A comparative analysis of creative thinking patterns in children who are gifted, learning disabled, and gifted with learning disabilities.

Creative thinking is dynamic; its growth can be fostered in a democratic atmosphere with instruction and experiences which encourage the use of all mind functions. This study integrates two models of creative thinking and extends the existing research to include, not only gifted children, but also children who are learning disabled and children who are gifted with learning disabilities. Children who are gifted with learning disabilities (gifted/LD) are often achieving at below grade level because their high abilities mask their extreme learning disabilities and their learning disabilities mask their high cognitive abilities. Unable to produce at the expected rate or standard, they are frequently given programming which excludes them from activities which might develop their potential in gifted behaviours. Unidentified and misunderstood, the gifted/LD, like the learning disabled children, perceive school as an experience in failure; self-esteem is lowered and the school experience is left behind as quickly as possible. Cognitive as well as creative thinking patterns are compared in these three groups of exceptional children by examining, through both quantitative and qualitative analyses, their subtest scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and their performance on figural designs as well as creative writing. Teachers in four Boards of Education were interviewed individually. They were aware of creative thinking characteristics in gifted and gifted/LD children but not in learning disabled children. Since the revised Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children assessed only cognitive functioning, it was after administering tests of creative thinking that learning disabled children's strengths became apparent. These were intuitive creative aspects as expressed in figural form completion and expressing positive and negative feelings in their stories. Gifted/LD children were more similar to gifted than to learning disabled children in cognitive as well as other creative thinking abilities. This study should assist teachers and clinicians to identify creative thinking differences between gifted and gifted/LD and between gifted/LD and learning disabled children. By using their creative abilities while meeting educational needs, teachers are heightening self-esteem and encouraging the realization of their students' fuller potential