I’m a (probably profoundly) gifted and possibly neurodivergent parent to a diagnosed gifted and neurodivergent daughter. Looking back, I was always incredibly uncomfortable at school because I was so different. I was often praised for those differences (so well behaved! the smartest kid in the school!), but there was a constant message that I was different. There was constant sensory overload, and there was constant frustration at learning the same f-ing thing every year that should have taken like a week to learn.
I didn’t understand that this feeling was so uncomfortable until I got older - the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve been able to choose environments where people are more like me: AP classes, elite college and grad school, and finally a fancy job.
But now my kids are in public grade school, and I see them so uncomfortable in an environment not built for them. It’s even worse now because they don’t have gifted classes or any outlet outside the confusing, slow moving chaos of their classrooms.
It’s so painful to see them go through this. I know I can’t afford private 2e school. There are no 2e program, and our district ended gifted programs. the ICT classrooms are really for kids with behavioral problem, not neurodivergence.
I guess I’m just looking for advice or commiseration. How do you handle the pain of watching your kids grow up in a world that wasn’t built for them?