I think I will have our library do an inter-library loan for it, because it really does sound like it would be an interesting read and maybe help us with a general idea of where he places on the spectrum. We're kind of doing things backwards, since school was such a disaster. I tried to get the data to help illuminate the behaviors/abilities I was seeing, but the school was refusing. Then my mommy gut kicked in and said that regardless of what his IQ was he was drowning at school and the only thing I could think to do without scores was to bring him home (there's a public gifted school here, but it requires IQ scores).
So, now I'm trying to go back and fill in the blanks- Why was school such a disaster for him? Why is he capable of learning things not from thin air, but in insanely large gulps? Fine, he's gifted, but is he "will never be able to thrive in public school" gifted or is this a personality issue we need to work through (he says he doesn't ever want to go back, that the next time he goes to a school it will be college)?
All of these questions and a full scale assessment is just financially not feasible in the near future. I'm hoping that with my observations not just as his mother, but as his teacher and then resources like this board and books like Dr. Ruf's I'll be able to find some answers even if we won't know everything. But, it's hard to tell whether books just say what I want to hear or are actually sound resources, so I thought I'd check before I got too excited!
I love hearing everyone's stories and experiences, it really does help that even if I can't fully identify with DS with all the kids (because you guys' kids are amazing!), I at least see something of him in there and it feels a little less crazy and lonely.
