I agree that the response from some parents is puzzling to me. There is definitely a taboo out there, but I'm one of those who prefers to talk things out in the open in the hopes that my being honest and open gives others the permission to either do the same or at least the feeling they are not alone. I do this with everything (I'm a total over sharer - might as well put it to good use) so I will talk openly about my struggles with PND, financial ups and downs, parenting struggles etc.
I hope that by just being out there about DD's giftedness (never the LOG) others will get a better understanding of what it is/isn't and I also take care not to brag/humble brag, just very matter of fact.
I know some people find it off putting but overall I'm happy with where I'm at. We had a group discussion about whether IQ was innate and usually I would keep my mouth shut in that situation but this time I spoke out against some pretty offensive and just plain inaccurate "facts" that where being spouted. To my great surprise a good 1/3 of the room backed me up. Who knew?
Out of curiosity what are the offensive facts about innate IQ? Sorry if this has been covered already.
Sorry I should have said ignorant comments.... btw this was a training session on children's education.
Basically along the lines that high IQ is valued by the govt and schools are set up to cater for this, that people who think their kid at 4 is something special are delusional, that how can you even test for giftedness anyway when some people might be gifted mechanics or plumbers etc. Basically there's no such thing as giftedness/all kids are gifted....
Mana I take your point - but it's the term we have and I'm using it. Also what I do is refer people to the gifted centre so they can get more information and support - not extension activities.
For eg; yesterday there 3 mums who really appeared to have GT kids based on what they said, 2 clearly were on top of it, we exchanged knowing looks and nothing more was said. No comparisons or anything. The 3rd was talking about how miserable her son was at school and how the school had reached it's limit of resources. I then asked her if she had heard of a program the centre offers and recommended she checked it out. She asked who ran it and I told her the gifted centre. She immediately said oh no my son isn't gifted.
This is a boy who is working 1 year above level and still crying most days after school from boredom. Being a small school they have run out of options - the centre is designed to help this sort of family. Sorry if that's too much info - just trying to better demonstrate the angle I'm coming from.
