Arab Educational Information Network

This study aimed at assessing the differences between deaf students and normal hearing students in the light of giftedness, creative thinking, intelligence, and school achievement in (318) male and female middle school students in Kuwait. By using Torrance Testes of Creative Thinking, Raven Progressive Matrices Test, and school achievement records. The research used descriptive analytical comparative approach. Results showed that there were no significant differences between deaf students and normal hearing students in creative thinking, intelligence, and school achievement. Also, there were no significant differences between gifted deaf students and gifted normal hearing students in creative thinking. However, differences were found between them in intelligence and school achievement at .01 level of significant in favor of gifted deaf students. In addition, no significant differences were found between ungifted deaf students and ungifted normal hearing students in creative thinking abilities and intelligence, while the significant differences were found in school achievement at .01 level of significant in favor of ungifted normal hearing students. Moreover, females tended to score higher than their male’s counterparts in creative thinking abilities and school achievement at .01 level of significant and intelligence at .05 level of significant. The Study Recommendations are: develop appropriate scales for detecting gifted students with special needs, train special needs teachers on detecting giftedness skills and scales, and provide the support for creating a special center for detecting giftedness in special needs students. (Published Abstract)