BUT: he is using a lot of baby talk (he says it because if one kid in his class but the kid is not someone he plays with), he is sucking his thumb/fingers/clothing for the first time in his life except when very young or teething(he hasn't lost any teeth yet so maybe it is a teething thing). He is having more tantrums/meltdowns than he used to, and he has taken to walking round the lounge in circles when tired and he is getting sick more often (fever type sick).
I am not dismissing your concerns regarding stress, etc, but I have two 6.5 year olds, now almost 6 3/4, and we have seen this type of behavior (with the exception of walking in circles) for several months now. The hands-in-mouth thing was only resolved recently when my son asked me why he kept getting sick and his brother didn't; and I explained that it was because he had his hands in his mouth so often. (Not that I hadn't been saying that multiple times a day all summer; but it finally got through.)
The temper tantrums/meltdowns got worse for us when school started, and we are working through it. I do think they are exacerbated by the stress of being unhappy/bored in school all day, but I also see a lot of other children the same age acting the same way. I started them on Omega 3 fish oils, and it does seem to be helping somewhat.
Baby talk was an issue all summer long. It went on for months. It was so bad that they started mispronouncing words and sounds even when they weren't doing it on purpose. I think they finally stopped because I explained to them that if they ended up in speech therapy because they INTENTIONALLY mispronounced words and sounds using baby talk so much that it changed their entire manner of speech I was going to be EXTREMELY disappointed. They realized it really was getting out of control and stopped. (And before anyone flames me - yes, they do understand that if they needed speech therapy for any reason other than intentionally mispronouncing words and sounds so often it becomes a habit, it would be fine, and we would not be disappointed in them. They don't see speech therapy as negative at all, as their cousin gets it. They understood my point.)
One of my sons did develop issues from school related stress last year; so I definitely agree it is possible. However, I wanted to let you know that at least some of things you are experiencing with your 6.5 year old may just be because he is 6.5.
Can you meet with the GT coordinator to see if she has any other ideas before you decide which teacher to request?
