So this meeting is all about behavior because I've never uttered the word "gifted" and you can bet your last dollar that they won't!
Refocus - this meeting is all about behavior because there is a behavior issue. I hope that doesn't sound harsh - that's not my intent at all
I just think that's the way to look at the meeting, and use this approach:
Behavior challenge exists -> You share past assessments showing challenges and IQ -> You tie behavior to the challenges -> You advocate that the best way to alleviate the problem behaviors is to accommodate and remediate *at his appropriate instructional level*.
Hi all,
You've offered so many, many great ideas. I've actually printed them out because I need to shuffle, think and apply.
One important point to polarbear - I absolutely do not take your point as harsh. Candor is necessary here, and I didn't do a good job of wording my point. In fact I am in total agreement with you. From the school's viewpoint AND mine, this meeting is exactly about behavior. DS's behavior in school is reflecting his challenges and is gating his ability to get what he needs/deserves from his education. My goal for the meeting is to identify strategies to help DS change that behavior.
What you folks are helping me with is how to convey the whole picture of what's going on with DS's brain. This is necessary so that the strategies we pick aren't doomed from the outset.
My fear has been that if I raise the issue of IQ (or whatever related term - cognitive ability, giftedness, asynchrony) the school will view it as excuse making. But I see that it's necessary, else I am really unfairly handicapping them in understanding DS and helping him. And I do believe they sincerely want to help.
I have work to do based on your responses. Thanks so much for helping me figure out how to get the work started!
Sue
