Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Hi, better late than never

Even though I've already started posting I thought it was about time I gave some background information.

I have two children, DD17 and DS16. DD has just finished high school(Year 12) and is awaiting her Higher School Certificate results which are due next week (tense times in our house LOL, which university will she go to???). DD is extroverted and has a great sense of humour. She was subject accelerated without testing and it has never been done. In 2006 she was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease following surgical intervention. In hindsight it was probably present for two years prior to that. She has been in remission since 2006 due to the combined effects of surgery and medication. Unfortunately the side effects of the surgery are ongoing and they impact significantly on her day to day functioning. Before her surgery she was very competitive and driven, afterwards less so. They say when you have a life altering experience your outlook on life changes and that's what happened. Having said that she copes exceptionally well and I really admire her ability to rise above it.

DS is HG/PG, he is introverted, shy and very driven.He is also passionate about sport. Grade acceleration was offered but he was adamant he didn't want this, choosing subject acceleration instead. He has just completed year 10 and his School Certificate. He is also studying preliminary physics (year 11) and has just completed his first year of university part time (mathematics). He is awaiting his results which are due on Thursday and Friday (lets add a little more tension into the household!!!).

Anyway that's the story thus far, with lots of humps and hollows getting to this point, thanks for listening.

Welcome Matmum,
thanks for introducing me to your family! Your children sound lovely. I'm sorry to hear about your DD's medical issues.

I'm glad to hear that your DS figured out how to get the subject accelerations he needed without having to give up sports with agemates! Go DS! Being serious about sports or scholarships are very good reasons to leave the base grade alone.

Good luck waiting out the test results. I'm wondering that if DD doesn't do as well on her Certificate results as you expect, are there folks who do IQ testing and give advice to make sure her results are a good overall reflection of her abilities/potential? In the US the transition into and out of college are key times for getting paid advice and IQ/achievement testing is often part of that.

Anyway, keep us posted and a great big welcome to you!

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Thanks Grinity.

Not sure about the the paid advice but there is an Educational Access Scheme that she has applied for. It essentially adds a few marks to the cut off needed to get into courses, so we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Welcome matmum!

Thought I would officially welcome you. Your children sound wonderful. I've never heard of Crohn's Disease so I had to look it up. Given what your DD has gone through, I'm not shocked that she slowed down in motivation but still impressive for what she has accomplished.

I'm sure you will be a great addition to the board and have advise for those of us coming up the ranks with our youngsters. Looking forward to reading more of your posts!

UPDATE!
DD17 received her HSC results yesterday and she had strong scores for most subjects. Her ATAR (australian tertiary admission rank) came today and she has the mark she needs to attend the university she wants. YAY!

We were also fortunate that she received a scholarship offer, at her school presentation night, from the same university. YAY again!

I am just so happy for her (I think I could cry ) after all she's been through over the last few years.

Yay! Congratulations!

Thanks everyone for your kind messages and thoughts, they are very much appreciated.