IN THIS ISSUE
●Director's Corner
-Dr. Lin Lim
●Helping them Climb: Counsellors and Counselling
-By Julia Rutkovsky, LCSW; Melissa Sornik, LCSW; Jacob Greebel, LMSW
●2023 SENG Annual Conference
-Call for Proposals
-Early Bird Registration
-Keynote Speakers
●SENG Community Volunteer Spotlight
-Adeyemi Adewole
● Well Wishes: Dr. Mike Postma
●SENG Partner Spotlight
-Improv for 2e+ Teens
●SENG Partner Spotlight
-Gift-a-Palooza
●SENGJ: Exploring the Psychology of Giftedness
-Issue 2 now available!
●University of North Texas Research Study
●Amazon Smile
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Director's Corner
Initiating Authentic Sustained Transformations
By Dr. Lin Lim
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As I began thinking about this month’s Director’s Corner article, I struggled immensely to select a topic amongst so many important topics to share with you. In a stroke of fortunate coincidence, the following “on this day memory” image below popped up on my Facebook page.
This was our 2015 holiday greeting card photo taken during our Thanksgiving trip to Death Valley National Park. For this article, I have cropped the original photo to provide a more zoomed-in view of our family.
What came to your mind when you saw this photo? Did you wonder why this photo was chosen when all family members are not looking at the camera? Did you wonder if you would have done the same as the little boy in the photo? What was going on behind that was more interesting--so much so that you cared about that more than looking into the camera? What is the mother looking and smiling at away from the camera lens?
From my distant memory, I recall smiling and wondering what might be so interesting behind us for my son to turn his body almost 180 degrees from where his legs are positioned while we were attempting to take our family holiday photo. In my mind, I recalled that the only consistency others and I have noticed about my son through the years include: “your strength is curiosity,” “most curious award,” and “your child has a curious personality.” I could also very well have focused on what was “wrong”--not looking into the camera, not sitting up “properly,” for “distracting” me--and the associated negative emotions attached to such thoughts.
How we interpret and experience this photograph does not change the reality and content of the photograph. This photograph is still “the same;” however, our emotions and what draws our attention often vary for each of us. These differences in our emotions and attentional focus lead to variations in our perceptions of an opening (more) or narrowing (less) of our available next-step options.
We process our world through dual pathways, with faster unconscious processing through the emotional parts of our brain, and a slower conscious pathway through our pre-frontal cortex (e.g., Kahneman, 2013). In other words, we cannot separate processing information from our emotions and must consider thinking and emotions as intertwined tightly. We are “feeling creatures that think” (Taylor, 2009). This implies that what we care about is key to leading us to think deeply (Immordino-Yang, 2016).
Taking what we currently know about thinking and emotions (Immordino-Yang, 2016) together with the importance of collaborative relational interactions (Walsh et al., 2021), I contend that deep intentional thinking together with positive (re)framing of our emotions nestled within our relational interactions is a key prerequisite to initiating authentic sustainable transformations in ourselves and our communities to move towards belonging. In other words, deep intentional thinking, reframing through positive emotions, and collaborative interactions must be viewed, felt, and practiced as a set. Taking an embodied cognitive relational approach (e.g., Smith, 2008), I propose that feelings of belonging occur when we experience alignment in our mind, body, and brain as we interact with our community-communities-world. Our mind, body, and brain alignment serve as cues that our conscious and unconscious feelings, thoughts, and bodily signals are working in harmony within and between ourselves and our outer world.
As we move into 2023 and beyond, I extend a sincere invitation to our SENG community to engage actively in the practice of being curious about others’ experiences, perspectives, and lives. Being curious is the first step that allows opening our minds and hearts to support and lifting everyone in our SENG community towards belonging through intentional thinking, reframing through positive emotions, and collaborative interactions. Let us take cues from our mind-body-brain (mis)alignment as our guides on this collective journey toward belonging.
We still have a long way beyond belonging within our SENG community to connect with other communities to exchange awareness, understanding, and support for all beings. It is necessary to lift every single human being to find belonging for a healthy, sustainable humanity for all. After all, we (humanity) are but a minuscule speck of dust within the universe, a single community when we zoom out. I now share our actual 2015 holiday card in its entirety. What do you see and feel?
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I am falling in love with this photo all over again as I visually see and feel how small we (humanity) are relative to what is beyond our planet and share the words of Astronaut John Glenn: “I suppose the one quality in an astronaut more powerful than any other is curiosity. They have to get someplace nobody’s even been.” Let us get to a place of belonging for all, starting with curiosity--about ourselves, others, and our world. May the Force be with you!
Photo by: Gerard Goh 2015.
References
Immordino-Yang, M. (2016). Emotions, learning and the brain: Exploring the educational implications of affective neuroscience. W.W Norton and Company.
Kahnneman, D. (2013). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Smith, E. R. (2008). Social relationships and groups: New insights on embodied and distributed cognition. Cognitive Systems Research, 9(1–2), 24–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsys.2007.06.011
Taylor, J. (2009). My stroke of insight: a brain scientist’s personal journey. Hodder Paperbacks.
Walsh, Z., Böhme, J., & Wamsler, C. (2021). Towards a relational paradigm in sustainability research, practice, and education. Ambio, 50 (1), 74–84.
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About the Author
Lin Lim, Ph.D. is the Dean of Students and Communications at Bridges Graduate School with a doctorate in human development psychology. Her parenting journey with her two gifted outliers, one twice exceptional and the other radically accelerated, drives her to create better understanding and nurturance for complex outliers across the lifespan. She founded Quark Collaboration Institute, a non-profit that focuses on human dignity and wellbeing across the lifespan for all. She is an international speaker, author, and active volunteer serving on the boards of several gifted-related non-profits. She is honored to serve as the President of SENG through the end of 2023. With a diverse academic background and wide experience across fields, Dr. Lim’s current interests include interdisciplinary embodied complex dynamic systems thinking and practical applications around positive parenting, education, and human development.
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Helping them Climb: Counsellors and Counselling
Why Are Assessments and Screening Tools Missing Co-occurring Diagnoses of Gifted Kids?
By Julia Rutkovsky, LCSW; Melissa Sornik, LCSW; Jacob Greebel, LMSW
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As any parent of a gifted kid could tell you, giftedness comes with lots of testing. Add in the fact that gifted kids often have co-occurring needs in the areas of mental health, learning, or executive functioning, they may need even more testing. Why is it then, that when a gifted kid, who is clearly smart yet struggling, is screened, they often come up average and don’t qualify for services?
Many of the most commonly used screening tools have not been updated as recently as the newest edition of the DSM, so as we learn more about mental health diagnoses, we are not using our evolving knowledge to improve assessment measures. Our current screening tools miss gifted children’s particular needs for several reasons. The first, and perhaps most common, is that gifted kids are excellent maskers. Masking is the concealment of certain behaviors to better blend in. Not only do gifted kids mask, but some are even gifted in the art of hiding their challenges. In one example, the diagnosis of an incredibly gifted autistic child was questioned because he made excellent eye contact. While discussing this in session, the child revealed that he knew eye contact was expected, so he purposely looked at the area right next to the eye when he was talking to others. Gifted kids understand that when they’re being tested, evaluators are looking for something “wrong.” For kids who have spent their lives being the smartest person in the room, being wrong can feel tragic. Over time, they develop tools to avoid identification, not because they don’t want help, but because the idea of being inferior is identity shattering. Gifted students feel compelled to “do well” as they always have, even on screeners meant to measure where they could be better supported.
Gifted kids begin masking before they even have the words to identify it. When screening tools assess childhood behaviors and rely on parent reports, the masking further prevents accurate screening. In the case of an adolescent pursuing the diagnoses of ASD and ADHD, a parent reported that the child never had issues in school. When the diagnosis was not given, the child was confused, since the truth was that they were never able to pay attention in class. What really happened was that the child could not pay attention but was gifted enough that their work was always correct, and the teachers never bothered to let the parent know because the attentional issues weren’t impacting their schoolwork. The child masked their attentional issues by being quiet when unfocused and producing excellent work; and by assessing their childhood behaviors, the masking continued to prevent the child from getting services they needed. Many gifted children are able to mask in elementary school and even middle school; but as demands increase, they begin to falter. When they seek services in adolescence, they may struggle because some diagnoses require evidence of childhood presentation. It’s not that the presentation wasn’t there in childhood — it’s that the child masked and as the demand increased, the masking became harder.
When pursuing a lengthier evaluation such as an educational or neuropsychological assessment, an evaluator will usually observe a child in their school or another setting. Observation can give key insights into the child’s presentation. If they are observed in an environment where they are likely masking, such as school, it doesn’t always present an accurate picture. If a child with emotional regulation deficits goes to school and masks all day, only to come home and fall apart in a tantrum because they can’t hold it together anymore, a school observation is likely to indicate the problem is in the home, which is not accurate.
One particularly common faux pas that happens when evaluating a gifted child academically is that while all the scores are above average, the discrepancy between scores gets ignored. Any large discrepancy between scores can cause challenges, which are often expressed emotionally or behaviorally. If a child with extremely high intelligence scores just average in processing speed, there can be an immense amount of frustration and emotion when their knowledge can’t be applied as quickly as their brain is working. When a child with incredibly high verbal skills has just average expressive language skills, they may start to act out in anger when they cannot communicate their thoughts. These types of discrepancies occur in gifted children all the time, but if their lowest score falls into the average range, they may not qualify for the support they need in their discrepant areas. Until 2004, schools used a discrepancy model for evaluating students’ needs; it was replaced because educators and school officials thought it was unfair to focus on a child's area of relative weakness instead of their strengths. While a strengths-based perspective has many pros, the downside of replacing the discrepancy model is that we begin to miss gifted students with large discrepancies. In place of the discrepancy model, schools now use the Response to Intervention (RTI) model. While the RTI model itself doesn’t necessarily disadvantage gifted children, schools often will not intervene and provide support to a student whose lowest score is average, regardless of a discrepancy’s size.
So how can we begin to shift our screening and assessment tools to better catch the needs of gifted students? We need to stop looking at the test and start looking at the kid. Standardized screening tools are just that: a tool, and they are not always designed to identify non-standard kids. There is no perfect measure, and all evaluations should be looked at in the context of the whole child. For gifted kids, narrative assessment may need to play a larger role in identification. Looking at the discrepancy between scores, even if none of the scores are below average, can help explain some of the emotional and behavioral needs the child may be presenting. Observing a child in multiple settings, getting information from multiple sources, and assessing the child in front of you — not who they once were — will help ensure that we are serving gifted children as thoroughly as their neurotypical peers.
About the Authors
Julia Rutkovsky, LCSW is a clinical social worker and psychotherapist who specializes in working with Neurodivergent, Twice-Exceptional, and LGBTQ+ children, adolescents, and their families. Julia's private practice provides individual, group, and family therapy as well as school consultation and provider training in New York and New Jersey. Julia received her B.S. in Social Work and Theater from Skidmore College in 2016, and her Master of Social Work with honors from New York University's Silver School of Social Work in 2017. Julia has worked in several gifted and 2e settings including as Associate Director of The Quad Manhattan, School Social Worker at FlexSchool Bronxville, and as an individual and group psychotherapist at Melissa Sornik, LCSW PLLC. In addition to her LCSW, Julia holds advanced training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Meeting the Needs of Twice Exceptional Learners, Child and Family Therapy, Creative Arts Therapies, and Mindfulness. You can find more information about Julia's ongoing work at juliarutkovskylcsw.com.
The co-founder and president of Twice Exceptional Children’s Advocacy, Inc. (TECA) Melissa Sornik, LCSW has been working with gifted and twice-exceptional (2e) children and their families since 2003. Melissa earned her Master of Social Work degree from Fordham University with a specialization in children and families. With a private practice specializing in support and services for all kinds of gifted individuals, including those who are twice-exceptional, Melissa has developed programs for 2e children and adolescents, conducted professional development sessions for public and private schools and colleges in the NY tri-state area. She has authored several articles on the subject of 2e and has presented lectures and workshops at regional and national conferences. She maintains clinical practices both in New York City and in Sea Cliff, New York.
Jacob Greebel, MEd, LMSW holds a dual degree of Master of Education, for general and special education from Bank Street College, a Master of Social Work degree from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin. Jacob has also taught in several alternative and progressive educational settings. Inspired by his own struggles as a 2e individual, Jacob strives to raise awareness and change perceptions of 2e children and adolescents by furthering his knowledge in both scope and depth as he continues to gain experience and share his discoveries with his students, peers, and parents alike.
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2023 SENG Annual Conference
Authentic Voices: Community & Belonging
Early Bird Registration, Call for Proposals Now Open!
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SENG is thrilled to announce that we have begun preparing for our 2023 Annual Conference to be held July 21-23, 2023 at Villanova University! Keynoting our 2023 Conference are Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman and Dr. Richard Cash
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We invite educators, parents, clinicians, advocates, entrepreneurs, researchers and other practitioners interested in presenting to our SENG community to submit their proposal for consideration on or before Sunday, January 15th, 2023 |
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EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!
Register by January 15, 2023 to secure a special discounted price of $399.
The early bird price for SENG Members is $349 .
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About our Keynote Speakers |
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Scott Barry Kaufman is a cognitive scientist and humanistic psychologist exploring the mind, creativity, and the depths of human potential. He is a professor at Columbia University and founder and director of the Center for Human Potential. Dr. Kaufman has taught at Columbia University, Yale, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Dr. Kaufman received a B.S. in psychology and human computer interaction from Carnegie Mellon, an M. Phil in experimental psychology from the University of Cambridge under a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Yale University. He is also an Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Wellbeing Science.
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Dr. Richard Cash received a bachelor of arts degree in theater from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. After a brief retail career, Dr. Cash attended the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, where he received a post-baccalaureate degree in elementary education. His first teaching position in a magnet school for gifted children, grades 1–6, in St. Paul, Minnesota, allowed him to use my talents as an actor and director. He created learning spaces that were rich in artistry, music, theater, and dance.
Richard later obtained a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He became a curriculum specialist and developed training modules, curriculum formats, and differentiated learning archetypes that assisted teachers in creating higher-level experiences to meet the needs of all children. Later, he returned to St. Thomas and received a doctoral degree in educational leadership.
Dr. Cash has served as the Administrator of Gifted Programs in Rochester, Minnesota, and the Director of Gifted Programs for the Bloomington Public Schools in Minnesota. In Bloomington, he realigned the gifted programs to service more students during a budget deficit and incorporated differentiated instruction into the total school curriculum. During his tenure with the Bloomington Public Schools, he created a school-within-a-school program for highly/profoundly gifted students, grades 2 – 10.
Dr. Richard Cash has given hundreds of workshops, presentations, and staff-development sessions throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The research-based strategies and techniques he offers are proven to increase student achievement. Others have commended his talent for working with teachers to develop engaging and enriching learning environments that can improve student learning. At the end of the day, his greatest passion is helping teachers recognize the various talents all children possess and create learning experiences to allow those talents to flourish. He is considered by many to be an exceptionally engaging, motivating, and enlightening presenter.
He is also a member of several professional organizations including the National Association for Gifted Children, the Council for Exceptional Children, and ASCD. Cash has authored numerous articles on quality instructional practices and written three popular teacher resource guides:
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Advancing Differentiation: Thinking and Learning for the 21st Century
- Differentiation for Gifted Leaners: Going Beyond the Basics (with Dr. Diane Heacox), and
- Self-Regulation in the Classroom: Helping Students Learn How to Learn
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Questions?
Contact Brian Shea
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SENG Community Volunteer Spotlight
Adeyemi Adewole
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Adeyemi Adewole is the CEO of Adcem Healthcare LTD, an equipment and service provider for kidney disease and healthcare technological innovation.
He’s a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University with over 35 years experience in Nigeria, Zimbabwe and USA. He holds an Executive Masters of Sustainability Leadership from Arizona State University.
Q&A with Adeyemi
Q: What committee you are volunteering?
A: The liaison committee
Q: Why are you volunteering?
A: I am volunteering because I would like the voices of educators and practitioners from Africa to be heard on the international stage, on issues regarding the gifted and twice-exceptional.
Q. One word/phrase that represent what SENG means to you/your family.
A: A beacon of light.
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Well Wishes: Dr. Mike Postma |
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The SENG Family would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Dr. Mike Postma and thank him for years of distinguished service to SENG as a Board Member, Executive Director, and most recently as Director of Programming.
SENG wishes Mike and his wife Julie great success with their company Gifted and Thriving and we look forward to continued partnership and collaboration in the years to come.
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SENG Partner Spotlight
Improv for 2e+ Teens begins January 8, 2023
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Improv for 2e+ Teens begins January 8, 2023! Email giftedimprov@gmail.com to learn more and/or get your teen(s) registered!
Your teen walks through life with intensities - intellectual, sensual, physical, creative, emotional, existential. Some experience hyperfocus and can feel hyperscattered. They feel different from the neuromajority, and they’ve camouflaged to ‘fit in’. They want to feel connected to people, relax and laugh with them. They can be burdened with perfectionism and anxiety, and they love it when there is ease and flow. They’re complex, and they like complexity.
Improv for 2e+ Teens is a place where your teens can be themselves in all their facets. They’ll laugh and get to use all of their strengths. They’ll laugh some more and feel accepted no matter what happens. They’ll come to greater self-acceptance and self-trust. They will have the experience of shedding the masks they’ve worn.
Improv is built on two primary principles: Yes, And & Got Your Back. Yes, And means that whatever your teen brings will be received and built upon. Got Your Back means that the whole group will support each other to keep things flowing no matter what happens. There are no mistakes in Improv. We use everything. It’s not about trying to be funny. It’s about allowing the next thing to fall out of your mouth, and that’s what makes the funny! You can learn more about Improv, what it is and how it helps, at this link.
Gordon Smith of Gifted and Growing, and Lisa Bany, Chief Improv Officer of Improv Therapy Group have collaborated to develop an experience focused on the specific needs of Twice-Exceptional Teens. Gifted? Yup. Spectrum? Awesome. Characteristics of ADHD? Fantastic. Assortment of learning differences? Bring it. Your teens’ neurodivergences are amazing, and we want them to come out and play.
Improv for 2e+ Teens offers an eight-week experience in which we come together (on zoom) with 2e+ peers to explore, experiment, and play. Through Improv games and exercises we cultivate openness & playfulness, relaxation & self-care, emotional intelligence & empathy, and creative storytelling & expression.
Eight consecutive Sundays begin Jan. 8, 2023 from 1pm - 2:15pm Eastern Time.
$360 for the whole series.
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SENG Partner Spotlight
Gift-a-Palooza
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Have you checked out our Open Access SENG Journal yet?
SENGJ: Exploring the Psychology of Giftedness - Issue 2 Now Available!
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The SENG Journal: Exploring the Psychology of Giftedness (SENGJ) was created to offer opportunities for diverse voices and points of view on topics important to society as they pertain to the psychology of individuals with the ability or potential to perform or produce at exceptional levels. The aim of SENGJ is to promote the social, emotional, and psychological well-being of these individuals. As the official scholarly publication of the SENG organization, the online open-access journal publishes peer-reviewed, rigorous research, including original studies, reviews of research, meta-analyses, and theoretical explorations. Substantive interviews with leaders and experts in the psychology of individuals in this exceptional population are within the scope of SENGJ. The journal places a priority on diversity, equity, inclusion, and rigor.
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University of North Texas Research Study
Exploration of Parent Perceptions of Gifted Formal Support Groups
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The UNT Department of Educational Psychology is conducting a research study “Exploration of Parent Perceptions of Gifted Formal Support Groups.”
If you are a facilitator of or participant in a Gifted Parent Formal Support Group and are above the age of 18; you may qualify to participate in an online research study examining the functions these groups serve for participants and their families.
Eligible subjects will undergo a one hour virtual audio-recorded interview discussing their perceptions of the functions the Support Groups has served for them, with potential follow-up interviews for clarification or confirmation.
You will not receive compensation for participation.
For more information, please click here
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Amazon Smile
Consider supporting SENG through Amazon Smile
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Please be sure to add SENG as your AmazonSmile charitable organization while you do your holiday shopping.
Search for and select "Supporting Emotional Needs Of The Gifted" as your organization of choice, and Amazon will donate a portion of your purchases SENG. It’s easy to set up and a great way to make an impact on the lives of those we serve.
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ADVERTISE WITH SENG!
Do you provide gifted services and products that benefit our membership? Visit the SENG Store for more information on how to get your message to over 21,000 in our monthly SENGVine.
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