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THE NATlONAL FDUNDATlON
FOR
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION- To be used at the discretion of the
National Foundation for Gifted and
Creative Children.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
RE:
I am going to write a report on one of the most tragic cases
of cruelty to gifted children. For those who view me as one whose
opinions "do not hold water" I want to say that I hold myself fully
capable and responsible for this report. Since I have been requested
to review manuscripts that are being written by a prestigious publish-
ing house, I would hope that this state begin to know that I indeed,
am aware of the consequences of the neglect of our most sensitive and
gifted children. While (Mrs. X) requested some testing on her
son, I did not have to see tests to know that she has a very gifted
boy who has been totally mishandled, miseducated and misunderstood.
When I met and spoke to (x) I knew this boy had been hurt very
deeply because of ignorance and prejudices. His mother has also been
subjected to humiliation in her fervent attempts to encourage more under-
standing of her boy's needs. This report will be more than test scores
and numbers. I have observed (x), studied the case history and had
parental input. What has happened to this boy is criminal. There are
hundreds of books on the gifted that warn educators and parents of what
can happen to a gifted child if his needs are not met. Every negative
thing in the books seems to have hit this boy. I regret that I did not
meet before this time. Nine is the critical age and he has lost
so much of his most precious years. Our state leaders have said that
I become too emotional when I speak of the gifted -- no, after what I
have seen this summer in numerous cases. I say that I have been much
too quiet. It is a case like (x) that makes me wonder what has the
foundation done in these past many years. Why has this state ignored
what we have been saying? I will say that I have re-newed energy to
fight for the rights of these children and I will not be as nice as I
have been for these past 18 years. This state is one that should be
investigated for its prejudices and continued rejection of those children
we need the most. I hope that will be spared any future groups
where he will feel alietared and rejected. He has suffered enough.
Why has he suffered? Because he was born different and we live in a
country where this is no crime against the state! Or do we?
-2- RE:
had all the characteristics of the gifted child -- his
mother noted this while he was still a baby. He appears to fit the
Terman type gifted child as well as one with a great deal of creative
potential. It becomes obvious that began to regress as soon as
he was in a group situation. This is why we urge parents to become
experts and not allow this to happen. Gifted children are super sensitive
and when they have a high IQ they have a logical kind of thinking that
makes them want to please and to fit in. When they find this is not
possible they develop mental health problems. A long time ago when I
put my boy in kindergarten and no one would listen to me, he had re-
gussed so much in his mental well being only after six months. Yet,
had read and knew so much about the gifted. All the school people told
me was what every book said "this is poison for the gifted child'. I
tried to have this organization so that other gifted children would be
assisted. This state is bad -- they even ignored a mandate for the
gifted and yet always aTpropriated monies to house our emotionally dis-
turbed gifted! How long will we allow our heads of state to ignore
this problem! If we apply all we know about the gifted, I know many
people would be out of business. A great deal of money is made because
of distraught parents seeking solutions that are denied them.
I knew by talking to (x) that he was unhappy. We do not like to
test such a child. No tests are valid when a child is not feeling good
about himself. We did, however, administer tests to this boy. To test
for brain dysfunction, the Memory-For-Designs Test and Simkov Perceptual
Organization Inventory are used. The reason why Dr. Stanley Krippner
selected these tests is that he found so many very gifted children being
drugged and negatively labeled. (x) produced excellent scores -- there
appears to no problem whatsoever. He excels in visual-motor skills.
I note that his mother reports that he'd been given drugs to make him more
docile in the classroom. She claims that the principal of the school
suggested this. I consider this against the law. When we have to drug
a child because we do not make room for his individuality, we are no
longer a free country. This drugging of gifted children that started
in the state of Rhode Island is one of the ugliest things we will have
to live with. This organization had a crew of lawyers from the Harvard
Law Center who were ready to go to court on behalf of many children
who were illicitly drugged, but the politics of the state prevented this.
I hope that Mrs. (X) will retrace her steps and let it be known
that this suggestion should be confronted. She may save another gifted
child. In her case, she had the good sense to know the principal was
wrong, but there are too many cases where the parents have done as the
school personnel suggested. The drugging of gifted children will go
down in history as one of the most tragic wastes of this century.
Creativity is energy. Children who appear to have enormous amounts
of energy often are gifted. This is not to be seen as impulsive. When
these children are given tasks in which they are interested they will
not be bored. Many of the gifted require some one to one teaching be-
cause of their ability to grasp concepts quickly. We consider our
creativity test evaluated Torranceas one of the best lndicators of
how many children may have preferred ways of learning. (x) was given
the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (Figural). On this test the
child is asked to embellish upon a figure and attach a picture to the
flgure he has thus drawn. There are four categories measured; fluency,
flexibility, originality and elaboration. (x) received above average
scares in elaboration, high average in flexibillty and originality and
average in fluency. Dr. Torrance did not feel that these scores are valid.
RE:
He wrote that the subject "may not have really warmed up. Shows
rare flashes of creative thinking but is not consistent and lacks
persistence. Might try Form B some time when he is better motivated".
(x) appeared to be hostile to anything at all that might re-
semble school work. In spite of this he did receive some very strong
creative strengths. A high elaborator is one who requires a great deal
of time to learn a subject. When the student learns in this way he
should be allowed to go into the learning in depth. To cut him off is
to cause some deep frustrations. I have found that the gifted child
with the high IQ sees many relationships when he studies a subject. He
has a flood like mind and wants to go into the fullness of the area of
learning. However, most schools cater to the child with the spot-like
mind and who can stay in the more narrow concept of learning. Of course
we know that the gifted child must study what he is interested in or we
cut his life off. By capitalizing on his particualr interest, he will
feel valued and will have the discipline to study other things as well.
On the checklist of creative strengths we find the following:
Atticulateness in telling story; context, environment +
The child who breaks boudaries will cause trouble to the teacher
who is traditional. Very often because the child has original thought
on an idea, he will be seen as one whose spirit we must break. Every
time I write a report about a boy like (x) I always want to say what
Eric Erickson has said:
Someday, maybe. there will exist a
I hope that (x)'s love of learning will be rekindled. He has
much to offer the world but we have not given him a chance.
To measure verbal intelligence, Form A and Form B of the Peabody
Picture Vocabulary Test were administered. This individually admin-
istered test correlates well with longer tests of mental ability. An
average is taken to insure greater reliability. received a score
of that of a very rapid learner. This places him in the 95%ile. I
was amazed that Mrs.(X) had her boy tested and they did find
he had a high IQ. Why did this not do something for the boy? What
good is it to test a child if the results are not to benefit him?
My suggestion to the parents of (x) is to remove him from any hostile
teacher or group and allow him to be tutored. The tutor should have
some expertise in the psychology and education of the gifted. (x)
needs very little repetition in his academic program. His behavior
during our examination indicated the need for the establishment of
rapport before he will do his best work. This boy needs a warm,pleas-
ant human relationship before he will work well on academic tasks.
-4-
Any one who teaches should take special note of his sen-
sitiVity and develop a gentle and kind attitude toward this student.
The Rogers Personal Adjustment Inventory and the Purcell
Incomplete Sentences were given to (x) -to evaluate his mental health.
The Rogers Inventory is in questionnaire form and attempts to measure
one's extent of personal inferiority, social maladjustment, family
maladjustment, and excessive daydreaming. The Purcell Sentences are
projective in nature; they require a child to complete a phrase. re-
flecting his own feelings (e.g.,. I wish my father....".
(x) has a very low self-esteem. This is not to be confused
with ego strength. The gifted child maintains a sense of self even
though he may have the self-hatred. This is why so many creative
children develop serious problems. When we thwart creativity we en-
courage delinquency or psychosis. This is a boy who feels alienated,
who feels a failure and who said he has no friends. One of the reasons
why the experts urge that the gifted child be with others like himself
is to prevent this strong feeling of alienation from the group.
Of deep concern to us is his very high escape level. (x) finds
his real world intolerable; he seeks solace in his dream world. When
a child finds an inability to succeed, he is bewildered. The bright
child wants to know himself; he needs to have a meaning for living.
Even though the family score is average, the total score is in
the unsatisfactory range. This is why we must try to change (x)'s
learning environment. If he is to be subjected to more of the "tyranny
of the group" I feel his problems will increase.
In (x)'s replies to the Purcell Sentences we quote some of his
feelings:
I DON'T KNOW WHY.......I cry over silly things.
(x) is a peace lover. This is found in much of the research. Some
of these children will not fight back and this boy is one of them. He
will want a friend who is very fair and trustworthy. He sees through
that which is not falr. Many of our gifted worry about war and killing.
This is a very sensitive boy and a very mature boy. If he has not made
a good friend it is because he hasn't had the chance. Torrance has
written about this in many of his writings.
Mrs.(X) did mention that (x) did very well while with
a partlcular teacher. In almost every case history we have we have
found that while the child has hated school and teachers for the most
part, there usually has been one teacher whom he loved.
RE:
In a study on gifted children, they were asked if they were given a
choice what would they want the most in their learning situation. The
majority of these youngsters said; "for the teacher to love me."
This is one way we could give immediate relief to the gifted.
A caring and knowing school administrator might find the teacher that
is not threatened by the presence of the gifted child and give this
teacher a class of the gifted. When people tell me we need money
to have programs for the gifted, I cannot agree. I feel the change
of attitude is something money cannot buy. One of the things about the
gifted is the great need for democratic home and school environments.
They will resist blind authority but will respond to reasonable kinds
of discipline.
The gifted child requires time to have incubation periods. This
does not mean he is lazy; he requires this time for personal reflection.
I really do not believe that we will have learning situations for the
gifted until we have a differentiated curricular and methods. Torrance
has found that an open ended learning environment is essential for the
children who have original thought. This is where the emphasis is on
the child, democracy, inventiveness, process oriented, and where the
materials and methods can be chosen by the teacher or the pupil. In
such a situation, there is a great deal of room for creative learning.
The closed structure that is usually present in our traditional
schools is oriented towards the teacher, product, rigidity, conformity
and convergent thinking. In such a classroom there is little room for
the deviant thinker. Perhaps now that we see our schools in crisis,
the parents will be valued more and there will be a closer communication
between family and school. This is necessary -- parents want the best
for their children and teachers should want the same. I am aware that
to be the parent of the gifted is difficult. The same is true of the
school. But, if the schools admit that the gifted need special help.
perhaps whole communities might become involved. We have to have the
problem in the open. Community mentors are important if we are to give
more than lip service to the gifted.
If this organization can be of assistance in the life of (x)
we will be happy to expand upon our ideas. We have had vast experience
with children like (x) and we want to share our knowledge. I could
write on and on about these children. I also have the deepest empathy
for the frustrated parents. Guess one has had to have experienced some-
thing to really understand what another is suffering. Mrs. (X)
is gifted and sensitive herself. She should have been listened to--
a mother knows her child.
I believe that there is mention of (x) being kept back in his
grade. This would be a devastating blow to his already hurt self. I
see the school as failing the child; not the child failing the school.
Careful thought should be given to all and any decisions made in this
boy's future schooling. I hope that (x) will be able to have some
personal and academic success in his present school year.
Sincerely,
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