Institute for the Study of Advanced Development (ISAD)
Created in 1986, Institute for the Study of Advanced Development (ISAD) is a 501 (c) 3 public nonprofit research corporation, dedicated to uncovering the abilities of underserved populations, studying advanced development in children and adults, and fostering undeveloped potential in women.
While giftedness is most often equated with eminence, ISAD redefines giftedness as advanced development throughout the lifespan. In early childhood, it manifests as rapid progression through developmental milestones, unusual capacity for abstract thought, creative imagination and heightened sensitivity.
Advanced development in adults involves the deepening and strengthening of one’s values, broadening of one’s scope of responsibility, consciousness of the meaning of one’s existence, concern for others and commitment to service. GDC is the service arm of ISAD, providing assessment, counseling, and consultation to the gifted community worldwide. The two work in tandem to develop the understanding and advancement of giftedness worldwide.
Accomplishments
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Advanced Development is the first psychological journal on adult giftedness; it publishes articles on theory, research, therapy, case studies of moral exemplars, inner experiences of the gifted, as well as poetry, art and book reviews.
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By 2025, more than 6,600 children had been assessed and parent permissions to conduct research had been obtained for most cases. To date, data on 1,188 cases, each with 212 variables, have been entered in a data analysis program. This database is available for graduate students and researchers.
ISAD owns and distributes overexcitability instruments on which there has been considerable international research.
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ISAD organized the first conference on adult giftedness, the Gifted Women's Symposium, the International Dabrowski Congress, a Dabrowski Retreat, the Dabrowski Study Group, annual Dabrowski training workshops on rating overexcitabilities and levels (1990-1996), Leta Hollingworth Commemorative Conference and Summit, several international symposia on the assessment of giftedness, the Child-Centered Collective, the Visual-Spatial Learner Study Group and conferences on visual-spatial learners.
The President’s Report
Each year, we create a record of our activities during the previous calendar year to serve our mission: study and support of giftedness; training in gifted assessment and teaching strategies; research; publications; presentations; dissemination of information; scholarships and pro bono services.
Meet the Board
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Director
Linda Kreger Silverman, PhD, is a licensed clinical and counseling psychologist. She directs the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development, and its subsidiary, the Gifted Development Center (GDC) in Denver, Colorado, which has assessed over 6,600 children in the last 40 years. This is the largest data base on the gifted population.
She and her colleagues at GDC have developed 40 instruments. For nine years she served on the faculty of the University of Denver (DU), in Counseling Psychology and Gifted Education. She developed a course on Assessment of the Gifted at DU, which was also a short course taught abroad. She has been studying the assessment, psychology and education of the gifted since 1961 and has written over 300 articles, chapters and books, including the textbook, Counseling the Gifted and Talented, adopted at 50 colleges.
Her latest book, Giftedness 101 (Springer, 2013), contains a chapter on assessment. It has been translated into Korean and Swedish.
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Examiner, Editor of Advanced Development journal, and Board Member
Nancy B. Miller, Ph.D., holds degrees in psychology and sociology and has received advanced training in family processes and children’s psychological adjustment. In 2008, she became Editor for Advanced Development, a journal on adult development. From 2002-2006, she was Executive Officer for Sociologists for Women in Society and taught courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level at the University of Akron, including socialization; children, youth and society; and sociology of the family. Her numerous publications focus on emotional development, gender and giftedness, women’s social support and adjustment, and family processes. She has worked with Dr. Silverman for more than 35 years and is committed to fostering children’s social and emotional development at home and at school. She brings a sociological perspective to the assessment of children at the Gifted Development Center. She also serves as a member of the board of the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development.
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Board Member
Victor Taube, PhD, CPA graduated from Ohio State University in 1958 with a B.S. degree in Business with a major in Accounting. In 2005, an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy was conferred upon him by Stafford University. After graduating from Ohio State University, he taught various accounting and tax courses in the Los Angeles area college system and then started an accounting practice which has spread nation-wide during his residencies in Los Angeles, CA, Raleigh, NC and Phoenix, AZ. Currently, he files taxes for clients in 39 states and has clients in two foreign countries. His practice includes assisting business clients with accounting issues and individuals and companies with tax issues. He has been the outside independent accountant for ISAD for the past two years after giving gratis accounting advice for several years to the organization. Victor has recently been named treasurer of the Board of Directors of ISAD.
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Board Member, Poetry Editor of Advanced Development
Bruce Allen is a graduate of Colorado State University and the University of Colorado. In his 42-year teaching career, he taught students 7th to 12th grade and those at Front Range Community College in Westminster, Colorado. Those years encompass public schools and private, where he was an instructor in English, gifted and talented, interdisciplinary studies, and history.
For the benefit of young gifted, he presents needed curriculum ideas for teachers and students. Near publication, his book, Pearl in a Petri Dish:Poetry, Gifted, and the Visual-Spatial Learner, verifies with student examples the potency of poetry writing for academic success.
He was the Gifted and Talented Coordinator at Northglenn High School in Adams 12, Colorado. His presentations include those at state and national conferences, CAGT and NAGC, and at the International Dabrowski Congress. In hiatus, he hopes to return to volunteer at the Colorado Horse Rescue.
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Board Member
I have been a licensed clinical psychologist since 2005 and have over 20 years of professional clinical experience with children, adolescents and families.
I developed and honed my skill and passion for working with families and children/adolescents with eating disorders as Clinical Director for Children’s Hospital Colorado’s internationally recognized eating disorder program for 12 years. I held a faculty appointment as an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. I enjoy program development and I have published work in peer-reviewed journals and have presented at multiple national and international conferences primarily showcasing my creative programs. I am also a dedicated teacher and have been a mentor and supervisor for dozens of psychologists, master’s level clinicians, medical students and psychiatry residents and fellows. Prior to working at Children’s, I gained experience and expertise working gifted and twice-exceptional youth and adults. I have worked with leaders in the field of gifted assessment and advocacy and I have the experience to understand the unique social-emotional needs and sensitivities present within gifted and twice-exceptional individuals. While my clinical approach is grounded in and informed by current evidence-based treatments, I practice from an eclectic, holistic and intuitive perspective. I strive to meet each individual/family/couple exactly where they are and believe that everyone has their own unique healing potential within. I see my role as facilitator to explore, discover and connect to that potential.
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Board Member
I am the daughter of visual thinker, who was an amazing artist and self taught engineer, and a mother to 2 visual kids. One of whom is dyslexic and twice exceptional. So, it should not have been a surprise to learn that I am also a visual thinker. I had always described myself as a hands-on learner (kinesthetic) I started out my career as a math and science teacher. I love teaching and learning. I have taught mainly in expeditionary schools based on the premise of Kurt Hahn’s model of outward bound. I believe in constructivist /experiential education. I started to see patterns in their learning style that I didn’t understand. They were brilliant conversationalist, curious about everything, needing to do everything their own way, making quick leaps in their connections, but struggled in writing, test taking, explaining their math answers, memorization, focus, organization and time management.
In my search to be a better teacher to them, I came across the book, “The gift of Dyslexia” and had many “Aha moments” I went on to train to become a Davis Dyslexia Facilitator. Then I met Linda Silverman and Betty Maxwell from the Gifted Development center when I had my son tested about 20 years ago. Betty and I started meeting on a regular basis to discuss cases and the cross over of visual spatial, twice exceptional, dyslexia, and anything else we could discover. We co-authored a book for teachers “ Picture It, teaching visual spatial learners” as we both believe that we are not teaching to the best of their talents, and that we may be sacrificing some of our most valuable insightful learners. I am in private practice and work with a variety of visual learners, both young and adult, teachers, and schools to teach visual learning strategies.
