Ours is the brainchild of a local woman who felt the need for such a group herself and so spearheaded its creation. It's a .org.
(BTW, my mom created a similar sort of group when I was a kid, only her "baby" was a support group that also included weekly enrichment classes for GT kids: chess, drama, newswriting, mime, explosive chemistry, etc. *That* was a pretty big undertaking!) It takes dedication and commitment, but it's not really a hard thing to put together your basic support group that meets once a month if you know of a couple of like-minded parents willing to help. Lots of phone calls, follow up, and publicizing, and you've got yourself a group!
You might want to contact your state Association for Gifted Children. I think they can help you with some of the details and can help you to affiliate with the NAGC for greater impact.
Personally, I think the best part is really just having someplace to go to get questions answered, to pool info and resources, to share experiences, to learn, to network. I found out about DYS through this group. I met one of my homeschooling mentors through the group (and am mentoring a couple of people in return this year!). I learned the basics about how to read test results thanks to this group--and back before I knew Dottie, that was really important help!
I learned about state law and local policy.
Basically, pretty much everything I know about being GT in my area, I learned from this support group.
We're also trying to influence policy, though that's like pushing an elephant uphill, even locally.
But then again, in the last school board election, a couple of candidates did nod to GT issues. That was a new thing! So I think even as new as we are, we're having some influence. Baby steps...
