Gifted and Talented, or GT, is an umbrella term encapsulating a wide range of neurodiverse student experiences and intersectional identities. As the Davidson Institute has said, “There are many definitions of giftedness and equally as many ways to formally identify whether or not a child is gifted.” Boulder Valley School District’s definition includes:
“Gifted and Talented Children” means those persons between the ages of four and twenty-one whose abilities, talents, and potential for accomplishment are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special provisions to meet their educational programming needs.… Gifted students include gifted students with disabilities (i.e. twice-exceptional) and students with exceptional abilities or potential from all socioeconomic and ethnic, cultural populations. Gifted students are capable of high performance, exceptional production, or exceptional learning behavior by virtue of any or a combination of these areas of giftedness:
- General or specific intellectual ability
- Specific academic aptitude
- Creative or productive thinking
- Leadership abilities
- Visual arts, performing arts, musical, dance or psychomotor abilities
Giftedness is a type of neurodiversity. Gifted children’s brains think and learn differently compared to their same-age peers. They may learn more quickly or understand topics with greater complexity and nuance than others their age. They may have different social-emotional needs, such as struggles with perfectionism or being more sensitive to global issues. Being gifted is an identity, not a club or a special class a child is in. Gifted children become gifted adults – it’s not a transient label that expires at graduation.
Links to additional definitions of Giftedness: