This site contains affiliate links. I use any income they generate to help offset expenses related to this blog & its corresponding social media accounts. Learn more.

During your time as an educator, you’ll come into contact with kids who differ in countless ways. Accounting for various personalities and learning abilities can be difficult; however, the more you know, the easier you can navigate the differences.

That’s why I started this blog. I saw my son (who I now know is “highly gifted”) struggling a lot socially. And no one could help me figure out what was going on; not his teachers, not the school counselor, and not his pediatrician. I’ve never felt so desperate for answers!

How to help minimize this

If you think your student may be a kite kid

The struggles and strengths of twice-exceptional kids

If you have a student who displays several kite kid traits, please tell the child’s parents.

I know there are rules around what you can (and can’t) say, but something is better than nothing. Most people have no idea what “giftedness” really looks like and how it can present itself. Therefore, conveying your suspicions would at least put the possibility on the parents’ radar – and the ball in their court.

If you know your student is a kite kid

  • Don’t assume the student’s parents have been told about anything other than academic accommodations. I can almost guarantee no one explained asynchrony or overexcitabilities when discussing the evaluation results with them. So don’t be shy about mentioning that – or telling them about great ways to nurture a “gifted” child. Again, this is neurodiversity we’re talking about, so it’s incredibly difficult to support these kids if the adults in their lives don’t understand that basic information. (This includes educators.)

    Telling your student’s parents about the Kite Kid Mama blog doesn’t hurt either. (They can subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll send more info to help educate and support both them and their kiddo.) 🙂

  • If your student is experiencing significant social-emotional issues, and it becomes a discussion point between you and the child’s parent, tell her that most child and family therapists aren’t familiar with asynchronous development and overexcitabilities. Therefore, she should find a therapist who specializes in giftedness, and will take that into consideration during evaluation and treatment.

    (Before learning that my son is gifted, I took him to a play therapist who made a Rain Man reference after meeting him one time, even though he isn’t autistic.)
Tailwind for Instagram