Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Middle school - how bad is it really?

I used to think that middle school and high school would be great learning opportunities for my ds who is gifted, dysgraphic, ADHD, and small for his age, what with the choice of classes and honors/AP courses. After talking with parents who actually have kids in middle school, I'm thinking I'll be lucky if he gets through without major damage to his self esteem and body. Can anyone tell me some positive middle school stories?

My eldest hasn't had a bad middle school experience. She skipped 5th grade and started 6th (at a 6th-8th middle school) the year before last. So, she was just a bit shy of 10 when she started and rather small. She's been on a huge growth spurt and is now a bit over 5' tall, though, so she no longer stands out in terms of size.

She has done better both socially and academically (in terms of learning something) than she did in elementary. B/c it is a very large school with around 900 kids, her class has nearly 300 kids in it. That has made for the opportunity to have accelerated math and literacy classes which have a few kids who are actually quite bright and good peers for her. Of course, there are still the higher than avg achieving, but not unusually bright & pushed kids in her classes.

She's gotten involved in drama/musical theatre at school, which she has really, really enjoyed and that has been a nice group of kids for her to hang out with as well. She is a very centered child who doesn't tend to cave to peer pressure or care terribly about what others think and I do believe that has helped her navigate the middle school waters.

We had a new special education director come who modified all lesson plans through the art with multi-sensory learning. She let him enlarge a picture of the school mascot on the wall and paint it,for a math grade. VMI score is 148 in 99%, non-verbal is 132IQ. The school paper and 4-H people came and took pictures. The boys coach asked if he could paint mascot on huge wall in locker room, they couldn't figure out how it did it. It was breath tacking! he stood on a ladder one foot away and enlarged the design. He became imeadiately focus of positive social input from students ,teachers and community. His teach had artist apraise work. Said it was work $1,500.00. He was allowed to google how to make 3-D designs and instruct other students on how to make them. He designed a money collection jar for PTO. It collected a large amount of money at local store. PTO president said, someday we are all going to want to say we know him, he'll be famous. All the football team put money in the jar in appreciation of his painting the school mascot. He did verbal presentations of how he designed a coin, 2 levels higher than his peers. He has Behavioral Intervention Plan in IEP with positive supports. His IQ score went up.He has dyslexia,dysgraphia,ADHD,enviormentally sensitive,Irlen Syndrome,disorder of written expression,anziety... He is visual learner, photostatic memoey, does algebra in his head. He is 13yrs. old. We live in a very small town. The the good news is there are amazing teachers who make a difference in childrens lives and can change how a whole community sees all people. Since previously he was percieved in negative way. Bad news is teacher left and went to where they pay more money to do research. Quality of services radically changed! Good news is I found this board, learned to run a computer, accessed Hoagies web site and we are finding new school and considering on line gifted lessons to support his educational needs. Up till we had the amazing teacher he was not susceeding at school. School isn't open to idea of children who are 2E. I am advocating for change. One small voice can becomes a mighty roar. Don't be disheartened,20% of population is born right brain dominate,according to scientific brain based research ,read Overcomming Dyslexia. Which also mention that these children have potiential in one or more areas of functioning to be genuis. With technology children overcomes issues of processing info. If schools would only realize there are alot of children who would susceed at school if they would recognize their learning style. A+ schools recognize Howard Gardners Theory of muti-intelligence. Do school shopping. I am! You are so right about the importance of self esteme. Hoped I cheered you up. Children who are creative visual-spacial learner have gifts where they can gain suscess no matter the enviorment. I susgest you read the Gift of Dyslexia. I recently read Linda Silvermans Ph,D. website. It was a aha moment for sure.

Keet, is your DS typing well yet? if not - - time to pull out the positive reinforcers!

My son reversed his undeachievement in 6th and 7th grade, after skipping 5th, and yes, his 100wpm typinig helped him keep up with the older kids! 8th grade he had friends and lots of fun stuff to learn. Middle school can be good or bad, it's hard to know what will happen until it happens.

Good luck,
Grinity

I obviously don't know the boy involved and am not familiar with the twice-exceptional population in general, but I really wonder if such an assignment should count for a math grade. If the topic is learning how to add 1/2 and 1/3, ultimately the student must be able to solve the problem, although the path to getting there may be different for some kids.

Students progressively diverge in mental achievement and academic achievement over the years, and since many middle schools are untracked, especially for subjects other than math, the mismatch between the best and worst students may be greatest in middle school. This worsens the learning environment, and frustrated kids may misbehave more. Add puberty to the mix.

Middle School is hit or miss even with the ND population... I'm actually dreading it with both DC. But I'm sure it's more of me remembering how awful MY own experience was rather than a reflection of any of the schools... other than the school district we currently live in, which we will move out of around 4th or 5th grade.

I am dreading it as well. Those were the worst years of my life. I hope my sons will have different experiences.

My daughter just finished 6th grade at middle school. There were good and bad things about it.

There were some bullies that picked on her (they were girls also - though I'm sure boys experience bullying of their own kind). The school has an anti-bullying policy but that seemed to do more harm than good, so it was a difficult time for us.

And she had one teacher (her math teacher) who had discipline issues and over-disciplined the entire class. My daughter has issues with people who over-use their authority so that wasn't a good mix. It's sad to me that it was her math teacher specifically because she was just starting to like math again.

The positives were that there were a lot more activities that were available to her. She joined choir and the after school drama club and really shined as a performer. I think that drama was especially good for her because it gave her an interest in reading Shakespeare.

She also had some really great teachers who were more knowledgeable about their subject area then she would've gotten had she gone to 6th grade in elementary school. Specifically, the field trips for social studies were awesome and she came out of the year which a much larger appreciation for history than I ever had as a child.

My son's physically gifted football player cousin who was bright enough to score a 27 on the ACT even though he spends more time on the athletic skills that got him a full ride scholarship, would say our local middle school is really good. But when he heard about a comment that was made by one of his football player friends about his nonathletic, geeky cousin, he acknowledged that it is different for kids like my son.

I wish it were different. I wish my son could go to school for a week, just to try it out, without having to worry about bullying.