... I became painfully aware that Ds's teacher was not interested in differientiating for DS... She told me she thought DS was fine and "just wanted to feel special" (she said this to me and about 13 other people on DS's IEP team) - she said if he were bored it was probably because he has adhd (which he does not have a formal diagnosis of )... The school psych then gave DH and I a list of family psychologists to go to for "family counseling" (we were still perplexed by that, but I am thinking now it was because they all thought that *WE needed DS to be "special"* and that *DS also "needed" to feel special* and that we all needed some serious counseling for this. Uh, yeah. Humiliating.) It seemed like no one really believed in DS...
I am so sorry this happened. Unfortunately it is not an uncommon scenario. This could go on a teacher's hall of shame thread, alongside the recent post about teachers exploiting and humiliating pupils.
Someone who hears him speak may think I drill him on vocab words or speech... but the reality is he just absorbs it... However, exposure is still necessary. He just latches on to words somehow. Math he loves but he doesn't just absorb it from the environment like he does words and speech - he does need some instruction in it.
And, btw, isn't this what the "cougar" analogy/article is all about?
Yes! Although it's a
cheetah, not a cougar. All kids should get their antelope... the appropriate challenge to keep them active. IMO, there should not be a gate-keeper for this opportunity.
ALL kids deserve to be educated at their challenge level. Including gifted kids.
In my district, you need a WISC IV of 130 and you get in - you could have dyslexia (and be in the bottom reading group), you could not be able to write, you could have dyscaculia, autism, ADHD, whatever... You get a GAI or FSIQ of 130 you're in. If not then there are some different ways based on lower GAI/FSIQ combined with achievement tests and teacher recommendations that add to points. However, it's my feeling that the school's emphasis is on the 130 WISC score.
Once qualified for the program, what does the program consist of? What does the student experience in the gifted program?
