It's not something that is easy to get across to schools. At all. To many schools, all gifted students are they same and they all need the same things. Meanwhile, a confused staff member will pull out a grade level achievement test or some other instrument with a poor ceiling and observe that "we have many other students just like your PG student. So your PG student is working with his/her peers." Hmmmmmm, no. Not many others. Just...no.
Meanwhile, your PG student is at home, complaining loudly about school, growing increasingly angry and frustrated, before just turning apathetic about school.
Yes, frustrating, indeed. We may slowly been seeing a sliver of light at the end of the long tunnel, but it has taken an incredible amount of patience and persistence to get through. Small advocacy victories came from carefully listening to how things work, who makes REAL decisions, who MIGHT understand, and carefully pushing down the ridiculous roadblocks that can be thrown up. Things have gotten better, but we still have a ways to go.
