[Oz-gifted] great IQ article in today's SMH

[Michelle Gabriel]

Hi Rosie,
I think that not "all" gifted associations don't do anything.  The thing
is the QAGTC in Qld is a volunteer organisation and it is only as good
as its volunteers (as is I'd say most of them in the rest of the country
- but I'm only guessing on that one).  So really the only way for them
to improve in what they do and what they can offer is if they have the
right type of volunteers to do that. What the associations need is more
gifted people involved and big business to realise that if they were
involved that this could be of benefit to them in the future as well.

I am not in the same situation as you, my children are not profoundly
gifted they are gifted/ld and I'm middle class, thanks to the hard work
of my father and mother. (Dad wasn't middle class in the beginning he
was made to leave school at 13 to work in the family pub even though he
had got a scholarship and wanted to become a doctor - his mum felt he
was more needed at the pub).  But I do try to help the kids that I know
of in this realm in our area.  We have found 3 schools in our area that
are willing to be proactive towards gifted kids and those that are
profoundly gifted they are trying to bend over backwards to accommodate.
But they are wary as well but they are at least trying. (Yes, they are
private schools - but two are willing to look at scholarships).  One is
also looking at offering university subjects in the school environment.
So there are those that are trying to help.

We are starting to make in roads into schools.  Our branch has decided
to play the game a little differently I suppose.  We look at the state
body as doing the Macro work and our job as doing the Micro.  Thus while
they are starting from the top down, we are starting from the bottom up.

I suppose we find that the many of the parents that come to us for help
are either those with gifted/ld kids (the ones that the schools find it
hard to understand) or the profoundly gifted for the same reason.  

We have started workshops for the kids be it only in primary school, we
have started a parents support group and we have started a teacher
support group. We run information nights twice a year and next year we
will be visiting all the primary schools in the area to find out what
they are doing and if we can be of help to them to put programs in
place.

We are starting to have contact with Uni's in the area too to see if we
can start a dialogue with them.  The thing is as we are volunteers, many
of us hold down full time jobs as well as being parents of gifted kids
as well, so there is just so much time in the day to do all this. 

I think the biggest problem is when you have advocated for your own
children it is very tiring.  So when you have the possibility to
advocate for others most of us haven't the energy left to do so. There
are some up here who have been advocating for 20 years or more.  I don't
know if I'll have the stamina to continue that long.

I agree we all need to work together, and I feel that at least by some
working from the top down and others working from the bottom up
hopefully we will meet somewhere in the middle that will create the
environment that is suitable for gifted children.

It is very difficult when you do have a child that is so different from
the norm that others find it hard to comprehend their needs financially
or academically.  

I know what we are doing at the moment probably won't help Brendan.  But
some of us are doing things, and trying to do them in the way we
perceive as helpful.  

It is a long haul and we all have different perceptions of what is right
and with what you are doing and Brendan is doing is also chipping away
at the difference.

Good luck with Uni.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a scholarship
out there for people under 16 who are at university?  There would only
be a couple that they would have to fund - I wonder about Microsoft or
the Jupiter's Foundation. Some times it's the ones outside the box that
don't exist at the moment that may be interested in doing something
different.

Cheers 
Michelle Gabriel
Gold Coast Qld