What's Your Place?

Post Reply New Topic

From early childhood, you are assessed, your ability is sorted. Teachers and caretakers set your place and help form your basic attitudes.

Most people are put in the mainstream; they take normal classes with normal people. Some people have developmental, learning, emotional/behavioral, or physical disabilities that warrant their placement in special education, where their specialness is reinforced as they go to and fro on the short bus. The eggheads, those who shall one day rule from their haughty ivory towers, are placed on the accelerated track, in gifted programs. Wealthier school districts may even be able to afford distinctions within these three great estates.

Basically, though, I want to know what estate you belonged to. Were you a member of the peasant mainstream, the servile special eds, or the high-and-mighty gifties?

I am a giftie, high and mighty.

Whahahaaaaa

As gifted as I probably am, mainstream guy am I.

I was all three at some point.

My school doesn't have a gifted program, but I have always taken accelerated and advanced science, math and history classes, so I guess that would probably count as gifted. On the other hand, in elementary school, I had to go to a speech therapy class and some type of social help class.

Gifted. Though my schools never offered either special ed or gifted classes. But my schools were always doing advanced material.

In 8th grade we did a nation-wide test and scored in the 94th percentile. 99 battery score was the highest one could score and most of us, instead of comparing the 99s (since we'd all gotten them-- well, many) we counted up and tried to beat each other with how many 100s we had received in the individual categories.

Not everyone was the highest of achievers in our class, but most of us were really smart. One of the laziest and jerkiest guys in our grade received the most 100s, hehe. We were all very surprised.

Gifted, but I'm lazy and take the normal classes and such.

I am special, but not so much that I mean to sound arrogant. I am normal, and a mainstream middle-class person.

Gifted, did the accelerated learning programs (no teachers, we had "mentors") all advanced placement classes

I guess I was like gifted bordering on special. Did some time in mainstream public school (was in a gifted group for most of grade school) but also had my share of special schools to go to, including my Pre-K at age 2 1/2. And very rarely was I ever put on a yellow bus.

I'm intelligent, and good at a broad spectrum of subjects, but only mainstreem good at most.
I'm better at biology, but I wouldn't call myself gifted.

My gifts are spacial art and crafts.

I'm in no way "special needs" and to be catergorised as that would be a huge insult.

I started school in the special ed, but I graduated from HS in the gifted program. In between, I was mainstreamed. I put down "Gifted" in the poll, but I have been through all three.

My scholastic history k-12, in order, all mainstream expect in parantheses:

First Grade (two weeks or less)
Kindergarten (the remainder of that year- skipping me was a baaaad move)
first grade (expelled halfway through)
second grade (gifted program at certain times of day)
third grade- all gifted
1/2 year of fourth grade
other half of year fifthe grade (skipped)
6-8 different school but mainstream
8-9 (halfway through 8th grade year this happened I think)- schools in a residential treatment program (where I also lived)
9-11 same school as seventh grade, but because the residential school was crappy, I was held back academically despite having enough credits
12 (a year ahead again, actually my 11th grade year academically but 12th by credits)- three schools. The first was christian and small and didn't want me to graduate because they felt I wasn't "ready." The second was mainstream and all my classes were in the monring and I slept through them. The third was for kids in danger of dropping out. I am now their poster child. Junior in college in the honors program and pshi chi and the dean's list the last two semesters.

Oh, and all that mismash I switched schools 12 times k-12, I believe. Or as many as 15 depending on what you count.

Gifted but wasted it

I went to six schools, all mainstream, half government, half private, the last being extremely alternative. I am gifted, but my anxiety and my Aspergers pull me down. I skipped up to year 9 for two weeks, but I had just got out of hospital and couldn't cope, so I changed schools and did hardly any work at all (getting there was hard enough!). Perculiar creature, aren't I? So I suppose technically my being gifted and disabled evened out (well they didn't, but anyway) and I got mainstreamed!