Growing Allyship With Teachers and Parents of Gifted LGBTQIA+ Youth

In this moment in our nation’s history, our gifted LGBTQIA+ students need allies more than ever. Not only are programs and services for gifted students being cut, but harsh rhetoric and restrictive laws against the queer and trans community are featured regularly in the news. And while some gifted and general education teachers have made small starts to support their gifted LGBTQIA+ students, the information and strategies they might need are rarely provided by their school districts. Parents of gifted LGBTQIA+ may have even fewer ideas about where to look for data, resources, community, and support. Through providing a safe space for participants to both gain information and ask questions, this session will model some home and classroom approaches that allies can use. Data and resources specific to both the gifted and the LGBTQIA+ community will be shared including the research from P.J. Sedillo on the developmental stages of people who are both gifted and LGBTQIA+. Learning stations, along with other differentiation strategies, will be used to model how gifted classroom best practices connect directly with the best practices of allyship. In addition, participants will leave with an annotated set of vetted resources for use with a range of stakeholder groups including parents, teachers, counselors, and administrators.