Young Gifted Children

A checklist was developed to assist parents in identifying gifted young children. The checklist was refined on the basis of several research studies, then printed in a major daily newspaper. Twenty-one parents who felt that their children fit the descriptors in the article brought their children in for testing. Sixty-six percent of the children were found to be in the gifted range on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Those children who fit the characteristics but tested below the gifted range had all had ear infections in the first year of life, and 75% of these children had had chronic ear infections. When parents' perceptions of their children's abilities are not confirmed by test results, children may, in fact, be gifted/handicapped.