Gifted ChildrenWritten by Rexanne Mancini
There has been much discussion on difficult child. Let’s look at gifted child. Not to imply that gifted children aren't difficult ... as a matter of fact, I hold belief that most difficult children are probably gifted and therein lies a part of their social problem. For clarity, let's refer to gifted child in this article as one who excels at academics and extra curricular activities of an extraordinary nature. My older daughter has a friend, Megan, who is highly gifted ... highly gifted being a step grander than gifted in public school system. In her special class, she has massive amounts of homework, incredibly difficult assignments and a rigorous school schedule, including mandatory extra hours. Her after school activities include piano lessons, singing lessons (she's great!) and any other challenging activity she can persuade her parents to pay for. Megan is an incredible child ... sweet, personable and kindhearted. We rally round her with each new accomplishment. This is a child who clearly shines in her highly gifted classes and is happy to be there. My older daughter is very bright, too. OK, bragging but she really is! ;-) She was pegged by her preschool teachers as destined for gifted groups in elementary school. Well, turns out she was never tested, which, in California, must be done only on request of her teachers. She graduates with honors each year but her social life is much too important to her and she has never shown focus or passion for learning that other gifted and highly gifted children we know have demonstrated.
| | Febrile SeizuresWritten by Rexanne Mancini
While fever is body's natural defense against infection, approximately five percent of children have what are classified as "simple" febrile seizures while running a fever.If anyone has a child who suffers from febrile seizures, take heart ... 99 percent of children outgrow them by time they are six years old and there are generally no ill after effects. Febrile seizures can occur in babies as young as three months old. When child is running a fever, a seizure brought on by sudden rise of their body temperature can overtake them. Febrile seizures look like epileptic attacks and they are one of most frightening events a parent can live through. These seizures happen only when a child has a fever and are not a precursor to epilepsy, although in about 1 percent of cases, febrile seizures are an indication of more complicated neurological problems. When my older daughter was 18 months old, she had her first febrile seizure. Thankfully, I had read about them and knew what was happening. The first episode lasted less than two minutes and by time paramedics arrived, she was sleeping peacefully. I wish I could say that was her last febrile seizure. She had at least ten more in following four years, with last episode occurring when she was five-and-a-half-years-old. While we tried to learn everything there was to know about these seizures, best explanation any doctor had was that they were hereditary. Sometimes I wonder about genetic conclusions doctors jump to. As far as my husband and I knew, no one in our immediate families had recurring febrile seizures, nor did our younger daughter ever have a febrile seizure. As we were told by numerous physicians to expect our other children to have them too, we were enormously relieved when we were spared yet another 5 years of anxiety and living in fear of dreaded fevers.
|