I would guess that about 1 in 10 kids are just too gifted for the full time gifted programe. But it could be some thing else - who knows? Being a smart female has been hard in some places and times - perhaps even in the place and time you were in.
I think that the female thing WAS part of it. But I also had(have) a significant LD, and I think the GLD thing was really, really, really badly understood.
More than either of those, though, I think the problem was that I'm naturally a radical (literal sense), and inovative thinker. I remember one "lateral thinking" excercise in grade 11 where I got sent to the office to get me out of class (like they do with kindergardeners), becasue my thinking was just too lateral and the five teachers in the room couldn't handle me. In retrospect, I was highlighting pretty clearly the wooly-headedness of the course designers (not the teachers in the school) because my solutions were much easier, faster, and better, and DIDN'T illustrate what they were trying to get across.
I find it very interesting that your distrust of one institution spread to institutions in general. Even as a group 2er, I had a certian amount of this.
Most institutions -- not quite all.
Institutions are easy targets, because they really *can't* do everything right. I certainly don't disagree with the opinions I formed in that erra, I just have a bit more sympathy for the poor institutions. Funny how many smart people are anarchists.
Bottom line - it is really hard to trust, or at least to play along to see is trust is possible. Good luck. I have a wonderful feeling about this 'turn of the wheel.'
And I HAVE learned that "playing along" is often the better solution. Wish me luck on that today. I'ma gonna need it.
-Mich
PS: thanks for the "fix" before the scary thing
