Gifted Twins
By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D
Q: I have almost 7 year old b/g twins. I
saw your response online about gifted identical twins. Mine are also
gifted, though fraternal.
Is there research on gifted twins? I am in a support group for parents
of gifted kids, and we are reading/discussing the book "A Parent's Guide
to Gifted Kids"
We came across some interesting chapters about siblings, peers, etc. My
kids prefer each other's company, would often rather spend time reading
(we make sure they get plenty of physical activity), and are extremely
competitive for our attention. All common for a gifted kid.. but I have
it times two.
It becomes a lot to handle.
Unfortunately, I have found very little material given to studying
gifted twins. I was considering approaching the National Organization of
Mothers of Twins (of which I am a member) to do some research surveys,
but would require assistance in formulating questions and then parsing
the answers.
(I am in the US)
Are you aware of any materials, or would you be interested in such a
project?
A:
There are indeed limited materials of gifted twins as the sample size is
very small for surveys to be done. The ones done are mainly case studies
and each case may differ considerably with the other making it hard to
compare. As it is, gifted children come in many different types and it
is often hard enough to use the same methods for all. There is no "one
size fits all" for gifted children, let alone gifted twins.
I may not be very helpful here but I can suggests some readings (you
probably have seen these!). Some readings on gifted twins:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/my_pg_boys.htm
http://gomestic.com/family/raising-gifted-twins/
http://homestudentsnetwork.com/gifted-education/home-schooling/28623.php/index.php
It is really interesting that you would consider a research in this area
and I would like to support you as much as I can. However, I may not be
the right person for this as I have an on-going project on the young
gifted. I do think that there may be someone who could fit in well -
Dr Barbara Klein at http://drbarbaraklein.squarespace.com/.
Do check out a book she wrote on twins at
http://drbarbaraklein.squarespace.com/not-all-twins-are-alike/
Here's wishing you all the best and it would be great to see some
substantial work done on gifted twins..
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