IDENTIFYING HIGHLY ABLE CHILDREN.
A child may fulfil many of the criteria of the checklist of characteristics of giftedness yet not perform well at school His written work may be poor; he may be lazy and lethargic or daydream and appear inattentive; he may spend a great deal of time decorating his notebook; he may clown around and disrupt lessons; he may be unco-operative, difficult to motivate and critical of his teachers and of other children in his class. Sometimes such a child has frequent absences from his school.
Exceptionally bright children may also be well ahead in maths, particularly in problem solving. They may show a wide range of interests and an extended general knowledge. They often pursue hobbies with great enthusiasm which sometimes verges on obsessiveness. Many have great powers of concentration and an astonishing strength of will and purpose!
Highly able children usually show keen powers of observation and reasoning, of seeing relationships and of generalising from a few given facts. They often memorise quickly and show an unusual imagination which comes out in the way they respond to questions. Children of high intelligence often want to spend time with older children as well as with adults. They often prefer games and hobbies which are usually associated with older children.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KNOW IF A CHILD IS HIGHLY ABLE?
All children, whether gifted, bright, average or below average, deserve the chance to lead a happy and satisfying life. Highly able children have a great thirst for knowledge and it is vital that this need is recognised as early as possible so that parents and teachers can give them plenty of opportunities to develop their talents. A good school will try to meet the expectations and needs of its pupils.

ARE HIGHLY ABLE CHILDREN GOOD AT EVERYTHING?
Exceptionally bright children often show good hand eye co-ordination, though sometimes their handwriting lags behind their reading and other skills. A six year old with a mental age of ten may still write and draw like a six year old. Some children may refuse to produce any work on paper because of the frustration caused when they are unable to live up to their own impossibly high standards in handwriting and drawing.
Others are particularly skilful in playing with ideas, in using their imagination and in being creative Such characteristics do not always show up on traditional intelligence tests, but parents who suspect their child may be gifted should not be afraid to talk things over with the teachers at his school.
There is a group of children who are better at seeing and doing than at talking and listening. These are sometimes referred to as visual-spatial children. They may find difficulty in expressing themselves in words, but often show outstanding mechanical and artistic ingenuity.
In school classes where adequate provision is not made for them, able pupils tend to become bored because not enough is being demanded of them.
Among the consequences of this may be:

• switching off - e.g. day-dreaming
• avoiding school (by among other things imaginary ailments)
• disruptiveness, which may take the form of clowning or truculence.

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