Your post has certainly given me food for thought. In fact, when I read it the other day I decided I needed to think about my experiences as a gifted kid before I posted a response.
School wasn't a good fit for me, but I was always basically happy in general (just my personality). I remember, though, being sad when all my best friends were in the top reading group and were therefore tested for the gifted program in K and I was not. It turned out that in K I was diagnosed with a lazy eye and very bad eyesight, and when my eye problems were fixed I was immediately an excellent reader. But, I'd seemingly missed the boat with the gifted testing. For two more years I'd watch sadly as all my best friends got to go to the gifted pull-out while I did not, so in 3rd grade I told my mom that I wanted her to tell the school to test me. They did and I easily made the cut. I guess I just knew that I belonged with those people. So, it didn't occur to my parents to advocate for me until I asked them, but they did support me when I advocated for myself. (BTW: A few years later they changed the requirements for getting into the gifted program and we all had to retest, and I was the only one of my friends to still qualify.)
By the time I got to middle school virtually all my friends were 1-3 years older than me and it bothered me quite a bit that they got to take advantage of some great programs for older kids that I did not, simply because of my age. I felt like I was older and fit in with the older kids best, and I remember asking if I could skip a grade. My parents agreed that I could handle higher level work, but I had (have) a twin brother for whom that wouldn't have been a good move (probable undiagnosed LD) and so I stayed where I was. So, I just continued to hang out with the older kids, resent always being "too young," and mostly breeze through school learning no study skills whatsoever until college. However, I loved school since I knew I was good at it, and I did come through life knowing that I could become anything I wanted to do if I just put my mind to it. Still, there were definitely moments in college when I changed the course of my life because I gave up way too easily when something was a challenge (e.g., organic chemistry) because I thought that if it didn't come easily to me that I should do something else instead.
So, that has been my motivation for advocating for my HG kids. They, too, are basically happy people who don't complain about how easy things are in school for them, although they do take note of it and tell me about it. And I am not a general rabble-rouser who likes to cause trouble. But, when I saw that my kids needed more -- like when I saw I needed more -- I felt compelled to ask for it. I still hate asking for more and more each time my kids grow out of their current accommodations, but I bite the bullet and do it. I just want them to learn new things at school, to learn to put in some work, and to learn to stick with something that doesn't come easily.
Last edited by mnmom23; 12/05/10 02:59 PM.
