New Centre for Gifted Research Gives Hope to Irish Parents

DCU and the CTYI programme is a refuge for my son every Saturday and, last Friday night, I met my knight in shining armour there at the launch of the new DCU Centre for Gifted Research. 

Professor Tracy Cross, from the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary in the US, was there to speak at the launch and, more importantly, to us parents who were invited to attend. He is one of the world's leading experts in gifted kids and, as a parent of gifted kids himself, an absolute lifeline to someone like me, who was called into school twice last week because of my seven-year-old son's behaviour!

I know the benefit of talking to other parents in the same position as myself and, to talk to a parent with so much knowledge and experience in this field, was absolutely invaluable. He is such a warm and approachable man and clearly his kids are his best work because he is so obviously proud of them. For someone like myself starting out on this journey of trying to navigate my child through a hostile education system, he is absolutely inspirational. After our chat, I felt hope for the first time - that maybe it's not me failing my child, but instead it is our educational system.

The Centre for Gifted Research is an exciting and long-overdue development and a step forward for our kids. Speaking at the launch, Dr Colm O'Reilly, Director of CTYI, said: 

"We are increasingly expanding the work of CTYI and we believe research plays an important role in providing evidence for the need for gifted programmes and in helping people to understand the academic and social needs of high ability students. We are currently involved in a couple of research projects, including social coping and self concept of gifted students, a study of principals and school policy around academically talented students and an international study around what it is like to be a gifted student."

Two CTYI staff members, Dr Eleanor Healion and Dr Catriona Ledwith, have recently completed PhDs in this field and Eleanor talked about how a number of local schools in disadvantaged areas, selected their brightest students to attend special CTYI programmes. The effect it had on these kids, their families and school friends, was incredible.

CTYI will collaborate with the DCU School of Education Studies in setting up the Centre for Gifted Research to address the needs for research in this area. There are important topics to examine, including online learning, gifted disadvantaged students and STEM related topics. CTYI will need our help in the future, with possible participants in this research and, if you work in an institution that would be interested in collaborating with them in this regard, please get in touch with Colm. 

In the meantime, if you would like to get in touch with Professor Tracy Cross, his email is TLCross@wm.edu. Professor Cross, an endowed chair at the College of William and Mary in Virginia and a leading expert in gifted education, was recently appointed an adjunct professor at DCU to help CTYI in the area of research.

Support Group Meeting

Tuesday 21st May

7.45pm

 

Glenview Hotel, Kilmacanogue 

Topics for discussion:

• Assessment: Why, when, by whom. How to interpret and what to do with the report. 
• Not fitting in 

Everyone is welcome, but it would be helpful if you could let us know if you are coming so that we have an idea of numbers. You can do this by leaving a comment below or dropping us a line through the "Contact Us" button. 

Directions

If any other support groups are having meetings, we are very happy to post a notice here too. Just send us the details!

Support Groups for Parents of Gifted Children in Ireland

Support groups are a great way for parents to get together and let off steam. They provide an opportunity to speak to others who may be experiencing similar difficulties to their own and who may have found solutions. It is a huge relief to discover that your children are actually “normal” after all!

Since the early days of our own group, Gifted Advocacy and Support (GAS), we have encouraged other parents around the country to form similar groups. We have done this through this blog, facebook and twitter and through speaking on several occasions at CTYI events. You may have come across Dazzled and Frazzled & Co handing out flyers at DCU on occasions!

Each marker on the map below represents an individual parent who either is or wants to be involved in a support group. Over time, we hope to add to the map so that everyone can find at least one parent within easy reach.


View GAS in a larger map 
Our hope is, firstly, to help other parents to find each other for support, but also to provide a means of communication between groups so that we can support and encourage each other. We also hope that we can all come together to work on any future advocacy efforts so that we have a louder, unified voice.

In order to help parents to find each other, we have added a new page to our blog: Find Support. There, we have a list of support groups. If you would like to be put in touch with one of these, or have a group which you would like added to the list, please let us know. If any of the details need updating, be sure and let us know too.

Although our primary focus is on parents, teachers who wish to join support groups are warmly welcomed. Parents and teachers have much to learn from each other when it comes to supporting gifted learners. When they work together and listen to each other, the children benefit enormously.

Important Announcement

We would like to inform our readers that as of May 2013 The Irish Gifted Education Blog, Gifted Advocacy and Support (GAS) Wicklow/Dublin, and Dazzled and Frazzled no longer have any association with the following organisations:

• Gifted and Talented Ireland
• Gifted and Talented Network Ireland

Through Gifted Advocacy and Support, we have been supporting parents and advocating for gifted children in Ireland since 2009. We are continuing to work with a strong group to advocate on behalf of gifted learners in Ireland. Our core committee is comprised of five members most of whom have been involved with GAS from its earliest meetings, and our total membership now extends to more than fifty families. We have been active in encouraging other groups to set up similar support networks throughout Ireland and continue to work for grassroots, community-based group structures. The progress we have made speaks for itself but we need to keep moving forward to achieve our long-term goal of a better understanding of the needs of gifted children within Ireland’s education system in the future.

We appreciate the support we have received from friends far and wide and hope that we can continue to rely on your encouragement and involvement as we move on.