Hi Everyone:

WARNING LONG!� but please read�

I am the mother of four. My #3 DS I believe is gifted.
He read at 2 � (started reading street signs) and has always been �way out there".
Examples: 1st grade all on his own initiative he memorized the reproductive system.
2nd grade started grafting blood types and antigens. Friendships have been very difficult for him even though he is VERY social. He is so "out there" that his father comes home gets on the computer to "study" before they talk (dad is a Physician).

My husband always wanted to put him in "special" school for high learners. I fought it; I wanted him in our neighborhood. He told me he would get bored but I figured as long as he kept studying on his own he would be fine. DS is now 10 (April) and just finished the 4th grade. His social skills are good, friendships are still tough. I tried to teach him to "listen" to what other kids are interested in, and then learn about it� then you will have something to talk about.
Well he did...it didn't work. NASCAR...he memorized all the divers, sponsors and who and how the cars are built. He knows all the tracks and what speed and air drafts that makes the car go faster.
He knows how big the tracks are and the angle they are built which contributes to the speed and (something)�you get the picture. The other boy, he just likes Jeff Gordon.
Then there was Airplanes...That didn't work either. He knew every plane when it was built who built it and when the companies merged. He can look up in the sky at a plane and tell you the year and model and who made what on it�again the other boy thought they were cool.
Ships...WWII...You probably understand more than anyone.

He is constantly reading...In the morning the FIRST thing he does is grab books. The last thing I tear him away from is his computer (research). I had to take the parental guard off the computer so he can do his "research".

The reason I am here...I feel like I have failed him and I don't know if it's too late. I have been reading this board for a week. I have been reading EVERYTHING. I know he is gifted� kids just don't act like this not at 10. His 3rd grade teacher came up to me last year and told me kids in "3rd grade just don't know what he knows"

How I failed him... I have never held any weight on standardized testing. My oldest used to test off the charts on the SAT9/10. He hated school and learning. I don't ever remember him even bringing homework home. He graduated college with 2 degrees at 21... He hated school. What the test told me was nothing he had no interest in going to Grad School. When testing came up�pfft who cares about that.

DS10 LOVES to learn he is like a sponge...he can't get enough. He is constantly complaining of being bored. He has had straight A's every quarter in school since he started except handwriting...that is agony for him. He is not very athletic and of course that does not help him socially.

The only testing he has ever had is the ITBS and that is done in the beginning of the school year usually within the first month of school. The public schools do the test in May.
Again, I never held water with those tests and when I received them I placed them in a drawer�until about 2 weeks ago.
The reason I picked this school was they started offering advance math in 5th grade. I was hoping that would give DS10 the challenge he was looking for. YEA, except he did not qualify. I was shocked� WHAT? He was the only one in two classes who passed his Multiplication (taken the first week school started) and division (first week in Oct) tables in the first try, they get 100 questions and they have to finish all 100 in < 5 mins with a 70 % or better. He got a 99 on Multiplication and a 98 on his division.
He has had NOTHING but straight A�s in Math�YES BUT he scored a 49 on his ITBS test in September.
I was like REALLY??? You are joking right...Nope even though 2 children that STILL haven�t passed their tables got in. DS is confused and devastated. So I pull out the two test he has taken (3rd & 4th grades)
And she was right he scored 49 in September BUT he scored almost 40 points higher on it last year.
AND he is the high 90�s in Science (both years) and SS. Do they really take a week and PIN it on a kid?
They see what this kid is like� What about his GRADES and the fact every kid failed area and parameter but he got 102% on the exam. Of course he learned it from you tube because the teacher couldn�t explain it.
Let�s not mention he takes his anatomy cards out to understand an episode of �House� so he can understand the differential diagnosis�s�really?

So now I have a stagnate kid who has been stifled and is shutting his systems down like a BAD space flight (his words). I don�t know what to do. Like I said he is #3 out of 4. My children are all bright, but he is "out there"�and I am losing him, he is way too smart for me. He challenges his father to a point where he says he is going to pay his cousin to �play with him� (Rhodes Scholar).

He constantly and I mean CONSTANTLY talks about all this stuff he teaches himself.
BUT mom never placed emphasis on testing. Both his older siblings did fine on their SAT�s; ACT�s and got accepted to every school they applied. Why should I care about a 3rd or 4th grade test on a kid who makes them look like special Ed.

What can I do? How can I turn this around? DS does not want to change school. We did this between 2nd & 3rd grade and he has such difficulty with friendships�But I understand, because I am his mother and I love him and he makes me nutty with the constant flow of information he feeds me.
I know he had trouble with �bubble� testing at the beginning of the year. He is also not very organized.
He always answers questions before you can even get the question out�not good. And his listening skills are getting worse. HELP !!!

If you are still reading�Thank you. I am completely desperate. Where do I start?