Daniel

I had my last Bible study class for the semester this morning and I was the only one there. Okay, so Patsy, the instructor/facilitator, was there too, but it was just the two of us. As was about "a billion" (that's what Patsy said) breakfast burritos that she brought. I was really hoping to hide in the back since I hadn't really done the homework but we ended up just talking the whole time anyway. She talked to me about some struggles that she's been having and I did the same.

I had mentioned to her that Mike and I have a meeting with the psychologists and Daniel's teacher on Thursday and that I was really nervous about what was going to go on. She asked about why we were having the meeting and I told her the long, drawn out story about what's been happening at the school. I explained to her that Daniel's a highly creative, highly energetic child that just doesn't seem to fit into the school's mold. After telling her about Daniel, she went on to tell me about her 13 year old and I thought that she was describing Daniel right back to me. She said that they also went rounds with the psychologists when her son was Daniel's age. She told me about how he had a really hard time with spelling. You could go over a word with him 10 times and then immediately say to him, "how do you spell it?" and he would look at you like you had two heads. THAT IS DANIEL!!!! (teaching that boy the word "the" was a nightmare) She went on to tell me that he has all of these notebooks full of drawings and stories (also Daniel!). I almost fell out of my chair when she told me that her son is a big ball of energy and that he really didn't talk until after he was 3 and even then he was difficult to understand.

When I told her that our boys sounded exactly alike, she told me that we need to have Daniel tested for gifted education because that was her son's "problem." Seriously? I hadn't thought of that. Patsy told me that sometimes, giftedness is mistaken for ADD. Who knew? I then asked her about the reading thing. She told me that, for her son, it was just a developmental thing. One day, it just clicked for him. It also had to do with the type of learner that he is. He's not a rote memorization type of kid (neither is Daniel) and just had to figure out how reading and spelling fit in the bigger picture of things for him.

So, if it's not brought up on Thursday, I'm going to make sure it's brought up to the psychologists. Patsy told me to insist on testing. It would be pretty cool if it just turned out that he was super smart. That would make my year.

Here are some things from one checklist I found at the National Association for Gifted Children site (the ones in bold are the ones that are really really Daniel, although most fit him as well):
makes unusual associations between remote ideas
is flexible in thinking patterns
senses when problems exist
acts spontaneously, intuitively
tolerates ambiguity and uncertainty
senses inconsistencies and discontinuities
readily guesses and makes hypotheses
is uninhibited in expression, sometimes radical
is intellectually playful, interested in fantasy, imagination
always trying to adapt or improve things
has a keen sense of humor, seeing humor in situations others don't
doesn't mind being different
doesn't accept authoritarian pronouncements without own judgement
asks provocative questions, challenges parents, teachers, written and other authorities
is bored with memorisation and recitation
displays energy, sometimes disruptively
produces unexpected, sometimes "silly" responses
is considered, and perhaps resented, by some peers as "crazy"
can show unusual degrees of originality, concentration and persistent hard work on projects that capture their interest and imagination