Thanks everyone. My son and I went to VBS family night yesterday. My husband joined us about a half hour later. He walked in wearing his leather motorcycle vest that he wears on his Patriot Guard missions and he looked like some tough biker dude. People were looking at him, but he didn't care. He has the confidence to carry it off. I know I need to work on this problem of mine. Both my husband and son tell me I need to quit worrying about what other people think.

One of my son's friends who goes to this church, also gifted, but several years older, came over to sit with us. None of the kids my son's age ever do, yet certain people don't like it if I ask that my son be allowed to go to class with his friends.

I had told my son that he could stay with us and we would just watch the kids do their songs with the hand motions that they were expected to learn in just a couple of days, something that is very difficult for a child with motor dyspraxia. But when he went to throw his cup away his VBS teacher saw him and asked him to stay. He stood there while the other kids did the hand motions, and I realize that most kids really enjoy this, but my son is different, it is not fun for him and he and I had a deal that if he went I would not expect him to do this.

There are only three or four people that make me feel very uncomfortable, but they seem to be in charge of everything. There is one in particular. A few years ago I went to pick up my son from a Bible class that she was teaching and I could hear the irritation in her voice when he asked questions that were not easily answered and when he was the last to finish writing or doing crafts. My husband and I both explained that he has a mild disability that makes doing anything requiring good motor skills more difficult and that he needed extra time to finish but that he is also academically gifted and it is not unusual for gifted kids to ask difficult questions. He does not want to cause difficulty for anyone and he knows from the tone of their voice that he is.

One year I asked if my son could go the class that the older friend he had brought with him was going to because what fun is it to bring a friend if you are going to be separated from them the entire time? This is one of his best friends, also gifted and with common interests, but he was three years older. They didn't like it, but they let my son stay with his friend. I listened outside the door and it was fine. I heard one of the older kids who knew my son very well tell the teacher that it was okay because he was very smart. He loved going to that class and listening to the class discussions.

But ever since then, it felt like things changed. I never asked to have him in a different class after that. My son said he felt that we were "shunned."

I have not found anyone else dealing with similar issues in our town. Not one person, so it just gets kind of lonely sometimes. There isn't anyone else that I can talk to about some of these things.

My special ed teacher friend understands my son's giftedness and the disability that he deals with. Two of her sons, my son's best friends, are also gifted but although she knows about my son's disability she has not lived with it and she has no idea about my mother. I don't tell anyone else about that.

So thanks again everyone for listening. It really does help.