The digital age makes it even more important than ever for a gifted person to “know thy self”: to have a solid sense of who you are, and what you want. So as to be able to both harvest the opportunities of the digital age, and also harness oneself against its risks.
High-potential drop outs, who no longer function in school, receive care, education and accommodation at the Centre for Creative Learning in The Netherlands since 2001. Our children/adolescents (12-23) are high-potentials who experienced long standing mismatches with their environments: often having changed schools 3 or more times and seen several health care professionals.
Almost all children who come to our mental health care institute suffered additionally from prior misdiagnoses by the regular health care profession. The labels they carry, often contain: autism, AD(H)D, dyslexia, ODD, PDD-NOS and NLD. Giftedness often has not been taken into account during these diagnoses.
From first contact in the intake interview, we create an atmosphere of equality, trust and rest. Children open up and tell us more than they did to their - surprised - parents. Their development, potential, ambitions and perspective on their lives are the subjects. Our psychologists succeed in re-diagnosing our children in ways that fit them better (identity problems, social phobia, PTSD, study problems, depressive disorder).
There is a place for everyone under the rainbow. CCL exists for those gifted children, who lost this belief and helps them reclaim their place in this world.
We hope to inspire the use of our more client-centred approach, versus traditional approaches that make our gifted children feel not-understood, misjudged or angry.

Author(s): Chantal Woltring, (Centre for Creative Learning, The   Netherlands), Albert Kaput (Centre for Creative Learning,  The Netherlands)