How do gt/ld students fare at the centers? Daughter has very high IQ but also adhd, executive function issues, anxiety and related social skills deficits. She was accepted to our local hgc but we are a little nervous about sending her. High iq has compensated so far for other deficits academically -- tests well. |
I would consider sending her to a specialized school (McLean has a good program). The center is for very smart children, not suited to kids which the issues you mention (adhd, anxiety, social issues). The center is an enriched/accelerated academic program - it is not a specialized program for kids with these issues.
It is good that she has a high IQ, but the issues that will hold her back in life (and at the center or at any school) are the other issues you list. Get her the help she needs with those issues. |
I disagree with PP -- plenty of kids in HCGs with LDs. GT/LD kids deserve an appropriate education too, and if she got in, she's qualified.
Does she have a 504 or IEP in place? |
I disagree with 12:34 as well. A gifted child with LD probably will do much better at hgc than a special ed school. It is much worse if she is bored with easy academics. |
At the HGC open house we attended they made clear that all IEPs would be adhered too and that they have plenty of resources. No sense that it wouldn't be a good place. |
Could she attend a GT/LD program instead of the HGC? Have you considered the GT/LD option? We have several friends with kids at the Barnsley GT/LD program and they all praise it. |
12:34 again. I hear what the pps are saying but I stand by my statement. If your child has significant needs, a parent should address those needs first. This child has significant issues that need to be addressed by professionals in order to give the child the best chance in life. The HGC isn't a special school designed for that - it is simply an accelerated program. |
Right, but the school is under just as much of an obligation to meet her other needs as it is to meet her HG needs. |
I don't disagree that the have that obligation. It is about what I'd best for the kid. I'd want pro's who are experts in her child's issues, not a regular school that is trying to find an accommodation. It's about getting the child in the place that is best for his issues, not proving a point about who is obligated to provide what. |
PP at 12:34/14:55: "This child has significant issues that need to be addressed by professionals in order to give the child the best chance in life."
How do you know this? You don't know the child. The OP did not ask, "Where should I send my GT/LD child to school?". The OP asked, "How do GT/LD children do at the centers?". |
i know it based on the OP's original post. She listed all sorts of issues: "ADHA, executive function issues, anxiety and related social skills deficits." The OP also stated that the "high IQ" has compensated for other academic issues and said that the child "tested well." This child, based on this list, indeed has what I would call significant issues that should be addressed by professionals. I stand by that statement again. |
News flash: you can address those issues and still provide the child with accelerated opportunities. The two aren't mutually exclusive. As a parent of a GT/LD kid who thrived at the centers, I can tell you that you are weirdly off-base here. |
Why would this position bother you. Essentially, it says that putting your child in the best, most professional, expert hands when they have these significant issues is a smart decision. No one suggests that school specializing in these issues don't also offer accelerated opportunities. Perhaps it is you who has the "hang up" with a school geared toward addressing these issues. Again, McLean is a great choice. If you disagree, so be it. |
I've been thinking a lot about this post. First of all, ignore the birdbrained PP who says you shouldn't send your daughter.
I have one child who attended the HG and thrived there. He does not have LDs. I have another child who has the same issues you mention for your DD. She was waitlisted for HCG and middle school magnets and is now in middle school in a highly regarded MoCo school (sort of a Lake Woebegone place if you know what I mean). And ... it is not easy. Just because she doesn't have the enrichment of manget curriculum doesn't mean she doesn't still struggle with her ADHD etc., forget her work, get so anxious she lands in the nurse's office frequently, etc. I know that if she had gotten into the magnets, the task of managing all those complex assignments would have been really tough for her. I believe that the enriched curriculum would have been great though -- and it's not like she doesn't have the same struggles in regular MS. I think you should have your DD try it out. The teachers at HCG are good at working with kids who are already different, and there are the same supports for LDs that you get in a regular program. Your DD will struggle, but she's going to struggle anyway -- it's just as easy to overlok a boring assignment as it is an interesting one! Plus, the HCG teachers really help the kids learn to organize themselves and handle big, longterm assignments - there are lots of rubrics and supports already in place in that program, much more than in regular school. Give her the chance to experience the really exciting and enriching curriculum, and give her access to a new group of peers. She may overcome some of her social stuff -- and she won't be the only socially awkward kid there, believe me. |
Thanks for all the responses. |