With all due respect to the traditional educational system, and doctors and mental health professionals that support it, I've come to the conclusion that a long-term “deluge” of feedback from conventional people can be deeply oppressive to a child who does not think or learn in a standard way. It’s my opinion that as a parent I have to counter-balance all that, and demonstrate to my "out of the box" child that she has the possibility for a happy and productive place in the world. Somehow, one day at a time, we have to navigate the conventional to guide her to where she is supposed to be.
When my daughter was 5 years old, we were at a museum that was all about invention. The director happened to be wandering around and started watching my daughter. After a bit, he came over to me and said, “she’s one of us”. I was startled at the time but I eventually understood what he meant. She belongs to a world of unconventional thinking and possibilities. And it’s my job to prepare her for the world that she will fit into, not the world that might be comfortably conventional and standard. That preparation is not just the schooling but how she sees herself, that she understands how she can contribute, and what works for her and doesn’t.
Sounds easy in two paragraphs but is very hard in real life! But still worth trying.
