I have done a lot of research on my own so information provided by our consultant was not really new to me, but for some schools resources coming from a family consultant who has worked with kids of similar ability may mean more than coming from a parent. Our family consultant offerred to give resources to our school and to talk with them, and the school is not really interested. But then there have been times when the school has asked questions about what other kids like him do for math, or what other kids have done before regarding acceleration and schooling. So that has been nice being able to actually correspond with other families and find out what they have done and what has worked (or hasn't worked) for them. And I have yet to do the seminars yet...but have heard lots of positive things.
About the privacy issue, some choose not to be listed on the database. I am not concerned about the privacy issue as I feel pretty secure in how it is set up.
I do enjoy the benefits of DYS, but for those of you who choose not to apply or if your DC is close to meeting the criteria but not close enough to get in...it isn't the end of the world. There is lots of support on this forum and plenty of other resources out there available.
