How Parents Can Support Gifted Children.

This digest offers guidelines to parents of gifted children which emphasize respecting the child's individuality while providing necessary support. A new definition of giftedness is cited which stresses the asynchronous development of such children's cognitive skills and the resultant qualitatively different inner experience. Early signs of giftedness are listed and the advantages of early identification noted. Suggestions are offered for responsive parenting which provides a wide variety of stimulation while following the child's lead. Discussion then looks at first, the role of family relationships in the child's development and issues concerning school placement including early entrance, other forms of acceleration, and the value of mixed age groups. Finally, the role of parents in advocacy is noted. Three references and two organizational resources are listed. (DB)