Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy can DYS break thru a wall of misunderstanding?

I spoke with DS9's principal yesterday trying to make some progress in advocacy. I thought I will just talk to her and try to clarify some things before I get my first DYS FC conversation so I know wht to work on.

I wanted to see what would help the school understanding DS's needs and possibally what options she might be open to- online course, pretesting, ect. Then I could proceed with researching and presenting options. I told her maybe I just have not explained the situation well enough. She said I have had frequent communications with the school and we have gone over all of this. I think the teachers are very caring and would help if it's not too hard.

What is the point of researching online courses if they would only find a different text book acceptable? It seems like we just kept going round in circles. It seemed like so much of the time was trying to clarify what the other is saying we didn't get anywhere. At one point in the conversation, she say oh I thought he was a 120 IQ kid. I said there is a big difference in ability between 120 and 140 and they have different needs. But this is really about challenging him with appropraite work not a number.

On two occassions the school has said to me we have never had anybody else like this here. The principal even said she was willing to learn something new but she could not make it perfect. This sounds good. But it does not seem like she means what she is saying. They act like they understand his needs/ability but I don't agree. During our converstation, I tried very hard to clarify what the school would want to help them understand his needs. Will they relate to the EXPLORE? Somehow again, we circled and I was without an anwser. The principal said she has experience with gifted but I don't think she has the right experience to understand. I didn't get my objectives covered.

Do you think it's possible to break thru this wall of not understanding with DYS? The school has been flexible in giving some accommidations, with some thoughtful considerations but it is clear this is not their area of expertise. The Principal said, "she doesn't know what else she can do for me, we need to move on and the teachers are already streching them selves with DS. I feel like I didn't get anywhere and infact made it worse. Principal will talk to GT and teacher again and let them know my concerns. I think this will only make them feel less appreciated.