A lesson on the development of intelligence and the changes in the brain that gave rise to verbal language does not seem like the most usual subject for 7-year-olds.
But in this school they teach about this and many other topics that keep the children stimulated, who raise their hands non-stop to ask insightful questions and give their opinion on what their teacher exposes, who patiently answers one by one.
At the so-called Talent Care Center (CEDAT), located in Mexico City, all its students have a common denominator: being gifted. Or put another way, according to the official explanation, that they have an IQ of more than 130 points.
Here, along with more advanced classes in science, history or languages, students receive other subjects such as robotics or knowledge about medicine and first aid from gifted teachers or specialists.
But it is equally striking to see that the children are gathered in the classes not because of their age (ranging from 2.5 to 17 years old), but because of their intellectual capacity and development.
This is because everyone progresses at their own pace, but on average, these students learn between 30% and 50% faster than the average child. This allows them to pass two grades in a single school year… or even more.
Bored at the other schools
The arrival of gifted students to this center, whose managers define it as the largest of its kind in Latin America, is not always easy.
First, because they are often difficult to locate. Some common behaviors in these children -they get distracted in traditional school because they are bored, they are hyperactive…- are sometimes responded to with wrong diagnoses such as attention deficit disorder and even strong medications such as antipsychotics or antidepressants.
To get an idea, it is estimated that around 3% of the population is gifted, which among minors in Mexico would be equivalent to one million children and adolescents. However, according to CEDAT, more than 11,500 have not been identified in the country.
But once detected, their arrival at a center like this with specialized teaching changes their life completely, especially when they surround themselves with people with the same abilities with whom they live without fear of rejection.
“My other school was easy. I liked astronomy but I didn’t talk to my friends about it because I felt sorry for it. I was so young… it was like being a ‘mini-teacher’”, says Alexis Martínez, a 7-year-old CEDAT student.
“Instead, here I learn things that are not for children my age, that others would be like… ‘what is this?’ But it makes me happy to see these things, ”she adds.
His partner Mikella Gamborino nods. “The other schools were very easy. I sit here, talk and say ‘oh, I’m with my family’. I do feel a difference, I feel better and I communicate better”.
Listening to Alexis and Mikella is almost mesmerizing. After the initial embarrassment has passed, they show their talkativeness and mental acuity by talking almost non-stop. They interrupt each other, complement each other, and jump from one topic to another without realizing it, with huge contagious smiles.
He explains to us in great detail the ins and outs and curiosities of the periodic table of elements, and tells us what he would like to study more about Edwards syndrome (“a trisomy on chromosome 18,” he explains) to help those who cause delays severe in development. She surprises us by introducing herself in Mandarin Chinese, one of several languages she studies.
“Bookworm” stereotype
But among so many topics that reveal their higher intellectual level, they also talk about others that remind them that they are still 7-year-old children.
They talk about Japanese anime (“they’re Japanese cartoons, like Chavo from 8 here,” Alexis clarifies) and about jokes they read in a book. Both are excited when they are allowed to enter a small supermarket where they are taught about saving and home economics, and Mikella can not help laughing when she tries to operate a small robot by remote control with more or less success.
Breaking down stereotypes about the gifted and emphasizing that they continue to be children is precisely one of the objectives of CEDAT.
“When we talk about genius children we still think of the typical nerd or misfit or static bookworm. But this is a prototype that they don’t usually meet. Neither are children traditionally who get A’s at school, often because they are no longer interested,” explains Andrew Almazán, a teacher at CEDAT and son of the directors of the center that was founded in 2010.
He knows what he is talking about because they detected that he was gifted at the age of 4, when he already knew how to read and write. He remembers how much he was bored in class, that he was hyperactive and that he liked to move a lot, which led him to suffer bullying and it also implied behavior and authority problems with the teachers.
“Sometimes I would find a mistake and question them. He told them that this was not right, that it was not accurate. And then I had to learn that you don’t question yourself when you’re 5 years old, that a teacher doesn’t like to be told that it’s wrong, ”he recalls with amusement.
He ended up leaving the traditional school at the age of 9 and there began a heart-stopping academic career. At 12 she began studying Psychology and Medicine at the university. His two bachelor’s degrees were followed by six master’s degrees and two doctorates from centers as prestigious as Harvard in the United States or Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Today, only 28 years old and recently married, he continues studying and conducting research on gifted minors in Mexico from CEDAT.
This center does not receive any public economic support but is financed completely privately thanks to the tuition and fees paid by the students’ relatives, who must always have a minimum coefficient of 130 to be admitted.
However, in the center they assure that the fees can be customized to the lowest economic capacities of the families with other modalities, such as teaching fewer hours per day or monthly counseling for those who live outside of Mexico City.
More boys than girls
In Dr. Almazán’s studies, a reality that is also visible in the corridors of CEDAT always comes to light: the existence of fewer gifted girls than boys.
Almazán affirms that there are genetic factors that explain this reality, since for a girl to be gifted she must have two parents who are also gifted. In the case of a child, on the other hand, it is enough that only one of the parents is a child.
In addition, it also points out that in many cases it is more difficult to find these girls because “socially they can be more passive, they obey more than the boy, who crashes more and who ends up having a test to see what happens to him. But many of them blend in more with the environment in order to be accepted”.
“For all this we see that there is still a considerable discrepancy in gender issues that we are trying to close. The gap should not be greater than 6 boys to 4 girls, but instead it is stronger… seven versus four, or even eight versus two,” says the expert.
When these children are not offered an education adapted to their reality, “there is a process of atrophy”, compares Almanza. Capacities are lost due to lack of use and these people end up frustrated or even depressed.
The expert acknowledges that great challenges remain, such as raising awareness both in society and in the authorities that these children exist. “Now there is more awareness that medicating them is not the solution, but sometimes the pressure also makes some parents think that giving them treatment is easier… There are many challenges, but we are motivated,” he told BBC Mundo.
Meanwhile, Alexis and Mikella continue their training at CEDAT and dream of their future. He aspires to be a “chemist, veterinarian or doctor”. She wants to be an astronaut, but she’s aiming for an even bigger ambition.
“I want to study human cells so that they mutate and have characteristics… do you know Flash, who goes super fast? The human body could end up having those characteristics that we see on television. Many will think that this is not true and that I am crazy, but it can be achieved ”, she says convinced.
Before we say goodbye, we ask her for a phrase that motivates them and Alexis recites one from Albert Einstein: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
“It inspires me because it’s like it doesn’t matter what you know now. What matters is that you are going to discover things, and that is going to be what will make you intelligent, ”she assures before returning to her classroom.
What is the profile of gifted children?
- Hyperactivity, which decreases when a demanding or interesting task is presented.
- Fast learning.
- Distracted (due to hypersensitivity of the senses), although with the ability to learn without paying attention.
- Takes part in adult conversations, can understand them and likes to talk to older people.
- Continually builds objects or structures.
- He tends to want to impose his rules.
- Sensitive in the emotional area.
- He has a low tolerance for frustration, which generates a tireless search to always achieve his goals.
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