I absolutely agree that some form of acceleration is far more valuable than the tradeoffs for some children. I have first- or second-hand knowledge of an unusually high number of acceleration stories, including many radical accelerants into early college, and it is clear to me that a significant number of those individuals would have suffered loss or injury to important aspects of themselves had they not been accelerated. The costs of acceleration were well worth it for them. Those observers who believe the costs -were- too high generally have not grasped the severity of pre-acceleration psychic pain they were experiencing. These are the kinds of data captured by the longitudinal research on radical acceleration.
The main point though, is that these are group data. Just because something is good for most members of a class does not mean it is good for this member of the class. And conversely, just because many people know someone who had a bad experience with acceleration does not mean that it is damaging to every child--or to this child in particular.
We have to know our own children as multidimensional actors, trust our instincts, maintain open, sensitive, nonjudgmental communication with them and their educational environments, and be pragmatic about changing course when needs warrant. We also should be both honest and forgiving about our own past mistakes as parents; rarely were they not well meant. Own them, learn from them, deal with the consequences, and move on.
