Not only do people argue this with a straight face, but they tell parents who are looking for an appropriate education for their children that there is something wrong with trying to provide an appropriate education. Yet many people argue that kids who have mastered a subject at school should be educated exactly the same as the other children. No one argues that talented musicians should be stuck in orchestras with beginners until they hit the age of 18. No one argues that kids with athletic ability should not be allowed to play on more competitive teams in order to maximize their learning of their sport. And sometimes that means that you do, in fact, ask for “special privileges” for your child. What I do want to point out is that no matter what word you use, when you have a child who is different from the norm, you need to raise the child you got to the best of your ability. (And if you don’t, read about it here and here.) I’m not going to debate the ill-chosen word “gifted” here – given that I refer to it as if it’s a swear word, I suspect you know what I think of it. And just as parents of developmentally disabled kids got a package that they need to accept whole and raise as best they can, parents of gifted kids have to accept and raise their children to the best of their ability. It’s not our fault, nor can we take credit for it. There is very little understanding out in the wider community of families that those of us with kids like this just got the kids we got. You’re just pushing him – let him have a “normal” childhood.You’re just saying that to pump up your own ego.Parents of gifted kids hear all manner of nasty things, including (but not limited to): Not so when it comes to gifted children, however. Though parents sometimes grumble about other parents wanting “special privileges” for their developmentally disabled children, in general we all abide by the rule of not criticizing the parents for the child they got. Every decent person learns to accept, at the least, and hopefully cherish the child for his or her own self. While the parents learn to reset their expectations and raise the child they got with love and compassion, the people around them get a quick education in valuing individual human lives. Before we had children, my husband and I thought that the G-word (“gifted”) was funny at best, elitist and misguided at worst.Īnyone who has a developmentally disabled child knows that their child is different, sometimes from the day that child is born.
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