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"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."
- Abraham Lincoln

This quote by Abraham Lincoln asserts that happiness is primarily a product of internal mindset and conscious choice rather than external circumstances. It suggests that individuals have the power to control their emotional state by deciding to focus on the positive aspects of life, practicing gratitude, and adopting an optimistic outlook.

Key interpretations include:

Control over Emotions: By choosing to be happy, people take control of their reactions to life's events, finding joy even in difficult situations.
Beyond Materialism: True fulfillment is not derived from material possessions, specific goals, or worldly success, but from one's mental attitude.
Philosophical Balance: While the quote emphasizes personal agency, some analyses note that innate predispositions and genetic factors may also influence an individual's baseline capacity for happiness, suggesting a complex interplay between choice and biology.
The quote is widely cited as an encouragement to cultivate inner peace and resilience, reminding us that satisfaction is largely determined by how we perceive and interpret our experiences.

AI-generated

A belated "Welcome" to you, ardenwood!

Thank you for sharing the great article linked at US Career Institute.
The career landscape is changing quickly.

Hopefully in addition to thinking about careers, people are learning and practicing life-skills for self-sufficiency such as budgeting, learning from printed books (to avoid being over-reliant on the internet), a bit of gardening for food and medicinal herbs, and the skill of determining "NEEDS" vs "WANTS." A degree of autonomy and ability to find joy while embracing a minimalist, frugal existance may help insulate one's self from manipulation, whether by AI, humans, or circumstances.

Unsure if I’m asking for something wholly unreasonable so perhaps people with more knowledge can assist!

We’re based in London, England where gifted education is way behind.

Son, 7, had WISC V assessment conducted. Scored as Extremely High in all domains except processing speed where he dropped to Average.

The Ed Psych said she’d not encountered such a child over her 25 year career and couldn’t reliably calculate an FSIQ due to range of subtest scores.

I only recently came to hear about GAI as we try to find a school willing to accelerate learning. I understand that it’s a useful indicator for educators since it strips out the processing speed issue.

The EP made no mention of it in our debrief nor in the report. I’ve since asked about it but she keeps referring back to FSIQ and it not being reliable.

Can I clarify:

1) they aren’t the same measurement?

2) I’m not crazy, or the schools asking for the score, to request that the GAI be calculated if it’s clinically possible?

The EP is making it incredibly difficult to do so and I don’t know if that’s because of misunderstanding at her end…or mine!

Thanks for any help

The "best" path for your child really depends on so many variables, including your family's values and priorities, who your whole child is (not just their cognitive profile), etc.

For our son and our family, things have worked out well at his private non-gifted / non-gifted-friendly school, and outside of school, we provide academic enrichment in math and in foreign language. He is in fourth grade in the US (10 years old). We only did neuropsych testing this year so to be honest, we are still processing his results: highly gifted and 2(e) (dysgraphia). His school is going to provide wonderful supports for the dysgraphia. We are on our own for the giftedness until 9th grade but we were already doing our own work there anyway, Our son loves his friends, and he's pretty sporty; the school does a great job accommodating the increasing absences he needs to take related to travel for competitions. So we are very unlikely to seek a different school, even though there is zero support for giftedness below 9th grade. Again, it all depends on the kid and on each family's values and priorities. There is no single right answer here.