My Twice Baked Potato

Things were quickly changing at our house and we had more questions than answers about the intensity and frequency of tantrums.   We decided to take my sister’s advice and get his IQ tested.   This would be the first of many evaluations in 2 years.

As the therapist shares my TBP IQ test results, I experienced mixed emotions.   Yes, it was confirmed what we expected.  He was bright.  Super bright.  Despite bombing one section, my TBP scored in the superior range.

This is great news, right?

The therapist continued by sharing a list of private schools in the area that specialized in gifted education.  She spoke as if there was no other choice BUT private school.  This is when the pit in my stomach started to form.

As I imagined my family eating nothing but ramen noodles to pay for this expected private school, the therapist continued.  She began to educate us about the unflattering characteristics of many highly gifted children.  Controlling, negotiator, argumentative, and an overly inflated view of ones importance were all characteristics that she believed my son possessed.

She ended the appointment by suggesting that we find a good family therapist.  She assured us that should be our next step. She said that parenting this type of child was very challenging and demanding.  As she handed all of the papers to us, she made a face.  You know the kind when someone feels bad about the battle that you are about to fight and they think you are not prepared!

A couple of things happened because of that appointment ( after we had rehashed the news and her delivery). We realized that parenting our son was going to be a wild ride.  We would need to quickly educate ourselves.  We realized that we would need to advocate for him in a way that we weren’t expecting.  There was a reason why we were exhausted and often feeling incompetent. This confirmed that it had not been our imagination and he was challenging.  I found myself thinking about the famous quote, “with great power comes great responsibility!” My TBP needed us and he was counting on his parents not to fail!

This was the beginning.  We now knew he was gifted, but still didn’t know about all of the extreme behaviors.  We also had no understanding of the twice exceptional part…yet.