Originally Posted by SFrog
Originally Posted by Mahagogo5
I'm grateful there are blogs out there like this, but.... I actually find them really depressing. As someone starting out on this journey all I keep seeing is doom and gloom, how my kid is destined to be a miserable out cast etc. I just can't believe it for her sake. I know she will have some social issues but I want to read positive stories about how people have got their kids to be successful and happy!

It can seem like doom and gloom at times, but there are great stories out there as well. Keep with it and you'll find your own. This last summer our DD13 went to JHU-CTY summer camp for the first time. She went expecting to enjoy the academics (and she did), but came back ecstatic at having met a camp full of kids like her. All of a sudden, she was no longer a nerdy outlier but one of dozens of "normal" kids.
Best of luck,
--S.F.

Mahagogo, I think there are far more positive stories than negative outcomes - the thing is, you most likely find more of the negative-sounding stories online because for the most part, families and children who are doing well are simply out in the world doing well, enjoying life, not needing support. I can tell you that I've never once thought of anything close to doom and gloom as related to my children's intellectual gifts. And my kids have challenges too (2e) - yet even with that, I've never felt "doom and gloom" loomed anywhere in their lives. They've had a great childhood so far and I have every reason to believe they will go forward to have happy adult lives, spending them in a way that they want and choose to.

I quoted SFrog too because my older ds just had the same experience with a summer CTY camp - he's 14, and it was his first. Part of the reason we sent him was reading the reviews of students who'd attended in the past, plus one personal parent first-hand account locally who said her dd found friends-for-life there. DS loved it. That doesn't mean CTY is for everyone, or that any other program is for everyone - I just offered that up as one example of what we *have* found - there actually is a *lot* out there for children who are high ability. And it's not all labelled "high ability" or limited to high ability kids. One of my ds' favorite activities is helping students with Special Olympics. He's also had classes with kids who were nowhere near gifted but still enjoyed them because the subject matter was interesting or the teacher was amazing or whatever. He has friends. People meet him and like him. He's pretty danged normal and not-so-noticable in a crowd. He's been blessed with an amazingly capable brain, but he's also been blessed with a wonderfully empathetic personality and I think that in the long run that will mean more in his life than the high-power brain cells.

I'll also add that, maybe I'm just persnickety about this, but fwiw I personally feel that it's lame to complain about being a high ability intellectual. There are things in life that present true challenges that can be extremely difficult to cope with, depending upon a person's circumstance - health issues, mental health issues, physical disabilities, poverty, lack of access to education etc. Those are things that a person might truly struggle with or need to worry about in a big way or might be huge hurdles to overcome. High IQ is an asset - and what a person does with it is what counts.

As a parent you may have to advocate harder than you'd anticipated or think outside the box for schooling etc - and you might not find the ideal answers or situation - but your child is still going to be ok and most likely be happy. And that's something to be optimistic about - not doom and gloom!

polarbear, stepping off my soapbox smile