Is it worth all the trouble, expense and upset to push for accommodation for our son at school, or should I just leave the situation alone? Will he be OK if I do nothing? After all, no one advocated for me when I was a kid, and it was hard sometimes, but I turned out OK... eventually...
Just not sure if we're doing the right thing...
Some kids are ok with it and some are not. Hind sight, both my brother and I were unidentified GT with no accomodations. I was depressed my entire elementary school career and just thought I was a freak. All my energy was thrown into OEs and socially blending. Even someone acknowledging why I felt different at the time would have been huge. I wildly underachieved. When I got to high school, I discovered honors classes and I did those and did well with little effort. My brother, to this day is underachieving. I learned a lot when I went to a huge tech school with freshman calc classes that would regularly fail out half the class. I still got A's, but darnit, I had to put forth some effort.
Anyway, I feel my childhood was marred by not having this information and at least some acknowledgment of the situation. My husband had a similar situation - unidentified GT kid. NEVER EVER studied. College was a big shock for him. Did we turn out ok? Yes, but not without some very painful lessons that would have been better learned much much sooner. This has led us down the path of homeschooling our own kids.
If your child is happy and challenged somewhere in his life, then I wouldn't worry too much. If he hates school, hates learning, and isn't a good fit in his current situation, it's probably time to make a change. I think parents know their own kids and situations best.
