mrsjones....Interesting that Joshua is being mainstreamed at the same age I was, although I was mainstreamed to second grade rather than first grade. That he is doing well in learning and excelling in math is terrific (I sucked at math tho). What really makes me happy is that you say that "he's got a lot of people that cares for him at school"; hopefully these include peers? I can tell you that my second grade was a living hell because among my peers, I was the weirdo, I was the one who did things very oddly, I had no friends, I didn't know how to make friends, I didn't know how to play games or do anything without letting people down, I was very sensitive to their differences, and I was teased and mocked and bullied constantly. Second grade and fifth grade were the most depressing years of my childhood, as I had no friends and was so shy and resentful towards other people. I had close friends in third and fourth grade (the happiest years of my young childhood), but those friendships did not last the year. In fifth grade, I had no one to socialize with on the playground so I regressed to my self-stimming activities I did back in preschool, which REALLY made me seem weird to other kids. So I think it may be better these days, at least I hope, for many kids in my situation who are at least understood better by teachers and whose peers hopefully are more able to accept their differences or know what their challenges are. Anyway, having things he is good at will be great for his self-esteem. I have an essay I wrote in English class in summer school after sixth grade where I reflected on my friend from third grade and how heart-broken I was when she stopped being my friend. And I said that to fill my loneliness I turned to my many interests in science, noting: "Brightness is a companion, one that can never go away." I believe that. I still grew up with a terrible self-esteem tho.
I was (and am) so intense with my interests. Good that he has things that keeps his mind excited and intrigued. :)
