Who is more at risk?

After reading the article from Newsweek by Stephanie Lindsley entitled "Autism and Education" I have begun to rethink my idea of students who are at risk and need help more. The article compares the needs of the author's autistic son and her gifted girl. She describes her son by mentioning that he reads well but "he speaks at a 3-year-old level, adores 'Blue's Clues' and is almost potty trained", something that most teachers would see as a child that needs the most attention. The author then talks about her gifted daughter that does not get much attention in school and is often bored in her regular classrooms. She even sneaks books into her desk to read when the teacher is not looking. When I would have looked at this before reading the whole article I would have instantly thought her son needs the help and attention because her daughter was doing well in school. But after thinking about it for a while, I realized that it is her daughter that is in dire straits because she is at risk of losing interest in school, something that she now loves and excels it.

This phenomena is common throughout the United States, and is slowing the progress of or growth. If we focus too much on the not so gifted children and ignore the needs of the gifted students as is the case in this article, our gifted students will not excel like they could. If we want our education system to turn out the most well prepared students as we can, we need to stop ignoring the needs of the gifted students and begin challenging them and pushing them further and further into the world of higher knowledge, a place where they seem more comfortable.