Your child is identified as a gifted student - the student has a Gifted IEP - and you consider yourself very knowledgeable
about Pennsylvania's gifted education system; you believe that your child is doing 'okay'.
Parents in this group
consider themselves well-versed on both Pennsylvania's gifted ed regulations and their child's giftedness. They tend
to believe that, while the district could do 'more' to help their child, they are not sure whether 1) that's necessary
and 2) how they would go about asking the district to do 'more'. Some parents in this group worry that if they asked
for something 'more' or 'different', they risk causing a problem for the child.
There are some simple steps described
on this site which allow you bring what you know about your child and share that your child's GIEP meetings.
You can participate constructively as part of the Gifted IEP team to make your child's plan meet their needs.
First,
review the more general information regarding gifted education. Read this material from a general 'new to gifted' perspective.
Reconsider what it means based on your experience. Links to the Parents Guide to Special Education for Gifted and their Frequently
Asked Questions page are provided below.
Concepts like 'reasonable calculation' and 'meaningful benefit' are important
to remember as the GIEP team creates a gifted, individualized educational plan that you know, rather than suspect, is
appropriate for your gifted child.
