Lesson 4.

a Gifted and Talented Learners and

Autism
At the end of the session, student can…
1. identify and discuss who are the gifted and talented learners
2. discuss the characteristics of learners with autism
3. analyze trends and issues in teaching gifted and talented learner and those
with autism.

Introduction
Students who are exceptionally gifted and talented are not covered by
the SPED law IDEA. Instead, the 1988 law that was later folded into The
Elementary and Secondary Education Act which is now the No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 support these children.
Gifted and talented individuals are found across all social groups
irrespective of culture, ethnicity, social economic status and physical and
cognitive learning differences. There are various social understanding of
giftedness that influence the way the term is being used. It can be used
broadly tor defer to individuals who demonstrated high ability across a wide
range of learning areas or refer to high ability in specific learning domains.
Different groups understand giftedness in different ways based on explicit or
implicit understanding of the term.
Gifted children comprise a minority of the population, although not such
a small minority as sometimes thought. Internationally, the most widely
definition of gifted and talent is by Quebec which defines gifted children as
those who have high levels of innate ability in any domain of human ability.
Talented children in contrast are those whose abilities have been translated
into achievements.
Another question that intrigues about giftedness is that can a learner
be gifted at the same time with learning disability? Giftedness comes with
different variations. Some gifted children that scores with high IQ exhibit
disability characteristics. With the combination of two, sometimes, the

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disability condition overthrow the cognitive ability of the child. Having the
disability condition limits the actual ability of the learner.

Engage!
Examine your background knowledge about gifted education. Read the
following and tell if it is a myth or facts about giftedness.

1. Gifted and talented are synonymous terms.

2. Gifted students display their talents in an interest area.
3. Gifted students are different from one another.
4. The best way to identify most gifted students is by using intelligence tests.
5. It is better to wait until third or fourth grade to identify gifted students.

Discuss!
A. Gifted and Talented Children
1. Definition of Gifted and Talented Children
These are the learners between the ages of four and twenty-one
whose abilities, talents and potentials for accomplishments are so exceptional
or developmentally advanced that they require special provisions to meet their
educational programming needs.
Traditionally, the term gifted only to students who with unusually high
verbal skills. The meaning gifted has broadened to include unusual talents in
a range of activities, such as music, creative writing or in arts. To indicate the
change, educators often use the dual term Gifted and Talented
Gifted Learners refers to those learners who have extraordinary
intellectual ability and creativity and talented Learners refers to those learners
who have exceptional skill and ability in a specific area such as art, music,
science and language.
The majority of population of gifted learners will fall within an IQ of 85-
115. The mean or average IA is 100. A gifted child’s IQ will fall within these
ranges:
a. Mildly gifted: 115 to 129
b. Moderately gifted: 130 to 144

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 c. Highly gifted: 145 to 159
d. Profoundly gifted: 160 or higher

2. Types of Gifted Learners

a. The Successful- up to 90% of identified gifted students in school
programs are this type.
b. The Challenging - divergently gifted, often not identified in schools.
c. The Underground - Want to hide their giftedness to better fit in with
their peers
d. The Dropouts - Angry, feel rejected, needs have not met or have been
ignored. May act out or be defensive or may be depressed or
withrawn.
e. The Double-Labeled - Typically either ignored because perceived as
average or referred for remedial assistance
f. The Autonomous Learner - use the system to create new opportunities

3. Characteristics of Gifted and Talented Children

Learning Characteristics
 dispaly logical and analytical thinking
 quick to see patterns and relationships
 masters information quickly and independently than most students
their own age
 Well-developed vocabulary as well as advanced reading and
writing
Self-Determination Characteristics
 sceptical of authoritarian pronouncements
 questions arbitrary decisions
 pushes teachers and adults for explanations

Creative Thinking Characteristics

 produces original ideas
 displays intellectual playfulness, imagination and fantasy
 created original texts or invents things

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 Social Leadership Characteristics
 takes the initiative in social situations
 is popular with peers
 communicates well with others

Motivational Characteristics
 strives for high standard of personal achievement
 self-directed
 highly self-motivated and sets personal goals
 motivated especially on task that are challenging or difficult

4. Teaching Strategies for Gifted and Talented Children

a. Principles for Teaching Gifted Students

1. Focus on unique pattern of strength
2. Group students by interest or abilities at least part of the time
3. Encourage students to move as far and as fast in the basic skills as
possible
4. Enrich individual interest
5. Offer mediation, counseling, mentoring and facilitation
6. Provide the tools for life-long learning

b. Program Options and Curriculum Modifications for Gifted and Talented

Learners
Different Types of programs and services designed to fit in the
educational needs of those gifted and talented learners;
1. providing additional instructional materials for those who finish
task easily
2. enriching the curriculum by supplying extra time for bright
students
3. part-time acceleration to a higher grade for one or two
subjects
4. full-time acceleration or grade skipping
5. Cluster group for all gifted learners

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 6. implementing school wide plans to accommodate gifted
learners
7. implementing pull-out programs
8. conducting part-time special gifted classes
9. assigning full-time special gifted class on each grade level
10. opening special schools for gifted learners

Supporting gifted and talented usually involves a mixture of

acceleration and enrichment of the usual curriculum.

 Acceleration - involves either a child skipping a grade or teacher

redesigning the curriculum within a particular grade or classroom
so that more materials is covered faster.
 Enrichment - this involves providing additional or different
instruction added on the usual curriculum goals and activities.
Instead of books or more advanced reading materials, the child
can read wider variety of types of literature at the student’s current
reading level.

Both acceleration and enrichment strategies requires grouping

gifted and talented learners. Three grouping options provided o these
learners:
1. Full-time Homogenous Grouping
 Special Schools for the Gifted - This school cater elementary and
or secondary with a curriculum that is prescribed by the Deped
and with an additional special enriched and accelerated training in
academics, scientific, artistic and other ares that school wants to
develop.
 Special Classes - This is a school within a school concept where
gifted children of the same level attend class together in a full-time
basis. This when an elementary level jump from a lower grade to
a higher grade level with a curriculum prescribed grade level
objectives.
2. Full-time Heterogenous Grouping

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  Cluster Groups - this refers to placing 5-10 high ability students in
one regular class per grade along with 15-20 regular students.
This is handled by a professional teacher that divide class into
small groups. Enrichment activities are used with in-depth lesson,
collaboration, independent learning activities and research
presentation. This grouping is not common in the Philippines
 Heterogeneous Classes - Combined the prescribed and
differentiated curriculum for the benefit of both regular and gifted
learners.
 Paralleling - covering both prescribed and differentiated
curriculum “in tandem”.
 Clustering - using core concepts and skills of the
prescribed curriculum as “the centerpiece” while
differentiated concepts and skills “reinforce the core.”
 Individualized Education Plan - a requirement for schools
catering LSEN. This is written plan that stated the learner’s goal
that need to work on the specific academic year. It includes the
skills, strength and challenges of the child. A gifted who is gifted is
eligible for IEP if his condition affects his academic performance.
Thus, not all gifted child can avail the service of having an IEP.
3. Part-time and temporary Grouping
 Pullout Programs - learners are pulled out of their regular
mainstreamed classes once or twice a week to spend few hours
in a session with special enrichment activities.
 Part-time Special Classes - Gifted and talented learners enjoy
50% to 70% of prescribed curriculum in the regular and attend
differentiated curriculum in the special class for the rest of the
time. Special class include independent projects and research,
accelerated subjects and small group collaboration.
 Enrichment Clusters - groupings for different level learners with
common interest such as journalism, literature, engineering,
baking and others. They meet with an expert at a designated time
for 6-12 weeks.

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  Special Interest groups and clubs - this type of grouping is
common among secondary students where enrichment activities
in different clubs exists such as drama class, chess class,
mathematics clubs and others.
c. Curriculum Modification
1. Differentiation strategies is a least intrusive intervention that
helps gifted and talented learners the best environment for their high
abilities and achievements. Differentiation is an effective teaching
strategy for inclusive special education which involve giving all
learners in the regular classroom choices based on they could
achieve their greatest potentials. It is a proactive curriculum and
instruction that fit students’ learning profiles, interests and learning
levels. It is a process of creating multiple, differentiated learning
opportunities within a high-quality curriculum, to maximize the
probability that all students will become engaged in learning,
experience efficiency of learning and experience cognitive growth.
2. Tierred Instruction - This is an example of instructional strategy.
As differentiation begins with assessment of learners skills, learners
will be identified based on how advanced their skills are. This is where
tierring becomes beneficial. This involves the process of creating the
best possible lesson and making it fit based on the learners’ level of
readiness. The levels could be divided into groups parallel with
corresponding tasks set for the lesson.
d. Enrichment Strategies
Strategies for enrichment contain higher-order delivery methods
of developing skills in creative thinking, critical thinking and problem
solving.
1. Library and Internet Research Projects - Learners select their
own topic of interest.
2. Scientific Research Projects - This is an investigative process
of finding solutions to a scientific problem. The teacher is a
facilitator in aiding and directing the solution to science
inquires of the learners

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 3. Art, Drama, Creative Writing and other independent Projects -
Art projects comprise of different areas in drawing, sculpting,
photography and others. Drama projects include writing,
directing, producing and performing plays. Creative writing
would benefit the school newspaper for publications.
4. Mentorships - Mentoring comprises of professionals working
with interest clubs. The adult mentor serves as the resource
person, role model in transferring skills and attitudes they
have to the learners.
5. Peer Tutoring - This is also known as peer-assisted learning
or peer-mediated instruction. This is a strategy where learners
act as tutors to other learners on a face to face interaction
under the supervision of a teacher.
6. Questioning - Cognivitely challenging questions are
incorporated in lesson to ignite the critical and creative
thinking of gifted children.
5. Current Trends and Issues
The gifted with disabilities are individuals with exceptional potentials
who have the capabilities of performing high ability skills even with the
presence of impairment or disabilities. These individuals are often known as
twice exceptional, double labeled or dual exceptionalities.

Gifted with Learning Disabilities

Current researches suggest that intellectually gifted learners often have
disabilities often have learning disabilities which is hard to recognize. The
most common is the Gifted with Learning Disabilities (GLD). This learners
shows inconsistent, unpredictable and inexplicable academic performance.
They achieve outstanding results in one subject area but the same
achievement is not reflected in other subject area. Another example is when
the learner shows high performance in written but perform poorly in verbal
task. These learners most of the time are the one who are inattentive in class,
have difficulty in spelling and reading skills and poor relationships with peers.

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Gifted with Autism
Sometimes,intersection of gifted and autism happens. Characteristics
of these learners are extreme ability to concentrate, poor social skills, and
extra visual talents. Some learners who have this condition exhibit repetitive
motor mannerism, unusual but passionate interest in one topic and often lack
of empathy to peers. They tend to disengaged in social activities that result to
troubling having friends.
Famous people who were diagnosed to have this condition are, Albert
Eistein, Bill Gates, Booby Fischer, Sir Isaac Newton, and Vincent Van Gogh.
Gifted with ADHD
Aside from autism, there are stances that gifted is associated with
Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This condition is
characterized by difficulty in concentration, dis tractability, impulsivity and
hyperactivity. Learners with this condition are disorganized and pay less
attention which makes them forgetful most of the time. They have difficulty
listening to instruction. Just like learners with ADHD, gifted learners with
ADHD lag two or three years behind their peers in social and emotional
maturity. It is a mismatch of their cognitive and socio-emotional development.
Thus it is difficult and challenging to guide them across the curriculum.

B. Learners with Autism

1. Definition of Learners with Autism

Autism is a developmental disability that affects one’s verbal and
nonverbal communication and social interaction. This is usually evident before
the child turned 3 years old that affects the educational performance of the
child.
Autism Spectrum Disorder refers to the persistent deficits in social
communication and social interaction across various contexts. This is
manifest with social-emotional reciprocity, lack or use and understand
nonverbal communicative behavior and difficulties in developing relationships.
Those with ASD have restricted repetitive patterns of behavior, interest or
activities indicated by at least two of the following (Heward, 2017):

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a. stereotyped or repetitive behavior
b. insistence of sameness
c. highly restricted or fixation interest
d. Hyper or hypo reactivity to sensory input

2. Characteristics of Learners with Autism

The following are characteristics of learners with Autism Spectrum

Disorder (ASD).
a. Social Communication Impairment - This include difficulties in
demonstrating appropriate play skills, reject or ignore the social
approaches of others, responding to and initiating joint attention for social
purposes. They also have difficulties in interpreting body language,
staying on topic during conservation and taking other people’s perspective.
b. Speech/language Impairment - Learners with ASD can be verbal or non-
verbal. For those who are nonverbal, they can be delay in speech and
language and lack in an effective way to communicate. For those who are
verbal they can be echolalia, repetitive language routine, use of
idiosyncratic speech, immature grammar structure and abnormal use of
pitch. For both non verbal and verbal, learners can be delayed in
vocabulary, difficulty in following direction, difficulty in understanding
abstract concept and difficulty in interpreting social language.
c. Restricted Repetitive and Stereotyped Pattern of Behavior, Interest and
Activities - They can have repetitive motor movements such as hand
flapping or finger licking, excessive adherence to routine and sameness,
ritualized patterns and highly restricted, fixated interest that are abnormal
d. Sensory Difference - They can have visual input sensitivities such as
stating at spinning objects, being bothered by florescent lights. They can
have auditory input sensitivities such as covering their ears during loud
noises or preferred loud music. Tactile input sensitivities such as disliked
getting hands or feet messy and avoiding certain surfaces, texture or
fabrics. Taste/smell sensitivities such as not eating certain food , licking or
tasting non-food items. Proprioceptive input sensitivities which is
difficulties interpreting sensations from muscles, joints, ligaments and

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 tendons. Vestibular input sensitivities which is over or under sensitivities
to balance and movement sensations
e. Executive Function Impairments - This difficulty with executive functioning
tasks such as sequencing order, rigid or inflexible thinking and executive
functioning difficulties at basic level such as sustaining prolonged
attention t an activity.
f. Common Learning Characteristics - demonstrate exceptional rote memory
skills, being better able to process information when presented visually.
They have difficulty in unstructured time, generalizing learned skills from
one setting to another, difficulty with organization or materials and highly
achieving in some specific areas.

3. Teaching Strategies for Learners with Autism

Learners with ASD have difficulties with social interaction and manifest
limited use and understanding of nonverbal communication and difficulty in
social and emotional responsiveness. These are the suggested approached in
teaching learners with ASD.
a. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) - This is based on the science of
learning and behavior with the goal of increasing positive behavior and
decreasing negative learning. It includes behavioral principles such as
positive reinforcement and modeling. It include PECS, peer-mediated
intervention and self-management tactics.
b. Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) - this aims to help
learners to request things from others with the use of picture. They exchange
pictures or symbols that represent an item or activity.
c. Social Stories - This is form of visual support to learners with ASD
explaining concept. social situations and expected behavior of people in a
format that matches their comprehension. It describe a situation and expected
behavior by explaining simple steps for achieving goals and teach new
routines and anticipated actions.
d. Jigsawing - This approach provides opportunities to work
collaboratively with peers as everyone in class completes one particular task.
Example of this is the completing puzzle where each learner will work on a
piece of puzzle for the success of the group.

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4. Current Trends and Issues
Trends and issues for learners with autism is about their ongoing
challenges and emerging opportunities for improving the support and
implementation of inclusion. In the Philippine News Agency, Lauengco G
(2023) talk about the awareness of people about autism. He stated about the
misconceptions and stereotypes that shows many people still don’t
understand autism. This lack of understanding may lead to criticism and
exclusion of children with autism that may cause the failure of implementation
of inclusive education. Also it was stated that their is a gap in the availability of
the support from children to adulthood.
Programs and funds of the government are more focused on children
that they are little provision for those adults with autism. Because of this little
government subsidies, private sectors and community started to create
groups to support and provide activities to address the needs of adults with
autism.

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