By Kathleen Casper
6 Comments
Yvette Moreno
4/15/2016 07:06:25 pm
Once again, Mrs. Casper, you have brought me to tears. This article was perfection! I am so sad that I missed you when you were in Ocala a few months ago. Your writings did inspire me to invite the county's gifted coordinator out to speak to our dependency case managers to help them better understand gifredness among the children that we work with. Reading your article made me feel validated as my approach to my offices hard to manage foster teens is very much like this. I have a name for the ability to identify these kids. I call it "Calisto powers". She is an X-men character who can identify X-men mutations/special powers in people just by talking to them. Some people have the same "power" with gifted kids. Thank you again for being such an inspiration!
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Kathleen Casper
4/16/2016 03:53:48 am
Thank you, Yvette! Have you seen the webinar I did about gifted issues for foster kids in Florida? Some of it is very Florida-specific, but if you get beyond that part, I talk a lot about their challenges. http://centervideo.forest.usf.edu/qpi/giftedfosterchildren/start.html
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Yvette
4/16/2016 04:20:15 am
I did see it and I enjoyed it. Much of the content I knew as I have a highly gifted and a profoundly gifted child but the webinar helped further the idea that DCF DOES have gifted foster/relative care children and amost none of them are being tested. I have found that if I thought it was hard to get an under achieving child of my own tested, it has been 10 times harder with kids in care. There is also the issue that their trauma does seem to suppress their scores. One very very bright 9 year old came back with a score of 120. There is absolutely no way that is correct. But it is a challenge I am committed to. Thanks again for all that you do!
Kathleen Casper
4/16/2016 05:14:11 am
Thanks and I am so glad you are doing what you do too! The videos and articles really are for two purposes- to share information with those who don't know or understand the issues, or who need to think about things with a new filter of information, and for those of us who get it and know it well, so we can be recharged and then share it more. It's important work and I feel very lucky to be able to help in any small ways I can. Thanks for all your great support. We will continue to work together and celebrate the successes along the way that show up when the kids feel all the love and support and they gain strength. Have a great day!
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5/19/2016 07:03:37 pm
Oh my gosh, Kathleen. This is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing it on my blog. You're the teacher we all want.
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Keltie
5/24/2016 07:53:46 am
Kathleen, thank you so much for this post and your website. I am in tears. I have a 12 yr old boy who has been struggling in the school system for several years. He is a very high level VSL who struggles with language, has psychomotor OEs, and emotional sensitivities. In the wrong environment (i.e., too slow, not challenging, immature kids, authoritarian teacher), he cannot function...he becomes very stressed out which often results in disruptive, defiant, immature behavior, which then leads to harsh consequences (kicked out of class, yelled at, shamed, told to shut up). There have been very few teachers (like yourself) and even professionals who "get" what's going on and can connect with him. Everything always comes back to compliance and him trying harder and taking more responsibility for his behavior which is extremely difficult when he is in fight-or-flight mode much of the school day. I wish there was a safe space like the one you provide to your students for him to go to. I am so heartbroken over what he has experienced at such a young age. Fortunately, he will be attending a private school for boys next year which we're hoping will be a much better fit for him (it was his choice). We're just trying to get through the final few weeks of school in one piece at this point. Thank you for being a safe haven for these kids - they are in desperate need of compassion and understanding, even though they ask for it in the most difficult, frustrating of ways.
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Kathleen CasperKathleen Casper is a gifted specialist in the Pacific Northwest and Florida. She currently works with the Rochester School District and is an administrative intern for the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). Kathleen is also the former Florida Association for the Gifted (FLAG) president and the former state gifted education specialist at the Florida Department of Education. She is a gifted education consultant and provides support to public and private schools as well as gifted preschool and homeschool children and families. She also continues working virtually as a part time attorney specializing in family and education law for clients in Washington State and federal courts in WA and FL. Archives
February 2021
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