Rosie,
My son is 12 and in 8th grade (peers are 13 and 14)
I noticed that the minute his classmates entered puberty, that all the objectionable behaviors that drove the teachers crazy when he was younger, started being accepted as 'Well, Hormones, you know.'
Of course my son has learned a lot about how to manage himself over the years, but it seems that as ND kids (what expression do you use for 'Normally Developing'?) start wanting more respect and autonomy and becoming more aware of the bigness of the world, and less aware of 'did I bring a pencil to class' they make a much better camouflage for my kid. I wonder if what gets attributed to puberty is more a matter of learning to handle onself in public while being 'self-aware, and distracted by a much larger picture.'
I hope I'm being fair to ND kids, as I don't have a whole lot of experience here. But I am thinking that a newborn is developmentally programmed to only see a little bit, and just what she needs to bond and nurse. I have great respect for ND and think it's a very beautiful thing. ((Although I do wish there was more know about this particular path of 'Alternative Development' so that the parenting advice I've gotten from people expecting my kid to be ND would have worked and we would have been less 'blamed' for it not working.))
Anyway, I'm generalizing, which I have no business doing, as I certianlly know many very gifted adults who are great in a specific area, but still wouldn't qualify as 'self-aware' in my book. Just wondering if we can push the known world's boundries out a bit.
Ginity
Last edited by Grinity; 12/12/08 04:48 AM.
