Oh... this strikes a nerve with me and you have my full sympathy.
My daughter was almost denied admission to the gifted math program because "she's too shy" (REALLY?? This is MATH, not public speaking). My son, meanwhile, "Needs to play a team sport. You should enroll him in a team sport." (insert profanity here to represent my reaction).
Fyi my kids have friends (thank you very much) AND are active and healthy.
One of my pet peeves is western culture's obsession with team sports for socialization.LET IT GO, neurotypicals... PLEASE.
Don't get me wrong... sports are wonderful for a variety of reasons, but team sports are just not right for everyone, yet they seem to be the "go to solution" for educators who don't understand the atypical socialization needs of gifted kids. It just bothers me that the NT educators try and throw the non-NT kids onto the same pile as everyone else and assume everything will be just ducky.
And tell me - what does their required "extroversion" have to do with success in math?? NOTHING. So I simply continued to advocate and they eventually put her in the program.
For my son, meanwhile... I just ignored the team sports thing. Grrr.
My advice to you would be to cite research relating to behavioral differences in gifted kids to further prove that your son does in fact belong in enrichment, and don't let it go! You know what's right, so fight for it.
Last edited by CCN; 03/20/15 08:55 AM.
