individuals in the group were not collected until 2000. It is now estimated that between 2 and 5% of gifted children have learning disabilities and that 2 to 5% of students with learning disabilities are gifted. The Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act defines 2E as:

鈥淎 disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations.鈥�

While each individual is vastly different from each other, this distinct group of learners are connected by their exceptional intellectual ability, discrepancy between ability and achievement, challenges in learning or processing, and the anxiety of being different.

Special programs exist for children with learning disabilities, and there are programs for gifted students, but few deal with both exceptions. Without services that celebrate a child鈥檚 gifts and talents, these students fall victim to low academic self-efficacy and issues regarding self-confidence.

鈥淣o one knows what I know!!! I see and hear the answers in my head, but I just can鈥檛 get them out onto paper. Everyone thinks I am a stupid kid that is 鈥榮low.鈥� But I get it 鈥� I get it all!!! I hate myself!鈥�

Once we see what is truly going on within a child, we must support and nurture all aspects of his or her needs. A child learns through success; supporting children鈥檚 gifts feeds them and provides them with energy and confidence to tackle their learning difficulties.

Addressing students鈥� disabilities is often seen as a more pressing need than nurturing their gifts, and it is easy to get caught up in needing to 鈥渇ix鈥� the disability. Though we do need to support these children and help them work with and through their disabilities, we must not lose sight of their incredible intellectual capacity. We should still provide them with advanced curriculum by allowing for modifications that keep any weaknesses in mind.

A gifted child鈥檚 self-concept improves when we help him or her nurture all aspects of self 鈥� intellectual, spiritual, social, emotional, and physical 鈥� in a safe, nurturing environment surrounded by like-minded peers. Feeding the intellect of the twice-exceptional child is the best way to begin the process of personal growth. Knowing and celebrating our possibilities 鈥� as well as our limits 鈥� helps us to lead a life of purpose, passion, and wisdom.

Twice-exceptional children are not broken. We do not need to fix them. Instead, we need to help them understand both their strengths and their weaknesses, nurture their gifts, and help them find ways to succeed and grow. But before we can do this, we must truly see them for who they are.

鈥淎nd now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.鈥澛�– Antoine de Saint-Exup茅ry,聽The Little Prince

It is so incredibly important that we look at the whole child and truly understand what is going on so that we can support and nurture the growth of these wonderful individuals.

Like this post? to receive more information and resources about gifted youth straight to your inbox.

This post is part of the . Check out all of the other great blogs participating in Hoagies鈥� May Blog Hop!