Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Non-Gifted Parents/Gifted Environment-Xperience?

I was gifted as a child, and with all seriousness I believe I have lost it as an adult.

I find some posts overwhelming (especially as I am more mathy than wordy); and some posts, I find, are a bit aggressive. I enjoy intellectual conversations with my friends, but with strangers in a forum at one in the morning? No, thanks! Give me something a little more down to earth lol.

I feel very very grateful that I'm HG/HG+.

I have no idea how I'd be able to effectively parent a child like my DD otherwise. It would be terrifying, I think-- like being responsible for correctly raising a space alien. How would you even recognize what they need if they can't tell you what the problem is?

I have seen it mentioned (in another forum) that this forum has an Aspie vibe (her choice of words-not mine), I think that poster meant to say is what I think you're trying to say, that this forum isn't the friendliest place on the internet. Several people in that thread agreed with her. I disagree, but I have occasionally seen that said. The other two gifted forums that I know of are the well trained mind homeschooling forum, and mothering dot com attachment parenting forum. I think the other this one's more down to earth. (even though I participate and like them).

It's cool when I see a word or concept I don't know. I ask Mr. Google, "computer, Define moral terpitude."

All I've seen anyone here say is if you like it here and find it useful then you belong and are welcomed.

For the most part, this forum has been amazing. Truly, I have learnt more about giftedness here since joining than I have in my whole life. I am very thankful to those who have taken the time to answer my many posts

I don't think anyone can speak for the community as a whole, but I think that gifted parents are acutely aware of the problems associated with growing up gifted, having experienced many of those problems first hand. When gifted parents have gifted children, they often want to conquer those problems. That desire is one of the driving forces for joining message boards such as this.

I do believe that the gifted are over-represented here compared to the general population, and I think discussion of some shared experiences brings people together. I don't think there's any intention of excluding the non-gifted.

Having said that, it can be rare for gifted people to find others with whom they can really be themselves. With such a high percentage of gifted posters here, I think some are inclined to open up, and take advantage of opportunities for conversations with other gifted people. Those conversations can be different from what the non-gifted are used to seeing and participating in.

So.., what about your son? Do you just want to see what's "normal" for young gifted kids or are you just worried about doing the best job raising him? Are you comparing schooling options? May I assume your husband has a gifted family, or some in your family and not others? Do you feel confortable talking to any gifted family members about giftedness. My own family was raised in the few generations that swore "giftedness isn't everything" literrally means you should pretend to ignore it. But they're willing and open now to talk with me about the things I'm learning are realated between giftedness and daily life, many of which they obviously know. But, you know, it used to not be something you talk about.

i'm really, really new here and i often feel shy about posting. until this year, i had been living in a pleasant bubble of denial about my kid until she ran into major school problems in Pre-K. my first post was a cris-de-coeur about how i'd gone to talk to the school about her extreme apathy/depression/desire to quit school - and instead of making constructive suggestions, they accused me of helicoptering/pushing. i desperately needed perspective.

since i apparently couldn't talk to the school frankly, and i couldn't talk to other parents frankly, i did a bunch of research and eventually wound up here. aside from my kid's awesome psychologist, this is the only place i've found where the population treats my reality as, well, reality.

whether i'm gifted or not gifted - this is the one place i never feel crazy.

At which point an intelligent search engine says "Where the HECK did you learn to spell THAT??" Or offers hits which include local coffee shops.



(I'm commenting since it was originally my egregious misspelling, and since I was being cheeky at the time-- though clearly none too alert-- I cut-and-pasted that misspelling for a hat trick of hilarious affront to the English language, since it was-- of course-- immediately quoted. Hilarious affront to the English language is probably what 'terpitude' means, if I had to choose, which I probably do since the word I actually meant was turpitude. LOL! )

I like KJP's breakdown as well. I actually enjoy the policy threads/ data discussion threads, though I read them much later than when people talk about it. So, I don't post on those, though I find them fascinating.

I usually come here to read the parent advocacy threads/seek advice for my kid's issues.

[ quote ] Side note: Maybe KJP can teach us all how to use the search feature here effectively. I have to google to find old threads. [/quote]

Not KJP, but I find the search feature immensely helpful. Just click on "Advanced Search" on the top left hand corner and enter your search criteria

http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/search.html