Claudia y Alejandro se conocieron siendo adolescentes en una

reunin de jvenes mexicanos de ascendencia libanesa. Fueron

amigos durante algunos aos hasta que Alejandro le propuso a
Claudia tomar un caf. Meses despus, esa cita deton un noviazgo,
y al cabo de un ao la boda.

A los tres meses ella estaba embarazada y ambos acordaron que la

estimulacin temprana desde el vientre materno sera una buena
opcin para mejorar el desarrollo del beb: Ponamos audfonos en
el vientre de mi esposa con msica de Mozart porque fue parte de la
informacin que recibimos cuando preguntamos qu era mejor para
los bebs, dice Alejandro.

Tufic Habib Libien naci en noviembre de 2001 y, en efecto, es un

nio excepcional. Si bien la estimulacin temprana en muchos casos
ayuda en el desarrollo de ciertas habilidades, no es determinante.

En todo caso, eso amerita una discusin aparte. Tufic, a los pocos
meses de nacer, mostr ser un nio vivaz y muy inquieto. Desde
muy pequeo notamos que tena una habilidad excepcional para
armar legos, los armaba y nunca observaba los instructivos,
comenta Alejandro.

Cuando el pequeo ingres al preescolar empezaron los conflictos:

Le daba flojera trabajar en el saln, no quera estar en su silla, se
quedaba dormido y la escuela nos sugiri consultar a un psiclogo.
Le diagnosticaron Trastorno por Dficit de Atencin e
Hiperactividad (TDAH) y nos dijeron que deba ser medicado.
Empezamos con la medicacin y sta le inhiba el apetito. Era muy
difcil que comiera, recuerda.
Algunos aos despus, Tufic ingres a la primaria en el colegio
Eton, en donde el objetivo era continuar con el tratamiento. Ah les
recomendaron consultar a especialistas en TDAH, quienes evaluaron
al nio por casi seis meses y la conclusin fue que no lo padeca; en
cambio, su nivel de inteligencia era fuera de lo normal. El diag-
nstico tranquiliz a los padres, pero tambin los angusti porque no
saban cmo ayudar al nio.

Lo llevaron al Centro de Atencin al Talento (Cedat), en donde

determinaron que tena un coeficiente intelectual (CI) de 155 (el
promedio es de 100). Asimismo, de manera gradual le retiraron el
medicamento e inici un programa de atencin diferenciada.

Hoy Tufic, de 14 aos, cursa el segundo ao de bachillerato. Est

acelerado con respecto a su edad tres aos, y desde 2014 estudia en
el Programa de Potenciacin Intelectual Intensivo. Tambin es parte
del equipo de tecnologa espacial CANSAT, por el que fue expositor
en el pasado congreso del World Gifted and Talent Children, en
Dinamarca (agosto 2015).

Tufic es parte del milln de nios sobredotados que, se estima,

existen en Mxico. A estos chicos difcilmente se les detecta por las
caractersticas propias de la sobredotacin. En algunos casos los
especialistas suelen diagnosticar TDAH o Sndrome de Asperger
cuando lo que realmente presentan son sntomas de aburrimiento por
aprendizaje acelerado. Otra de las razones por las que se dificulta la
deteccin es por falta de informacin en las familias o de los mismos
docentes.

Traductor
Claudia and Alejandro met as teenagers at a gathering of young
Mexicans of Lebanese descent. They were friends for some years
until Alejandro proposed to Claudia to have a coffee. Months later,
that date set off a courtship, and after a year the wedding.

At three months she was pregnant and both agreed that early
stimulation from the womb would be a good choice to improve the
baby's development: "We put earphones in my wife's womb with
music from Mozart because it was part of the information we
received When we asked what was best for babies, "says Alejandro.

Tufic Habib Libien was born in November 2001 and, indeed, is an

exceptional child. While early stimulation in many cases helps in the
development of certain skills, it is not determinative.

In any case, that warrants a separate discussion. Tufic, a few

months after birth, showed to be a lively and very restless child.
"From an early age we noticed that he had exceptional ability to
arm laos, he armed them and he never observed the instructions,"
says Alejandro.

When the little one entered the preschool, the conflicts began: "He
was lazy to work in the classroom, he did not want to be in his
chair, he fell asleep and the school suggested we consult a
psychologist. He was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and
Hyperactivity (ADHD) and told that he had to be medicated. We
started with the medication and it inhibited the appetite. It was
very difficult for him to eat, "he recalls.

Some years later, Tufic entered elementary school at Eton College,

where the goal was to continue the treatment. There they were
advised to consult ADHD specialists, who evaluated the child for
almost six months and the conclusion was that he did not suffer;
Instead, his intelligence level was out of the ordinary. The diagnosis
reassured the parents, but it also distressed them because they did
not know how to help the child.

He was taken to the Talent Attention Center (Cedat), where they

determined that he had an IQ of 155 (the average is 100). Also,
gradually they removed the drug and started a program of
differentiated care.

Today Tufic, 14, is in second year of high school. He is accelerated

with respect to his age three years, and from 2014 studies in the
Program of Intensive Intellectual Potentiation. He is also part of the
CANSAT space technology team, for which he was an exhibitor at
the last World Gifted and Talent Children conference in Denmark
(August 2015).
Tufic is part of the million gifted children estimated to exist in
Mexico. These children are difficult to detect because of the
characteristics of giftedness. In some cases specialists often
diagnose ADHD or Asperger Syndrome when what they actually
present are symptoms of boredom by accelerated learning.
Another reason why detection is difficult is due to lack of
information in the families or the teachers themselves.