Originally Posted by polarbear
Originally Posted by ljoy
Every time I try to put my square-peg DD12 into the round-hole public school, we end up with a new round of testing to prove that there's something wrong with her. When she leaves, the need for diagnosis magically disappears.
...I probably haven't explained this well, but as a parent of two children who are both intellectually gifted and also have disabilities, it's simply not the same thing as saying "my child doesn't fit here therefore I should test for a disability". My kids' issues extend outside the classroom, outside any classroom, and they don't go away just by finding them a gifted classroom or better overall intellectually challenging classroom.

I do understand. In our case, DD needs more time for everything. Lots more time. In our schools, she manages perfectly average to slightly below grades if she works three times as long as the other kids, so we have to prove that this is actually a disability so she can be accommodated. We have to demonstrate below grade level performance. Outside, the teachers see how much she struggles and are able to give her the time she needs without the labels; the disability doesn't go away, it just stops requiring a label.