Gifted Assessment & Advocacy Center

05/14/2025

A wonderful message from Suki Wessling! For many parents, we want to share our children’s successes and the good things happening in our family but not be seen as bragging. We also want our children to know we see them shining in their unique ways, and that we will love them no matter what they show us.

I think sharing contributes to our sense of community and allows us to join in and celebrate everyone’s children. So, bring it on!

Don't let other parents tell you you're bragging

04/23/2025

Another book recommendation!

https://www.facebook.com/share/15HnbB3eTH/?mibextid=WC7FNe

The wait is OVER! Today is the day! 📚✨

Dr. Matt’s incredible new book is officially released! Packed with wisdom, insight, and his signature approachable style, it’s a must-read for anyone looking to learn and grow.

Already ordered your copy? High five! 🙌 If not, don’t wait – grab yours now, you won’t be disappointed!

Huge congratulations to on this amazing accomplishment! 🎉👏

02/13/2025

17 states (including Florida) sued the United States government asking the Court to eliminate Section 504. Section 504 is a clear anti-discrimination law. They are sueing to eliminate the right to educational accommodations. The only reason to end Section 504 is for districts to save money by not providing accommodations - districts don’t receive federal funds to implement this law. They are sueing so that schools DO NOT have to help students in need learn - this is an explicit act of discrimination.

As an advocate for students, I can unequivocally state that Section 504 is necessary for many many children and young adults. Most students with reading, writing, attentional, and mood disorders do not meet criteria for an IEP but do meet criteria for (and NEED) accommodations through Section 504 plans. Many individuals with physical/medical conditions also need accommodations through Section 504. A list of issues covered by section 504 is attached below.

Some of the accommodations that a school would no longer be required to carry out: preferential seating, extra time for testing or completing assignments, quiet testing rooms, hearing aids/assisted learning devices, brain breaks, instructions and homework written on board/given in a handout and spoken (versus only verbal or only written), providing written notes/peer note-taking of class content, providing extra time for transitions, communication to parents on a student’s progress and challenges, development of a missed classwork makeup plan, school counselors teaching emotion regulation strategies and providing mental health support, providing training to staff to administer medications including EpiPens and breaks for diabetes care, banning common allergens like peanuts, allow the student to stay indoors on specific days that trigger asthma attacks, and so many more.

If you live in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Alaska, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana, South Carolina, Nebraska, Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia, or Utah, contact your Attorney General to express your opposition and urge them to withdraw from the suit.

12/06/2024

For some gifted children (particularly those with additional exceptionalities), the experience of attending school is very difficult; the social and academic environment both contribute. Over time, this can result in such internal disharmony that school becomes intolerable and the child’s reaction is to no longer engage. Here is a valuable resource for parents.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/9FqGMTaCc8SjB1YE/?mibextid=WC7FNe

📣New On-Demand Learning Path on School Avoidance

Title: School Avoidance Learning Path
Cost: $49 for COPAA members and $99 for registered guests
Registration link: https://learn.copaa.org/p/schoolavoidance

04/03/2024

I love helping parents with questions about Giftedness and Autism. Gifted individuals are already often misunderstood or not truly seen for who they are. Twice-exceptional students are even more misunderstood because Autism and Giftedness can co-exist and one can mask the other. So many gifted students with Autism are unidentified for years, and thus remain underserved and lacking in supports.

Here’s to World Autism Awareness Day! What we know (and what we still need to discover) about Autism needs so much more time than just a day though!

02/23/2024

For the math-lovers, poets, and math-loving poets among us, as well as those who simply enjoy a fun limerick.

Thanks to TheCredible Hulk for posting!

10/15/2023

Such a labor of love from MAGE to create this, bringing people together, to serve this community!

08/05/2023

I don’t normally make this kind of post but he’s right! Destigmatize it, ADHD!

https://www.facebook.com/reel/300174939036249?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=XOivUp

07/04/2023

On this 4th of July, this cartoon reminded me that freedom is coupled with responsibility. I love this cartoon so much - showing one form these freedoms and responsibilities can take as we support our children!

06/01/2023

GHF’s Annual Conference is a wonderful resource for families considering home education for their children, those already in the midst of it, and those who want to know more about their child’s learning and growth in all of the forms it can take outside of school.

https://ghflearners.org/choices/ghf-conferences/ghf-conference-2023/?fbclid=IwAR0ypumSKJYKI6phOukmE9G8L4XtFr8NZB45glzZ0uN9888H4oOlVANfbZw_aem_th_AS94h7C-axocu9eoMEy-ELZUGBF1rqmV7y1A38hO_Z-lmlbwzg7Zbb6OCYenLzwCptY&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

The GHF Gifted Home Education Conference Returns with “Come As You Are: Authenticity & Acceptance” Welcome to the third annual Gifted Home Education Conference “Come As You Are: Authenticity & Acceptance” – three edifying days brimming with compassionate gifted community leaders sharing th...

05/18/2023

Some gifted children (and adults) are so driven by their intellectual pursuits, we do not prioritize time outdoors and in nature. Not only is time outdoors in nature intuitively a good idea, research documents its many benefits. With school ending soon, I thought I'd highlight some of the positive effects of spending time in nature.

Nature and Wellness: Positive & Negative Moods
Multiple studies of adults have shown time in natural environments increases positive moods and emotions and decreases negative moods and emotions. One study randomly assigned sixty adults to a 50-min walk in either a natural or urban environment in California and found that those walking in a natural environment (compared to the urban one) experienced a decrease in anxiety, rumination, and overall negative affect with preservation of positive affect. They also experienced increased working memory performance [1]. Another study examined walking in different environments and found that the largest and most consistent improvements in mood were associated with forest walks [2]. In a study investigating forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, adults experiencing chronic and acute stress reported a reduction in feelings of hostility, depression, and anxiety with time spent in forests [3].

However, because most studies are not focused on children or youth, we can only make assumptions that the same benefits will apply across the lifespan. Perhaps this is an experiment you and your family can try for yourselves!

References:
1) Bratman G.N., Daily G.C., Levy B.J., Gross J.J. The Benefits of Nature Experience: Improved Affect and Cognition. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2015;138:41–50. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.02.005.
2) Koselka E.P.D., Weidner L.C., Minasov A., Berman M.G., Leonard W.R., Santoso M.V., de Brito J.N., Pope Z.C., Pereira M.A., Horton T.H. Walking Green: Developing an Evidence Base for Nature Prescriptions. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2019;16:4338. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16224338.
3) Morita E., Fukuda S., Nagano J., Hamajima N., Yamamoto H., Iwai Y., Nakashima T., Ohira H., Shirakawa T. Psychological Effects of Forest Environments on Healthy Adults: Shinrin-Yoku (Forest-Air Bathing, Walking) as a Possible Method of Stress Reduction. Public Health. 2007;121:54–63. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2006.05.024.

05/15/2023

SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) is a wonderful resource. In this recent post, Director Melinda Stewart wonderfully shares an understanding of and appreciation for the loneliness and sense of alienation many gifted children and adults feel because of their differences.

It is no secret that our entire nation, and perhaps the entire world, is suffering from an “Epidemic of Loneliness” and disconnection.