Citation: First Published in the SENGVine, April 2011.
If you’re raising a highly able athlete or musician, it’s assumed that you’ll rely on people with special expertise to help your child develop his or her talents. Specialized teachers, athletic coaches, trainers, physical therapists, and sports medicine doctors are examples of the types of professionals who can make up the support team for a child who excels in sports or music.
When it comes to raising a child with exceptional intellectual abilities, on the other hand, we’re not so quick to call in professionals to guide us. As a result, parents of intellectually gifted kids can find themselves feeling overwhelmed – like they just don’t have the energy and expertise to do all that it takes to raise their high-ability son or daughter. Perhaps the parents of athletes and musicians have something to teach us – that we don’t necessarily have to do it alone. Borrowing from a well-known phrase, it takes a team to raise a gifted child, especially if that child faces social, emotional, or learning challenges, as many gifted and twice-exceptional children do.
Who might be part of a support team for a gifted child? At the top of the list might be mental health professionals who can do IQ testing and can address mental health issues like perfectionism, stress, anxiety, or depression. These professionals can also help ease friction between parent and child, and make the family function more effectively and efficiently.
To choose the right mental health professional for your family’s situation, it helps to understand how they differ in focus and expertise. Here is an overview of the type of help that mental health professionals can provide.
Mental Health Counselors
Qualifications: At least a master’s degree in professional counseling or related field. State licensing.
Types of Services Provided:
- Assessing and diagnosing mental health problems
- Providing therapeutic counseling
- Crisis intervention
Clinical Social Workers
Qualifications: At least a master’s degree in social work. Advanced training and state licensing to provide mental health services.
Types of Services Provided:
- Counseling children and facilitating groups for those with similar behavioral or emotional issues
- Participating in the IEP process
- Offering teachers guidance on dealing with difficult children
- Coaching parents in effective parenting
School Psychologists
Qualifications: At least a master’s degree; often additional specialist training and state licensing.
Types of Services Provided:
- Evaluating effectiveness of school services
- Participating in the IEP process
- Counseling students and families
- Crisis intervention
Clinical Psychologists
Qualifications: At least a master’s degree in psychology; often a doctoral degree and state licensing.
Types of Services Provided:
- Conducting assessments
- Diagnosing and treating mental disorders
- Providing individual and group psychotherapy
Psychiatrists
Qualifications: Medical doctors (M.D.) or doctors of osteopathy (D.O.) with additional training in mental illness diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
Types of Services Provided:
- Can order medical tests and prescribe psychotropic medications
Often provide brief supportive psychotherapy but refer patients to other practitioners for in-depth psychotherapy.
Beside mental health professionals, a variety of others can provide support. For example, it’s not unusual for gifted children to be highly sensitive to sensory input. Noises might be too loud, colors too bright, touch too intense. Having these reactions gives children a different experience of the world from everyone else and can put a child at risk for emotional problems such as anxiety and depression, or behavioral problems such as aggression. A pediatric occupational therapist (OT) is a professional who can address these issues. Pediatric OTs can function as consultants, trainers, or therapists, designing a therapy plan for children that helps them learn to cope with the sensory information they receive. OTs also work with children deficient in skills that can be important to school success such as social skills, the ability to focus and attend, and the motor skills that allow a child to write legibly or participate in sports. A pediatric occupational therapist must have at least a master’s degree in occupational therapy and be licensed by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy.
Some additional professionals that you might need on your team at various points in your child’s life include the following:
- A coach. These professionals go by different names such as life coach, organization coach, homework coach, or academic coach. Some coaches specialize, such as those who work with gifted children and those who work with children who have issues related to AD/HD, such as disorganization and lack of motivation. A typical role is to work with children and families to set goals, determine strategies, and provide encouragement and guidance.
- Special education advocate. Someone knowledgeable about special education laws who informs parents of their rights and helps negotiate with the school district to secure appropriate services for their child.
- Independent educational consultant. Consultants who help families find suitable schools or colleges, arrange specialty testing and evaluation, and coordinate with other professionals.
Knowing the types of professionals that can help is just the first step in putting together your support team. Other important steps in the process are these:
- Ask for recommendations, preferably from others in similar situations or accredited associations.
- Interview professionals to ensure a good fit and clear understanding of your child’s needs.
- Check credentials, certifications, and references.
- Clearly state expectations in writing and establish how success will be measured.
The value of parents’ support of their gifted and twice-exceptional children cannot be overstated, but sometimes parents can’t do it alone. They need the guidance and expertise of others, people who can step in and shoulder some of the burden, enabling parents to step back and just be Mom and Dad.
