Local Support Groups
 If you have already set up or would like to establish a Local Parent Support Group for Parents of Gifted Children, please contact us with the details of your group and any upcoming events and we will include them here and on our News & Events Page.
Find a Support Group in Your Area:
At present we have parents from all over Ireland on our Forum looking to hook up with other families in their local area. You can register with our forum to make contact or you can also send an email to groups@giftekids.ie and we will forward to the relevant Organiser if available. Running a support group can be a daunting prospect but most groups start out simply as a means to socialise with parents and to share information and advice in an informal setting. For some advice on starting your own group you can download the Guidelines for Organising a Support Group by Dorothy Armstrong, ex IAGC Committee Member. Unfortunately Giftedkids.ie does not yet have the option of covering group meetings for public liability insurance purposes. If groups choose to meet they do so under their own personal individual insurance. Giftedkids.ie cannot take any responsibility for such meetings and have no input into their organisation, scheduling or content.
An Example of one Support Group Meeting by the Cavan/Longford/Meath Support Group
A meeting of the Cavan/Longford/Meath Support Group was held in the Hotel Kilmore, Dublin Rd., Cavan at 8.00pm on June 27th 2008. Ten members attended which is a fantastic turn out for a new support group. As one of the oganisers put it: "Personally I left the meeting buzzing, the exchanging of stories, information and laughter were a tonic. Hopefully we'll have many more meetings to come! " These are the main questions that arose and the issues discussed:
- How did you know your child was gifted?
- How do you get your child assessed?
- How does acceleration (skipping classes) work?
- How to deal with "behavioural issues" in class - arising from bored children who were unchallenged by the curriculum.
- How to deal with bullying?
- How to support quiet children who find it difficult to make friends and don't like football?
- Montessori schools and Steiner schools were discussed but were not seen as an easy option for most families due to location etc.. Small schools with a couple of teachers seemed to take more individual attention of children.
- Some parents had never heard of the term "gifted children" (didn't particularly like the label either) and felt they should not attend the meeting as their children were not "genius's" but were surprised to find themselves nodding in agreement at practically all of the characteristics.
- For some parents the DCU (CTYI) courses were an interesting option which they had never heard of.
- Practical advice for parents was hard to come by as very few people seem to understand the challenges of parenting a child of high ability. The response from a lot of people appears to be "why would you have a "problem" when they are so "brilliant"?"
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Personal Stories
"I initially felt a little nervous about meeting up with other parents, were we just going to discuss how bright our kids were? But honestly it was great craic. And such a relief to talk to others who understood the difficulties. It's great to now have a support network and even though we don't meet that often, at least I have someone on the end of the phone if I need a shoulder!"
"Personally I left the meeting buzzing, the exchanging of stories, information and laughter were a tonic. Hopefully we'll have many more meetings to come!"
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