It's always depressing to hear what the general population thinks about giftedness. I've lost count of the number of times I've heard that it isn't real and they all level out by 3rd or 4th grade. There also seems to be a real feeling of "why on earth are you complaining when my kid needs a reading tutor".
Despite a good teacher who makes a real effort to engage DS7 and who tolerates a lot of boredom wiggles, I spend many hours after school redirecting him and coming up with strategies to keep him engaged. For example, he is currently busy determining the prime factors of the number of the day instead of making up a subtraction problem about it. His teacher is supporting the alternate project, but I'm the one who suggested it because she simply does not have time to adapt every single math assignment. Unless I am really mistaken about the math abilities of the average 7 year old, this is not a normal project. Yet somehow, we are supposed to believe that giftedness is not real and that providing that child with a different learning environment is some sort of parental pacification program.
Ugh! I have to remind myself that most people never interact enought with gifted children to understand that there are real differences, but sometimes it is really hard to reply politely to the (usually unintentional) hostility. I love what Trinity said, about "saying our truths, over and over again". Sometimes I need to take a really deep breath first, but it is so important to speak up so that others start to understand those differences.
