Instead of starting threads taking the piss out of G&T children why don't you all just...

[PhantomOfTheChocolateCakeAvena]

stop it. It's pathetic.

Thanks.

I do agree that the G&T classification the schools use is a pile of crap. The top 10% in one school may not be the top 10% when moved elsewhere. All children should be given the support they need to do well at school. I bet the little sod who disrupts every lesson and argues with the teacher is brighter than the ones on the G&T register! It seems unfair to single children out, especially at infant and primary school as they have so much potential, even the ones not on the G&T register. There are a load of threads going on about their child being G&T for this subject or that. Indeed parents must be proud but it's not entirely accurate. The top 10% of children in each school isn't the same as the top 5% of the population. You cant compare the 2.

So it seems your bullying (which of course is very sad and wrong) really had nothing to do with your talent making you different, did it, as it continued when you were surrounded by people with the same talent. Bullying can happen to anyone, tragically. It very often to happens to children who are vulnerable. The MAJORITY of children on the autistic spectrum are bullied. It's not because they are clever.

guy you sound like my son he still goes on about the bullying now! He is definately scarred by it. This was due to jealousy from parents also as well I feel, and they were very pushy with their children. Pushing themto try harder which then affected my son being bullied.

Mabanan of course I would like my children to be clever and academically successful.

I would not have want any of them to be prodigies however, no thank you.

They are two different things.

Also why did no one comment on the other characteristics I posted i.e. (a) perfectionism, (b) supersensitivy, (c) social isolation, and (d) sensory overexcitability

They don't to be fair sound much fun.

No-one wants to swap? Shame! I would go to bed but it's a few days before full moon and so hisnibs is up unable to sleep.

Greensleeves - it doens't mean she's happy though does it.

ever heard the phrase "victim of their own success".........

Seeker - my school was full of a lot of truly talented people - but it was a specialist music school - so it was kind of par for the course really.

But Guy says she was bullied before she showed any musical talent, and again after she went to a specialist music school. Surely that means the bullying was NOT connected with her talent? Clever kids are not the main victims of bullying. Surely we all remember that from school. The bullied kids were never attractive, sporty, socially gifted souls who happened to be clever.

Well (b) (c) and (d) go with autism as well.

That's nothing to do with being G&T - any kids can have any of the above. (b) and (d) will be helped enormously by some OT. Stop studying, get swinging and bouncing. Always better to get on and do something rather than moan about how difficult it is to be oversensitive. Put a blinking sensory integration program into place then. Like the rest of us do.

Mabanana why are autistic children so prone to bullying?

I would presume because they are different and don't have the social/language skills? May of course be wrong here and happy to be corrected.

Gomez, your report strongly suggested that very high expectations of children, and labelling them as different or exceptional was likely to give rise to many of those characteristics.

ds has supersensitivity. It's a PITA. He's also a perfectionist (most of the time) and becomes really upset if he can't do something. I do feel so sad for him sometimes as he finds it hard to understand why children behave the fickle way they do. He can see it but doesn't get it.

Sorry Jimjams none of mine are G&T or that exceptional so not what you are looking for really .

Exactly Jimjams. My son has Aspergers. Autistic kids get bullied because they have very poor social skills. They do not know how to make friends and behave oddly, with flapping, bouncing. strange compulsions, emotional immaturity and so on. My little chap is clever and do you know what? It's his saving grace. The other kids respect his intelligence and abilities and it stops him being just the weird kid and connects him with some of the most intelligent and emotionally literate kids in his class. SO it actually protects him from bullying.

Mabanana I read it the other way TBH that because the children have these characteristics it results in them have the feelings. Clearly just an exceprt and open to interpretation.

And Jimjams you are again correct - get the additional help that is needed, why ever it is needed.

no I was bullied at middle school directly because of my musical ability and the time I wanted to devote to it.

I'm leaving this thread now however, I've had a pretty shite day and don't really feel that dredging up any more memories which I'd rather forget is going to do me much good.

I've spilled my share of tears for the month (I hope) and still feeling a little sensitive so for my own sanity I'm going to find something rather boring and mundane such as cooking meatballs in the oven to talk about

So why aren't you doing a sensory integration program with him if he's supersensitive?

I had a son who couldn't wear a belt, couldn't wear a hat, couldn't walk on grass with his shoes on, couldn't tolerate the sound of a small plane high up in the sky, couldn't cope with the microwave on even when he was 2 room away, could only eat 8 items of food etc etc. I didn't leave him to live with it, we put stuff into place to help him. There's no need for any child to live with that state of sensitivity - you might not get rid of it but you can help it.

But Mabanana the reasons you describe your son getting bullied are the same reasons that oddly clever children find themselves being bullied. Can't you see that?

but if you were bullied before you started with music, and after you went to the specialist school, then it seems odd to insist it was only your talent that made you a victim of bullying. Bullying is terrible and soul destroying but I think it is wrong to suggest that being clever is a key reason for bullying.

only read op and title but i think posters taking the piss should be ashamed.these are children!would you take the piss out of under achievers?sounds like bullying to me.

Do you need a referral for that jim? ds used to flinch if he was touched (had eye contact) but is alot better now. Every bump is painful for him, he's very, very ticklish and can taste food a bit too well. I've managed to help with most of it but have hit a wall now.

Gomez, no, if they are odd, then they are being bullied for being odd, not for being clever. Odd and clever are not synonyms. Some of the most robust and successful people I know are super-clever.
The oddness of autism is different to being clever. My ds is clever AND Aspergers-odd. It is not his cleverness that has led to his being picked on in the playground. His cleverness has, however, made him more respected by his classmates.

No being clever is not a key reason for being bullied; being so fecking weirdly clever that you inhabit a different plant often is. And there is of course middle-ground where some can cope and some can't.

Any tips on developing empathy would be most appreciated aswell.

Well there's no point waiting for a referral because there aren't any OT's who do SI on the NHS. Not anywhere near me anyway. There are none that can be paid locally either.

We've done it ourself. The out of synch child book is good, anything by Stanley Greenspan, half an hour every day after bath.

I would say not fitting in causes the bullying. The anarchist who doesn't follow orders is boud to hae problems for example. The more we label these children, the more they stick out.