Student Stories: Jacob

By Kathryn P. Haydon

Educators, Parents

Jacob tested at a young age in the average range on IQ tests.  But he had a high degree of creativity brewing inside, manifested in extreme empathy and the ability to sense gaps and spot problems that frustrated others.

This creativity had no channel or pathway for expression; its inability to be expressed was bottled up inside, making him appear to be distracted and hyperactive. Consistently in school he was placed in special education programs, and was under the impression that he was inherently quite a poor learner. This combination of high creativity unidentified and unexpressed is lethal to a student, and it was with great gratitude that as a sophomore in high school Jacob learned about his creative strengths. He eagerly and quite naturally understood creative problem solving, and almost immediately gained confidence to express his fertile imagination by writing a screenplay and recording some of his useful inventions to solve real-world problems.

Knowing his creative strengths, Jacob has been able to apply these for greater success in traditional school subjects in high school. His parents have moved beyond a feeling of despair to one of hope and delight in his life prospects.