gifted_autistic_or_just_quirky

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Dweck and her colleagues studied hundreds of early adolescents, giving them each 10 questions from a verbal IQ test. Most did well. Afterward, some were praised for having done well because they were smart, while others were lauded for the hard work that had gone into achieving their high scores. However, when given the opportunity to try a more challenging task, those who had been told they were smart were reluctant. Says Dweck, "They seemed to be thinking, 'They called me smart. I better not do anything too hard in case they change their minds.' " In contrast, about 90 percent of those who had been praised for their effort wanted greater challenges.

Dweck, author of "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success," sees the root of the problem not in the labels themselves but in the mind-sets they represent. "I had shown in earlier work that children who believe in permanent traits like fixed intelligence are actually vulnerable because when something goes wrong they think they don't deserve the label anymore." Alissa Quart, author of "Hothouse Kids: The Dilemma of the Gifted Child," says the gifted label "fixes kids' identities into adulthood. The label is sometimes useful in education, but as an internal self-image, it's not."

He thinks that one way around the tyranny of labeling is to reduce our obsession with speed -- and give all children extra time on tests.

Just because a child is deeply involved in a narrow topic and not interested in typical social interactions, it doesn’t mean he belongs on the autism spectrum! Asperger’s has become a convenient label for children who are smart but odd. Sometimes parents will say, “My child has Asperger’s even though he can still be affectionate, imaginative, and funny when he’s at home.” If that’s true, then it isn’t Asperger’s. Like depression, the diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome should be reserved for the children who truly merit it.