March 5th

Wow! It is hard to realize that I finished the job I came to do. It is kind of a big blur. But I thought I would tell you how the conferences went yesterday. The family with the young gifted young lady was pleased that she tested into the gifted range and can pursue her goals. The mother was also relieved because she has a greater understanding who why she can't comprehend her thirteen year old child at times. The girls verbal IQ is 146 - the gifted range starts at 130. The parents were glad that their child actually had the capability to pursue the dreams she has. Speaking of dreams, one of the questions I asked this young girl on the test was how are reality and dreams alike. She said well they both hope to become the other - dreams hope to become reality and reality then hopes to become a greater dream to invision more in life. The funny part is that the test did not have then answer listed as one of the options so I had to give her a lower score. Too much. :-) The other family I met with lives in Croatia and has three boys - one is ADHD hyper type, another is ADHD inattentive type, and the last a strong-willed boy with high potiential. The dad is also ADHD. The twins, ADHD inattentive and Strong-willed have speech problems and all three have eye-hand coordination issues which hinders their writing. The twins are in the Croatian schools and being taught in that language. There were so many issues that the mother did not know where to focus. So she was pleased to know that all the boys are smart and they need to be challenged - not given pity. That only encourages them to whine and make excuses. So I helped her create a list of priorities that need to be dealth with. Then I gave her a book for ADHD parenting. I will also look for some means for her to support the poor eye-hand coordination problems in a country that does not address such things. In facts the schools are so poor that the boys only go to school 1/2 day and the teachers sends the rest of the work home for the mother to do in the afternoon. I just hope that the mother felt relieved by some of the information and ideas I was able to provide. She is really a dear person with a big load. Must go to breakfast. More later.