Event Details

Wed
19
Apr

Smart is Not Easy

April 19, 2023 7:00 PM

Virtual on Zoom

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Event Details

Smart is not Easy: What Research Says about Highly Capable Learners

Hear about the latest research and neuroscience about highly capable learners, informing the most pressing concerns students are facing at home as well as in the classroom. Whether it’s refusing to wear shirts with buttons or tags, overreacting to the slightest criticism, gravitating towards adults and older children, forgetting to turn in their homework, trouble with handwriting, anxiety about trying something new, or preferring a book to a party, these and many other perplexing behaviors are common in the HiCap population. We’ll discuss the social-emotional characteristics of HiCap learners, ranging from perfectionism and twice exceptionality to grit and executive function difficulties, as well as the recent neuroscience that is helping explain where these characteristics may be originating, giving us big insights on how best to support our students.

About the Speaker:
Austina De Bonte is a consultant, speaker, and advocate for gifted and twice exceptional students with Smart is not Easy (smartisnoteasy.com). She is also President of the WA Coalition for Gifted Education (wacoalition.com), Past President of NW Gifted Child Association (nwgca.org), President of the Northshore HiCap Parents Council (hcparents.org), and Advisor to The G Word documentary (thegwordfilm.com). A dynamic and engaging presenter, Austina speaks regularly at regional and national conferences, as well as conducts professional development workshops for educators, and provides consulting for individual families. She works with school district teams to develop and fine-tune their program models, especially concerning equitable identification strategies. Her signature style combines her experience as a student, parent, and family consultant along with synthesized research, current district practices, and cutting edge neuroscience. She has particular passion for supporting gifted and twice exceptional students in public schools and helping families get to the root causes of their child’s challenges, looking beyond the usual suspects. She received the "People to Watch" Award from Variations 2e magazine in 2020, and has won three Outstanding Advocate awards from the PTA. She has a Masters degree from MIT and is a doctoral candidate at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. Contact Austina at austina@smartisnoteasy.com

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