Dr. Mike Postma

Founder Gifted & Thriving, Past Executive Director of SENG, Ed. D.

Topic: Neurodiversity, Metacognition, and Executive Functioning: Impacts on the Gifted/2e Child  

What You Will Learn:

1. What is Neurodiversity?
2. How does the neurodiverse brain develop differently in G/2e Children?
3. Why is it important to know?
4. What is Metacognition?
5. Why must we teach our children about metacognition?
6. How does atypical brain development influence executive functioning skills?
7. What can a parent do to prepare their children?

Bio: Dr. Postma is a teacher, administrator, consultant, speaker, and, author dedicated to the holistic development of both gifted and twice-exceptional children through his new company Gifted & Thriving, LLC. Over the last two decades, Dr. Postma has worked in the field of gifted/talented education as both a teacher and administrator in the public and charter school system in Minnesota and North Carolina, and, was the architect of the Minnetonka Navigator Program, a magnet school specifically designed for highly gifted and twice-exceptional students. 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 school related topics from understanding assessment to quality instruction for gifted/2e learners.

Dr. Postma holds a B. A. from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON; a M.A. in Gifted, Talented, and Creative Education from the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities, and a Ed. D. in Educational Leadership (Critical Pedagogy) also from the University of St. Thomas. Dr. Michael Postma is also the former Executive Director of SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of Gifted) and currently, Director of Programming for SENG, a non-profit organization dedicated to the social and emotional development of the gifted. He currently lives in Bellingham, WA and is the father of four children, three of whom are twice-exceptional.

Philosophy: Dr. Postma’s philosophy emphasizes the development of social and emotional skills within the gifted/2e population to help support academic endeavors. Indeed, without these essential skills, gifted/2e children will continue to struggle to adapt to the world around them. Given atypical neurodevelopment, gifted/2e children experience intense limbic and sensory development easily overwhelmed by environmental stimuli that can lead to all kinds of social/emotional issues that, in turn, stem wholistic growth. It is therefore essential to train our children (and even adults) to better understand themselves and give them tools to cope and navigate the world in which they find themselves. This philosophy is supported in Dr. Postma’s work as an author and speaker.

- - -