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Monday 4pm - 9pm Tuesday 4pm - 9pm Wednesday 4pm - 9pm Thursday 4pm - 9pm Friday 4pm - 9pm Saturday 11am - 8pm Sunday 11am - 8pm

Talent Development Connection

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Talent Development Connection

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Talent Development Connection, 268 Sea Cliff Avenue, Sea Cliff, NY.

Talent Development Connection (TDC) throughout the past year has provided opportunities for children and adolescents to connect through social groups, tabletop roleplaying games, and cooperative storytelling.

01/14/2025

Having hobbies and interests is important to anyone’s well-being, especially neurodivergent people.

For neurodivergent people, including those who are gifted and twice-exceptional, special and intense interests are a vital part of well-being. They can help individuals regulate, express themselves, connect with others, and understand the world around them.

Here we go over what special interests are, how they can manifest for gifted individuals, and how they can help with socializing and connecting with others for these individuals.

Enabling neurodivergent and gifted individuals to engage with these interests
There are a few ways that can make neurodivergent and gifted people more comfortable engaging with and developing strengths through these interests:
1. Give them a space to share their interests and show curiosity about them. Many neurodivergent and gifted individuals are used to and expect others to dismiss their interests rather than engage, so showing genuine curiosity can be really validating and healing in terms of their ability to connect with others.
2. Provide spaces and feedback to help them develop these interests further. Whether it’s classes, rides to conventions, or hobby/interest groups, connecting with others who have similar interests, finding new ways to develop those interests, and having safe places to engage can be incredibly beneficial and help them to develop additional strengths.
3. Having clear alone times when they can engage with these topics on their own. This can help them to regulate in a calm environment that is not as overwhelming as the rest of the world.

What are your special interests? Let us know in the comments!

01/13/2025

Happy National Hobby Month!

For neurodivergent people, including those who are gifted and twice-exceptional, hobbies and special interests are an important part of well-being. They provide a way to regulate, connect with, and understand the world.

That’s why this month we want to encourage the celebration and appreciation of the hobbies that bring neurodivergent people joy.

What hobbies would you like to celebrate this National Hobby month? Let us know in the comments!

01/11/2025

Why label giftedness and twice-exceptionality?
Being gifted can be an important part of getting individuals necessary services that are needed to allow them to thrive. Having access to additional educational or extracurricular opportunities and also supports that help them to navigate these challenges at any stage of life.

Twice-exceptional individuals can miss out on services or opportunities due to how their combination of strengths and challenges are perceived. Those who are viewed mainly as highly intelligent and skilled in some areas can experience more difficulty accessing necessary services and accommodations due to being seen as overall “above average.”

At the same time, those who are perceived primarily as disabled or in need of extra help may miss out on the educational enrichment opportunities to build skills and knowledge in the areas where they are gifted. Both of these approaches are a disservice to those who are twice-exceptional and can have adverse effects on their mental health and well-being.

A dual lens approach
Skill development of twice-exceptional learners is typically uneven or asynchronous because of their dual exceptionalities. Due to the challenges of this atypical development trajectory, it is critical that 2e individuals are identified, recognized, and accommodated for both their strengths and challenges – and one should never be compromised for the other. This “dual lens view” is necessary to create the appropriate academic, employment, social, and emotional supports and opportunities for 2e individuals.

All programs in the Smart Practice Network, including therapy, groups, and enrichment programs, takes this dual lens approach to help clients access the opportunities that are best for them and develop in a way that allows them to thrive.

Find out more about the Smart Practice Network and our dual lens approach at the link in the bio.

01/10/2025

What does it mean to be twice-exceptional?

What does it mean to be twice-exceptional (2e)?
Twice-exceptional(2e) students and adults are simultaneously gifted and have a neurobiological disorder or emotional, sensory, or learning disability, demonstrating many combinations of superior ability in one or more areas and one or more social, emotional, or academic challenge(s) caused by a disorder or disability.

Specific disabilities that can be associated with the 2e experience include:
*Physical disabilities
*Autism spectrum disorder
*ADHD
*Learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, etc.
*Emotional and/or behavioral disorders
*Receptive and/or expressive language disorders

Specific areas of challenge for twice-edceptional students can include:
*Impulsivity
*Sensory sensitivity
*Sensation seeking
*Difficulty with executive function
*Processing delays
*Trouble with anxiety or overwhelm
*Psycho-social issues

Some common characteristics of twice-exceptional learners are:
*Quick Learner
*High Energy
*Advanced Vocabulary
*Perfectionism
*High Abstract
*Learning Strong Curiosity
*Keen Visual Memory/Spatial
*Skills Intensity/Sensitivity
*Comprehends Complex Systems
*Wide Range of Interests
*Good Mathematical Reasoning
*Tends to Question Rules or Authority
*Sophisticated Sense of Humor
*Advanced in Geometry, Sciences & Arts
*Imaginative/Creative/Insightful
*Prefers Older or Younger Peers/Adults
*Long Attention Span (When Interested)
*Difficulty with Memorization/ Computation/ Phonics/ Spelling

What challenges How does this definition line up with your experience of twice-eceptionality? Let us know in the comments!

01/09/2025

What does it mean to be gifted?

“Giftedness is characterized by uneven or asynchronous cognitive development coupled with heightened emotional sensitivities and intensities. The disparity between precocious intellectual development on the one hand and normal physical and skill development on the other creates inner experiences and awarenesses for the gifted child (and adult) that are qualitatively different from the norm.”
— The Columbus Group

Gifted is a broad umbrella term, similar to neurodiveregent, though it is one that most commonly used in educational settings. It refers to individuals whose abilities (academic or non-academic) are significantly above average compared to their peers. These abilities can include excelling in academics, intellectual ability, creativity, leadership, and visual or performing arts.

Giftedness is a form of neurodivergence resulting from brains that work differently compared to the societal norm. As the quote highlights, gifted individuals often have a development trajectory that differs from the norm, leading to them needing additional or specialized support.

Gifted individuals typically share the characteristics of:
*Intensity (intellectual, emotional, physical)
*High intelligence in one or more areas (academic or non-academic)
*Independent/divergent thought processes
idealism

They may also face challenges such as:
*Perfectionism
*Existential concerns
*Isolation
*Misunderstanding
*Lacking outlets for creativity or ideas.

How does this definition line up with your experience of giftedness? Let us know in the comments!

01/07/2025

It’s natural to want to set huge goals for the beginning of the year, but even setting small goals or adopting new habits can improve your life whether you adopt them at any time of year.

Here are some simple goals to improve your health any time of the year:
Drink more water
Walk more
Get outside once a day
Journal or track your mood
Do one small act of kindness a day
Limit screen time

What simple goals for health interest you the most? Let us know in the comments!

01/06/2025

It happens to everyone: you’ve started a new goal, had a few good weeks, and then it happens. You miss a day. Or a few days. Or just have trouble sticking with it the way you were.

Getting used to sticking with a new activity or routine is a common and expected part of developing new habits and working towards goals. However, for neurodivergent people, including those who are gifted and twice-exceptional, this can present additional problems due to common perfectionist tendencies.

Many neurodivergent people, especially those who are gifted and twice-exceptional, can struggle with perfectionism due to a combination of all-or-nothing thinking, vivid imaginings of what making this habit could look like, and commonly having their “potential” talked up more than their achievements. Perfectionism can make it difficult to bounce back when things don’t go as well as they hoped from the start, especially when they feel like they’ve let themselves down.

The challenges created by perfectionistic tendencies are why, for the last part of our series on strategies to help with New Year’s Resolutions, we’re talking about how to manage feelings that can come up around perfectionism and making mistakes.

These strategies include:
*Accepting mistakes as part of the learning process
*Focusing on 1% improvement
*Taking the view of a scientist with trial and error
*Aiming for good enough over perfect
*Remembering that not all progress is lost when taking a break from projects or habits

How do you manage perfectionism when moving toward your long-term goals? Let us know in the comments!

01/03/2025

So you’ve picked small habits or steps to start working towards your resolutions for the year, but how can you keep track of your progress?

It can be hard to appreciate the progress we make when working towards goals, especially ones without built-in milestones or validation like drinking enough water or completing a personal project. This is especially true for neurodivergent people, including those who are gifted and twice-exceptional, who may experience perfectionism, increased self-awareness/vigilance, and intense emotions and fixations. Experiencing these qualities can lead to them being hyperaware and critical of where they fall short of their goals and not appreciating the progress they have made.

As the next part of our series on setting goals, today we’re talking about a method to make goals realistic and measurable as a way to help counter these challenges. We’ll do this using the SMART goals method.

SMART goals are goals that are:
*Specific
*Measureable
*Achievable
*Relevant
*Timebound

How can SMART goals help you? Let us know in the comments!

12/31/2024

Now that you have these big picture goals for the year, how do you know how to approach them?

In this second part in our series on how to approach New Year’s resolutions for neurodivergent people, including those who are gifted and twice-exceptional, we’re discussing just that by going over how to break big New Year’s resolutions into smaller steps and habits that you can build on in the new year. This is a skill that can be especially difficult for neurodivergent people, who can often struggle with executive functions skills like breaking tasks down into smaller parts.

Here we’re reviewing strategies to break larger resolutions down into pieces so that it is easier to approach them in the new year.

These recommendations include:
*Brain dump
*Research how to approach your goal
*Think of it like a how-to book and the different steps are parts, chapters, and subsections
*Use tools like MagicToDo to help

What strategies do you break down your long-term goals into smaller steps? Let us know in the comments!

12/24/2024

With the holidays and winter breaks, there can be a lot of schedule disruptions and changes in routine. However, for neurodivergent people, including those who are gifted and twice-exceptional, routine is an important part of regulating.

As such, it’s important to maintain some portions of routine when possible. This includes:
*Taking medication
*Maintaining a sleep routine and schedule if possible
*Doing hygiene routines
*Trying to maintain eating and drinking routines, especially for those who have trouble eating and drinking enough

If you want tips on how to keep up with this, see our previous post on routine disruption!

Which parts of your routine is it most helpful for you to maintain during the holiday season? Let us know in the comments!

12/23/2024

During stressful and hectic times like the holidays, it can be difficult to stay present and instead get caught up stress, thought spirals, hyperfixations, or imagining the worst case scenario. Having grounding techniques that work for you can help with relaxing and letting go of stress so you can focus on and appreciate the moment at hand.

Grounding techniques are quick and accessible tools or techniques to help ground you in the present. There are a lot of them, but often only a few get recommended regularly.

For neurodivergent people, including those who are gifted and twice-exceptional, this can become frustrating because the grounding techniques that work for the majority may not work for you and the grounding techniques you do have may not get recognized as such.

Here we go over different types of grounding techniques so you can get a better sense of what works for you.

*Somatic grounding techniques
*Sensory grouding techniques
*Mental grounding techniques
*Noticing grounding techniques

What kinds of grounding techniques do you find the most helpful? Let us know in the comments!

12/18/2024

Between movies, TV shows, books, and commercials, holidays can come with a lot of expectations about the perfect gathering, the perfect gift, or the perfect moment. For many, it can be disappointing when reality doesn’t match the unrealistic expectations these set up.

For neurodivergent people, including those who are gifted and twice exceptional, this can be taken to an extreme. Because many neurodivergent people also have anxieties around social gatherings, sensory needs, and new situations and can also have very active imaginations, they may latch onto the unrealistic expectations from media to inform their expectations about what holiday gatherings should be like to help prepare themselves.

The combination of using these expectations to manage anxiety, vivid imaginations, and the intense emotional experiences many neurodivergent people experience can lead to overwhelming emotions or reactions when reality doesn’t meet those expectations. The emotional reactions can include disappointment, frustration, anger, and grief. These can manifest as shutdowns, isolating, meltdowns, or general sadness and irritation.

Here we’ve included some tools to help manage expectations around the holidays as well as the strong emotions that can come up when they don’t go as hoped.

-Recall previous experiences as a basis for expectations
-Talk with hosts or others about what to expect
-Set expectations for gifts and other surprises
-Allow space for reactions to differ from the expected
-Remember movies and commercials aren’t reality
-Leave some room for things to change

How do you handle differences between expectations and reality during the holiday season?
Let us know in the comments.

Address

268 Sea Cliff Avenue
Sea Cliff, NY
11579

Opening Hours

Monday	4pm - 9pm
Tuesday	4pm - 9pm
Wednesday	4pm - 9pm
Thursday	4pm - 9pm
Friday	4pm - 9pm
Saturday	11am - 8pm
Sunday	11am - 8pm

Telephone

+15167247100

Website

http://www.discovertdc.com/

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Building Outside the Box

Talent Development Cooperative (TDC), a program of the clinical practice of Melissa Sornik, LCSW PLLC, is held in a unique maker space and supported environment that encourages program participants to think, dream and create collaboratively with like-minded peers, and adult and teen mentors.

TDC was created to provide a community of support, understanding and mutual respect — a place where non-traditional learners can find and make friends, and a place where no one has to fit in to belong. All TDC program participants, from Pre-K through 12th grade, are very bright, curious and creative. They are typically “big picture” thinkers and problem solvers, and some may face challenges in more traditional programs where specific talents or learning styles may not be recognized or nurtured. TDC offers a number of programs and activities for children and teens. We also offer programming and workshops for parents and professionals.

Each session promotes individual strengths and interests in a safe, supportive environment. They are mentor-supported and use talent development to promote critical thinking, collaborative problem solving, and self-efficacy.

All programs are created, facilitated and supported by our team of social workers, teachers and mentors who share many of the strengths, talents and interests of our young program participants.