●Director's Corner

●Upcoming SENGinar

-Beyond Labels: Cultivating Our Unique Gifts

-By Jennifer Harvey Sallin

-Bridges 2e Center

-Marni Kammersell

●University of North Texas Research Study

Our 2023 SENG Board is looking forward to supporting our SENG community. Read more about our board members on our WEBSITE.

Melissa Bernstein is an entrepreneur, creative, and working mother of six. In 1988, Melissa and her husband co-founded Melissa & Doug out of their parents’ garage. In the years that followed, they built Melissa & Doug into a wildly successful company. Melissa has spent the last 30 years helping children discover themselves, their passions, and their purpose through open-ended play. She estimates that she has built more than 6,000 toys in the last three decades!

Despite the early and sustained success Melissa experienced, she spent her life struggling with existential depression. In 2020, after her own personal journey of self-discovery and acceptance, Melissa co-founded Lifelines. Through Lifelines, she is using her unparalleled creativity and imagination to reinvent well-being products and experiences and help adults strengthen their resilience, stay grounded, and unlock their full potential.

By Jennifer Harvey Sallin | adapted from the original article published on InterGifted.

Yet many of us didn’t. It’s years, even decades later, and we’re still not fitting in. The truth is, we were missing key information about ourselves and our unique needs, as well as crucial guidance and mentoring through the phases of gifted lifespan development. It’s usually not that our parents or the education system were trying to keep our authentic self-knowledge about giftedness from us or to force us to develop into false versions of ourselves (though, sadly, this can sometimes be the case). Still, growing up not really understanding that we were gifted, or that gifted people have special developmental needs, made us see ourselves and the world in confusing ways. We were developing ourselves in response to a distorted reflection: a mirror which implicitly or maybe sometimes even explicitly told us that if we could just be more “normal”, everything would be okay for us. But we have this “extra” that doesn’t fit into the “normal” mirror, and many of us developed shame and confusion along the way about the "extra" parts of us didn't fit. Those extra parts may still be wondering where they belong.

Registration, Sponsor & Vendor Opportunities Now Open!

Preparations for the SENG 2023 Annual Conference in Villanova, PA are well underway! We are proud to be able to offer both in-person and digital options for our families this year! We know being in-person, and being able to bring your family with you to an event like this is an amazing opportunity. Bringing our SENG family together after being apart for the last couple years is very important to us.

Please CLICK HERE to access our conference program!

The conference committee and staff will be updating this document each month so please keep checking back for more updates!

Sponsor registration is now open! Click below or email inquiries@sengifted.org for more information.  

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.

Dr. Kaufman hosts the The Psychology Podcast which has received over 20 million downloads and was included in Business Insider’s list of “9 podcasts that will change how you think about human behavior.” Dr. Kaufman is interested in using his research to help all kinds of minds live a creative, fulfilling, and self-actualized life. His early educational experiences made him realize the deep reservoir of untapped potential of students, including bright and creative children who have been diagnosed with a learning disability. In 2015, he was named one of “50 groundbreaking scientists who are changing the way we see the world” by Business Insider.

Dr. Kaufman likes to share his enthusiasm and knowledge of the science of potential through his books, teaching, self-actualization coaching, podcast, blog, articles, and speaking engagements. If you’d like him to speak at one of your events, you can make a request here.

Dr. Kaufman’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Scientific American, Psychology Today, and Harvard Business Review, and he is the author and editor of 10 books. In his latest book Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, he presents a new hierarchy of human needs for the 21st century, one that allows for the fulfillment of individual potential as well as the actualization of transcendent purpose and peak experiences. 

Learn more on his website: https://scottbarrykaufman.com/

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.

Learn more on his website: https://www.nrichconsulting.com/

SENG Community Partner Spotlight - Bridges 2e Center

-By By Juniette Kang’a, & Marna Walthall Wohlfeld

As 2022 came to a close, a pioneering cross-cultural group of participants from multiple disciplines including parents, educators and other professionals, joined together to inspire, connect and enrich each other. The Future Is Inclusive Initiative is designed to highlight, uplift, and educate on the intersectionality faced by neurodiverse individuals whilst building a network of associations.

This groundbreaking 3 day (8 hours) symposium focused on the intersection of neuro and culturally diverse students’ needs and strengths based strategies to support them in the home and classroom. The organizing team included Dr. Joy Lawson Davis, a diversity expert and researcher in 2e, who was instrumental in anchoring the audience on the importance to act forthwith in accepting and nurturing these unique group of children.

Friday commenced with school aged students and parents openly sharing their experiences from different backgrounds and neurodivergence e.g. ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism students who are from different backgrounds including LatinX, Asian, African American, African, Afghani-Puerto Rican, bi-racial and much more. These parents bore their hearts, which launched the participants into moments of connection and reflection together.

Saturday’s session featured scholars and researchers (namely Dr. Anne Gray, Dr. Nicholas Pereira, Dr. Carlitta Cotton, Dr. Souen Park and Dr. Gilman Whiting, who represented research and personal experiences from their backgrounds covering Native American, African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American. They shared the trends and gaps in research and practical education strategies and they inspired the audience into moving towards neurodivergence as the new normal.

On Sunday, the audience was galvanized through relatable experiences shared by adult scholars and professionals who are autistic or dyslexic individuals themselves and/or parents of neurodivergent individuals. The session featured Dr. Lin Lim-Goh, who is a SENG board member. Apart from sharing their personal experiences, they dove into data and publications to motivate, inspire and elevate the twice exceptional neuro and culturally diverse child.

Below are some tips that were shared for the session Elevating Culturally diverse children. 

Speaker 1: Dr. Shawn Robinson shared the perplexing dilemma of completing high school at 18 with scores at the level of a 10 year-old and his journey of “life, learning and literacy.” Fortunately, he met a teacher in his senior year who stated “Shawn, you are one of the most illiterate kids I’ve ever seen in my life. You’ve been failed by the academic system. It’s not your fault, you have a gift … you have a lot to offer this world.” This amazing teacher went on to teach him how to read and in 18 years, he was able to complete his undergraduate and graduate studies, finally obtaining his PhD.

He and his wife decided to focus on giving dyslexic children the opportunity to see themselves through literature, particularly books that give them a sense of empowerment, hope, and a vision to motivate them – hence, the birth of Dr. Dyslexia Dude.

His advice:

●     Find people who believe in your children

●     Allow your children to see their intersectionality as being successful regardless of their skin color. This is why his books embody Black Excellence, and the creation of a black, dyslexic, superhero mascot in their books

●     Children need HOPE: Help, Opportunity, and Progress, which leads to Empowerment

Speaker 2: Dr. Lim-Goh grounded the audience on the diversity and growth of Asian Americans who are the largest fastest growing population projected to represent 10% of the American population by 2060. From a social emotional perspective Asian Americans don’t access mental health services as much as they should. The Asian American population is largely made up of immigrants and accounts for 30 subgroups. Dr. Lim-Goh shared how being different has been a core part of her narrative from her upbringing in Singapore and then living in various states in the USA.

Her advice:

●     “We need to elevate EVERYONE in order to help ourselves”, and this means including everyone’s needs.

●     It is uncommon to meet other Asian Americans who have twice exceptional children and therefore let’s create community. “Community begins with just 2 people” she said, encouraging others to connect.

●     Since you will always hear a lot of comments such as “bright child but…” she suggests it is important to “Celebrate any positive movement in a positive direction”. She measures this against the child’s own accomplishments and progress, which she exemplifies using the fact that they are still working on “put your plates away after dinner” ten years later.

Speaker 3: Attorney Salomon Chiquiar-Rabinovich, who is dyslexic, has a Mexican-Jewish background and is the parent to children with learning differences, pointed us to the challenges faced traversing his intersectionalities. One elementary school teacher stated, “He’s very bright, he must be either lazy or just doesn’t focus, but in the end, it doesn't matter what he has, but he is holding back the class.” His parents advocated to let him finish the grade and get private tutors. In 9th grade he was diagnosed as dyslexic and classified as a slow learner who was unable to read.

His advice:

●     We have the opportunity to make change if we come together as a movement. There’s more to dyslexia than the ability to read.

●     Remember, “it’s painful, as a parent, to see your children going through what you went through.”

●     Employer education on the benefits of hiring neurodiverse employees is important. He shared that “studies by consulting companies show that people who are neurodiverse bring different points of view for business success” and can be the key for leading and managing change and tapping tremendous profits.  “This is the right time in history for neurodiverse employees … so employers should be flexible in how they show value.”

Speaker 4: Dr. Morenike Giwa-Onaiwu who is autistic and a first generation American of Nigerian heritage shared a heart warming authentic excerpt from her book (a recommended read), Sincerely, your autistic child. She talked about the difficulty of believing the affirming words from family juxtaposed by a world that was not accepting of who she is – “merely a person with unique neurology.” She was identified as gifted, which helped deal with the boredom and classroom behaviors, but didn’t address her sensory and social-emotional needs due to undiagnosed autism that was masked by her giftedness.

Her advice:

●     Understand that there is more needed than academic placement. The social and sensory part was difficult, resulting in her being diagnosed with depression and even keeping a suicide journal at a very young age. She struggled with expectations due to being gifted, but not understanding what was wrong with her.

●     As her whole household and children have some sort of neurodivergence, she places emphasis on what they can do. She works to maintain positivity without making assumptions.

●     She provides recognition and neutrality “ensuring they know there’s nothing better about being gifted, or worse about having special needs.”

●     She give them the dignity of risk to change things up, to try, to fail, and follow another path. “You are not racing anyone but yourself” therefore having less pressure put on children for GPAs, or rushing into college.

Conclusion

In wrapping up, Dr. Davis invited all of the participants to join together to, “help the nation, help the world, help the land understand these children better – how to meet their intellectual needs, their academic needs, their psychosocial needs.” She concluded the symposium by encouraging the participants to sign up to be part of The Future is Inclusive, and support the vision based on their unique skills, regardless of their cultural background.

Volunteers may sign up on https://forms.gle/roasnHvtHSLAN5Ns8

 You can Email us inclusive@bridges.edu if interested in being on our mailing list as we launch various initiatives.

Juniette Kang’a, M. Des, is a mother of five children and a doctoral student at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity. She holds a graduate certificate in twice exceptional education, is a trained SENG facilitator and a NASEF fellow, a role she recently ventured into in supporting interests based learning for non traditional children.

Marna Walthall Wohlfeld, MA, MBA, is a mom of four and lives in Bloomington, IN. Passionate about advocating for 2e students, she is studying in the doctoral program at Bridges Graduate School. She is a trained SENG facilitator, the Managing Editor of GHF’s Journey newsletter, and the Assistant Editor of the GHF Dialogue. Previously Marna worked in the nonprofit sector.

Marni Kammersell - SMPG Committee Community Member 

Marni Kammersell is a doctoral student studying twice-exceptionality at the Bridges Graduate School and a SENG group facilitator. She offers educational and neurodiversity consulting services to help others individualize education for their own families. She is also a long-time home educator for her three gifted, creative, and twice-exceptional children. www.nurturingneurodiversity.com

Why - As a SENG parent group facilitator, I have seen firsthand how these groups which focus on the social-emotional needs of the gifted are a transformative experience for parents of gifted and 2e children. This is usually the first time that parents are learning about giftedness as a neurodivergence - a brain-based difference that requires special understanding and support - and which often co-occurs with other neurodivergences. In a society that too often focuses on giftedness as a commodity to be harnessed, SENG is serving a vital role in elevating the need to focus on the whole child or person. I am honored to serve on the SMPG committee to continue the work of creating a network of strong advocates for the complex needs of gifted humans. 

One word/phrase that represents what SENG means for our family: Seen

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.

Lead Student Investigator: Nicole N. Mattingly (nicolemattingly2@my.unt.edu)

Principal Investigator: Anne Rinn (Anne.Rinn@unt.edu)

For more information, please click here

Or contact Nicole Mattingly, nicolemattingly2@my.unt.edu

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.

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.