Yes, the way I show that the interest is from the child and not the parent is by letting our student feel free to speak directly on their own behalf. People do have a hard time believing the 'more' type of child is expressing the interest. I had heard through mass media about a teacher who was being celebrated in California. I thought it was just an interesting fact to bring up. This particular middle school teacher had put together a middle school program such that, as a result (and, again, this was being relayed as a positive success) the students after middle school passed ACT in Science. I just merely tried to relay the story at a GIEP meeting. I am learning as I go. The response was more negative, so now I know to be very careful about what I share. Not everyone sees everything the same way. We just concluded as a family that if our child wants to make that achievement an objective, then, of course, just go for it. The people in the GIEP meetings for us have been in flux (change of principal, different spec. ed. staff assigned to different year, teachers change each year, superintendent change and the movement of the gifted kids for grouping to different buildings in the district depending on year).
