IN THIS ISSUE
●G/T/N Awareness Week 2022
●SENG Community Volunteer Spotlight
● Director's Corner
-Dr. Karen Arnstein
●SENG Board News
● Reminder: University of North Texas Research Study
● Upcoming SENGinar TONIGHT!
-The Whole Child and the Balance of Being
●SENGJ: Exploring the Psychology of Giftedness
-Issue 2 now available!
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G/T/N Awareness Week 2022
SENG Partners with TheGWord for G/T/N Awareness Week
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In recognition of G/T/N Awareness Week, SENG will be shining a light on SENG Community Voices - individuals who will share in their own words what SENG means to them. From SMPG members and volunteers in Texas and Colorado, SENG liaisons in Nigeria and Arizona, SENG Education Community Volunteers from Hawaii to Filmmakers in California and Educators in New York - our partners are committed to SENG's mission of empowering families and communities to guide gifted and talented individuals to reach their goals. We cannot wait to share their video testimonials with you over the next several days.
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To sign up for daily alerts and learn more about this full week of free programming being offered by our partners at TheGWord as a part of G/T/N Awareness Week 2022, click the link below.
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SENG Community Volunteer Spotlight
Harri O'Kelley
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SENG warmly welcomes Harri O’Kelley, a longtime SENG member and supporter.
Harri volunteers on the SENG Diversity committee as a SENG community member. She travels the country to spread awareness and understanding of twice-exceptional individuals and introduces SENG, our mission, and our free resources to all that she meets.
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IN HER OWN WORDS:
I’m so inspired and honored to be volunteering to be a community member of the SENG diversity committee. After years of volunteering in different school and parent advocacy committees, I know the importance of sharing education, resources, and support with families, and the difference it can make. I am currently committed to introducing SENG to college campuses, film attendees including everyone I meet!
I have experienced working with parents from under-represented communities who are not aware of the importance of social-emotional needs of the gifted. I look forward to supporting SENG in being that bridge for families to find resources and supports for gifted individuals and families and give voice to those that are not yet being seen or represented in the gifted community. It’s urgent that we include and honor all diversity (racial, neurodiversity, gender, cultural etc) within the gifted community and move us all towards a community of belonging.
SENG has given my family connection, community, and continuing education over the years. Meeting Dr. Webb inspired my twice-exceptional teen son to create a fundraiser for SENG and become a neurodiverse advocate. If your family is benefiting from the wonderful professionals, programming, and resources that SENG has to offer, I hope you will join me in looking for ways to volunteer and give back to SENG and build social capital!
About Harri:
Harri O’Kelley is a filmmaker turned parent advocate whose most rewarding and inspiring job is being a mom to her three “twice exceptional” children. She is passionate about creating new therapies and approaches to improve 2e awareness and advocacy.
Her homegrown O’Kelley Lab supports novel ideas and approaches. You can learn more at www.theokelleylab.com
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Director's Corner
Pine Trees Never Doubt the Authenticity of Their Piney-ness
By Dr. Karen Arnstein
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It has only been a year since my last Director’s Corner, but it feels like ten years have passed. How can a lifetime occur in a year? We emerged from the pandemic, I accepted a tenure-track position with a university, and my future seemed ready for the taking. I was busy fulfilling the responsibilities and obligations of being an officer for SENG, working as a university professor in another state, being a wife, maintaining friendships, and parenting a gifted teenager. No matter how many hours I worked, I felt inadequate and unprepared. I was always missing some vital detail and falling behind. Somehow, I got everything I wanted through hard work and luck, but why wasn’t I happy? That shiny gold star was pasted next to my name, but I felt like a failure. Like becoming a parent, we grow into our roles over time, and I expected the same with my new position as a professor. I loved the interaction, the intellectual stimulation, the campus energy, and mentoring of students, yet something wasn’t right.
In November of 2021, I attended the NAGC conference, where I presented my doctoral research. After almost two years of virtual classes, meetings, and virtual graduation, I was surrounded by people I admired for their dedication and work to gifted and talented education. I was abuzz with the energy and possibilities for the future and how I could contribute to the field. I vowed never to lose focus on why I started this journey and to use my gifts and energy to help others and improve children’s lives. That weekend was reaffirming, but I had to put it aside to go back to updating syllabi, navigating departmental politics, and finding scraps of time for my family.
You don’t realize what you have until you no longer have it. This past year and my separation from the gifted community provided that stark contrast. Sure, I was making it work between all the commitments to family, work, and service, but I was lonely and disconnected. After the school year ended, I met with my advisor and colleagues to figure it out. The thought of hopping back on the hamster wheel to chase the shiny object filled me with dread. I wanted to keep writing, collaborating, and speaking about my conceptual work – those activities gave me energy and hope. After dropping off my son at Yunasa summer camp, a friend and fellow mother said, “Karen, anyone can teach students to be teachers, but not everyone can do what you do. The work we do now is not for our children… it’s for their children.” As we walked through that dusty mountain parking lot, I stopped mid-step with the profound simplicity of it all. She was right. What was I doing? Just because I CAN do something doesn’t mean I HAVE to do it.
That epiphany sucked the air out of my lungs. It was as obvious as the pine trees all around me. Pine trees never doubt the authenticity of their piney-ness. Mountain streams never doubt their wateriness. Nature never tries to do something it was not intended to do; she is the most authentic creature alive and all around us. Why did I not see this before? My connections to SENG and the gifted community through friendships, collaboration, work, and laughter brought me back to my center again. Through this community built over the years, I felt safe to express my doubts about the “dream job” without judgment or criticism. Gifted and twice-exceptional kids have those same doubts about decisions made or those they are about to make, and they, too, deserve a community where they can feel safe enough to express themselves without fear of judgment. Unfortunately, many states no longer provide gifted programming so students can “find each other” and build this community. Over time, they develop into anxious, self-doubting adults. I know because I was one of them.
After a year of working in the non-gifted world, I realized I had set aside parts of myself to fit in. I had to set aside my research interests, tone down my sarcastic sense of humor, and fly my “nerd flag” a little lower. This was a year of learning what it meant to be authentic. I am not interested in creating competition where there is no need for it. I prefer setting aside egos and finding consensus. I love working in the gifted and talented field in whatever capacity I am needed. I love that our community cheers each other on for our successes. I love that after a year away, I was received with warmth and welcomed back. So, this is community. I like it.
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About the Author
Dr. Karen Arnstein is a core faculty member at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. She received her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction for the Gifted from the University of Denver. Her research examined the developmental transitions of twice-exceptional students. Karen is a speaker and author dedicated to supporting twice-exceptional learners. She is the co-founder and Director of Technology at Sierra Gifted Educational Services, a non-profit dedicated to helping gifted and twice-exceptional families. Her involvement with SENG began when her son was five, and she is now discovering new challenges in parenting a gifted teenager. She currently serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors and is Co-Chair of the Research Committee for SENG.
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SENG Board News
SENG President Dr. Lin Lim Gives Keynote Presentation at Talent Education 2022
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SENG Board President Dr. Lin Lim presented "Power up! Social-emotional health for outlier gifted and talented children through the lens of positive psychology" last week at Talent Education 2022.
This keynote presentation consists of two parts. The first part is to bring awareness around the complexity of outlier gifted and talented children. Who are outlier gifted and talented children and what makes them qualitatively different from other gifted and talented children? The second part involves social-emotional health considerations for complex outlier gifted and talented children. Increasing attention is now being paid to the importance of social-emotional health in nurturing gifted and talented children at school and at home, yet positive psychology is still rarely applied to social-emotional health in education or at home. Learn how positive psychology powers up what we currently know about the importance of social-emotional health.
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Reminder: 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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Reminder: SENGinar TONIGHT!
The Whole Child and the Balance of Being
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A gifted child is a child first. Too much focus on the gift may lead to anxiety, alienation, underachievement, and more. So how can we provide balance? How can we address the needs of the whole child? The National Association for Gifted Children established a task force to answer those exact questions. |
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Tracy Ford Inman, Ed.D., a gifted education consultant, is active on the state, national, and international levels in gifted education serving as Parent Representative on the Board of the National Association for Gifted Children, treasurer for The Association for the Gifted, and chair of the KAGE Foundation (Kentucky Association for Gifted Education.) Her writing has earned five Texas Association for Gifted and Talented Legacy Awards including two on parenting gifted children. She recently left The Center for Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University where she served as Associate Director for 20 years.
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Have you checked out the 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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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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