Austina' topic: Smart is not Easy: What Research Says About Gifted Students

This presentation will cover the latest research and neuroscience about highly capable learners, informing the most pressing concerns students are facing at home well as in the classroom. We’ll discuss the social-emotional characteristics of gifted 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 students. We’ll also touch on the most important considerations for equitable identification of highly capable students, and why universal screening is not just a good idea, but a social justice issue.

Austina De Bonte is a consultant, speaker, coach, and advocate for gifted and twice exceptional students. She specializes in helping families get to the root cause(s) of their child's challenges, looking beyond the usual suspects. Her signature style combines her experience as a parent and parent coach along with synthesized research, current district practices across Washington State, and cutting edge neuroscience. Austina has a Masters degree from MIT, and is currently working on her doctorate at Bridges Graduate School.