befriended downes syndrome girl in the class.
This lack of academic and social self esteem seems to be baseless to anyone but her. Is she realizing she is different? Will she start to underachieve to fit in?
My gut feeling is it is time to skip, but how do I convince her? Principal has said she can skip at any time.
Steph
It isn't baseless to have low self esteem if one is way past ones peers. The fact that she is placed in a group that looks dumb to her means to her that people believe she is dumb. It takes a lot of maturity to accept that we may feel normal to ourselves but that doesn't make it so.
There is a real danger she will do dunb down.
As far how to convinse her....so many ways. From bribary (pony anyone) to asking her what she would do in your situation to talking more about what ot is she likes about being with her agemates to arranging a fun playdate with the older HG girl. She may need you to play the heavy and insist that she do at least a trial so she can compare. You can say that the Principle wants it if the Princip is willing. You can ask her to visualize all the boring homework that shell never have to do. Check for class trips or rituals that she may have been looking forward to for a long time.
In the end she knows that the point of school includes learning with peers and that a skip is one way to get that.
Best Wishes
Grinity
