I've come to the thought pattern that I'm unlikely to change the world and it's perceptions, even if I could I'm not going to devote that much time to it when I have my own child right in front of me with their own unique challenges and needs. Our solution is to take advantage of the typical gifted child's mind and sensitivities by teaching them some phycology. We’ve taught our children that everybody has their unique set of blessings and challenges and we all have a difficult time understanding somebody else’s gifts and challenges. When there is something we don’t understand people often jump to conclusions, those often being the simplist explanations, even if they are hurtful, negative, or plain rude. We’ve also taught our children that people will also often become attacking or demeaning when they feel defensive or put other’s down to make themselves feel superior. That behavior is simply showing a lack of self-confidence.
Sometimes we don’t give kids enough credit, especially our own gifted children. My kids completely understood the thought patterns expressed above even at an early age, in fact, they actually felt sorry for the people who exhibited such behavior and even said prayers for them. We often can’t change the world’s perception, try as we might, we can, however, change how we deal with them. If these people are in our child’s life daily, obviously it needs to be addressed and another solution pursued, however, for the comment made from the casual meeting, some education in phycology goes a long way.
When it comes to people in our child’s everyday life making such comments, the best solution is educating them in a calm, genuine, and helpful way about the truth and realities. If that doesn’t remedy the situation, then it’s time to get higher ups involved or simply find a way to remove our child from the person being involved in their daily life.
I guess, in short, take the high road, nothing good is going to come from anything else.
