The Power of Self-Advocacy for Gifted Learners

Deb Douglas has spent her professional career as an educator, first as a high school English teacher, then K-12 gifted resource teacher, director of gifted programming, and International Baccalaureate coordinator. She holds master's degrees in professional development and curriculum and instruction for gifted learners. She served as president of the Wisconsin Association for Talented and Gifted and member of the National Association for Gifted Children Parent Advisory Board. As an educational consultant, she continues to advocate for gifted learners, providing self-advocacy workshops for students, professional development for educators, and assistance to parents. She is a frequent presenter and keynoter at regional, state, and national conferences and contributor to Parenting for High Potential. Her original action research on empowering gifted students to self-advocate has been published in The Roeper Review, with new findings presented at conferences of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (Sydney, 2017) and the European Council for High Achievement (Dublin, 2018). Her publications, including her book, The Power of Self Advocacy for Gifted Learners: Teaching the Four Essential Steps to Success (Free Spirit Publishing, 2018), provide parents and educators with the tools needed to encourage and support gifted learners as they create their unique routes to graduation and beyond. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin.