My DD6 is not necessarily gifted, but fairly unique. She is just in a regular school system, but I experience similar problems.
I had the added issue of being a single father in a very small town. The only time my DD was ever invited for a play date was the one day her mom took her to school. When I phoned the mom later, she said she would call back when it was a good time, but I never heard from her again.
When I checked out the parenting group, it turned out to be nothing more than an exclusive subset of moms, who had a formerly established social relationship. It wouldn't have been my style anyway as they basically got together, sent the children off the play away from them and then conversed without any interest in the children. The children are meant to be seen and not heard types. In my family, children are thought of as people, not lower class citizens.
I would categorize the issues affecting my ability to provide a social experience for my child are my gender, being far older than most with a DD6, being an overly attentive parent and being a person with atypical interests. I am not one to make people feel bad about being less of a parent, to talk about my child (although I involve her in everything I do) or even exclude people based on often considered negative lifestyles (won't involve myself in this part).
Personally, being able to talk about my child is the least of my problems. I just want her to have the same social opportunities as other children. Now that she is in school, she is at least getting some social contact with children. So the problem is not as big a deal now.
How well we can communicate with another person is affected by so many factors, not just the words we speak. Some take a long time to warm up to new people, others seem to need some way to feel tied to another, some make class level judgements or maybe even chemistry is involved. Just thought I would throw out my experience. Interesting to see these issues happen to others for different reasons.
