Mine was resistant to dealing with it at first too. He worked and I stayed home... he had less time with our child and less knowledge of what was typical.
Yes- that seems to be part of the case. I also took Dude's idea of asking about his early years as a spring board into a conversation last night. Not to say that our DS7 is an anomaly in our family (plenty of bright, high-achievers on both sides) but neither of us (DH and I) were identified as gifted and we both had plenty of academic struggles.
DS7 is youngest of our two children. Difficult baby but his quiet, observant nature as a toddler took a back seat to his older brother's outgoing and chatty personality. Looking back, there were clues in his development- but it wasn't until he took off early with reading instruction that we realized he learned differently than other kids (especially compared to kids his age.) At first, we just chalked it up to having an older brother and being an early bloomer. In time, kids would catch up. But everything we offered as a learning experience- music lessons, karate, chess... he was just different.
We had him tested at 6 because he was coming home from 1st grade and sobbing like it had been torture. Since I took him for the testing appt., I was the one to review his scores with the psychologist afterward. While I was relieved that the testing offered some insight into his strengths and behaviors, it was also unnerving because I didn't have any framework to understand how his place on a bell curve could play out in real life. At the moment, it looked like being on the outskirts of either side was pretty lonely.
My DH and I talked last night. It's hard for him to understand why the topic of "giftedness" plays a role in my parenting strategies or how giftedness can make THAT much of a difference in child development. We both agree- it can be hard because while our son still seems different, it blends better after a grade skip last year. He is musically talented (but not a prodigy). He is a whiz at math (but hates word problems) He can test several grade levels above on any reading comprehension test (but doesn't usually read for enjoyment).
Since my DH doesn't have much time for reading with his busy schedule, I'm hoping that we can find some speakers (VIDEOS??) or meet together with a psychologist our DS currently sees so he can get some outside perspectives on how giftedness can make minds work a little differently.
If anyone knows of video resources that are brief and informative, I would love suggestions. Thanks!
