Dr. Mike Postma joins me for a personal conversation about the many challenges facing gifted and 2e / twice-exceptional students, especially social and emotional challenges, and this is one of those episodes that just might leave you feeling pensive, concerned, and ignited all at the same time.
About Dr. Mike Postma
Dr. Michael Postma is an educator, author, speaker, coach and consultant dedicated to the holistic development of the gifted/twice-exceptional (2e) community. Over the last two decades, Dr. Postma has served as a gifted teacher in the classroom, as an administrator and leader of gifted schools – both public and charter schools in multiple states, and was the architect of the Minnetonka Navigator Program, a magnet school in Minnesota specifically designed for highly gifted and twice-exceptional students.
He currently is the President and co-founder of Gifted and Thriving, LLC and the Programming Director for the non-profit SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted) organization.
Dr. Postma has published a number of articles and two books, the latest titled The Inconvenient Student: Critical Issues in the Identification and Education of Twice-Exceptional Students. He travels and speaks nationally and internationally on a variety of topics such as: the social/emotional development of the gifted, understanding twice-exceptional learners, gifted/talented programming, neuroscience and the gifted/2e brain and more.
Things you’ll learn from this episode
- Mike Postma’s personal story of growing up a gifted and 2e kid with
very little support in a time when many neurodifferences weren’t
recognized or understood
- What “holistic development” means in the context of children, especially twice-exceptional children
- Why Mike says social emotional development has to be one of the foundations for academic and intellectual potential
- Where society is with regards to understanding asynchronous development
- How schools can make small accommodations to make school more successful for gifted and 2e students
- Why Mike wrote his book The Inconvenient Student and what he hopes it does in the world
- Mike thoughts on how the educational system needs to be revamped
- Why Mike says 2e people are among the most vulnerable populations
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