Obscanity: You'll know it when you see it

Great article on CNN.com right now about “gifted” children vs. gifted children: Is your kid really gifted? Probably not. As one who was “diagnosed” as intellectually highly gifted when I was about six, I can tell you that if you’re hoping for a kid who will excel in school, follow directions, and never challenge you or cause any problems, you do NOT want a gifted kid. Trust me. I think the people over at tagfam.org put it best when they posted this chart comparing “bright” children to “gifted” children:

Comparison of Bright vs. Gifted
Bright Child	Gifted Child
Knows the answers.	Asks the questions.
Interested.	Extremely curious.
Pays attention.	Gets involved physically and mentally.
Works hard.	Plays around, still gets good test scores.
Answers questions.	Questions the answers.
Enjoys same-age peers.	Prefers adults or older children.
Good at memorization.	Good at guessing.
Learns easily.	Bored. Already knew the answers.
Listens well.	Shows strong feelings and opinions.
Self-satisfied.	Highly critical of self (perfectionistic).

Yep. Sounds about right.

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