Start as you mean to continue...unless, of course, that isn’t working anymore.
This month, we discuss strategies for spring-cleaning your advocacy goals!
Hello Gifted Guides!
We’re so glad you’re here! We’d like to extend a special welcome to all our new friends that we met last month at the CEC Convention. If you’re looking to explore the details of our Young Scholar Program, you can find that information at the end of this newsletter.
How are you doing?
Last month, we discussed the importance of finding your own approach to organization, an approach that accounts for and accommodates your neurodivergence. With those strategies in mind, this month, we’re going to talk about spring-cleaning your advocacy goals.
Where did you start? Where are you now? Don’t be afraid to ask a friend if you’re feeling a little lost!
For many students in the US, the school year is quickly coming to a close. The start of the school year, way back in Fall 2025, may feel like lifetimes ago.
In a world that is so quickly changing, it can be easy to overlook all the ways you, your gifted or twice-exceptional (2e) learner, and your advocacy have changed. As the world moves around us, it can be easy to feel as if we are still the same, and it’s everyone and everything else that’s changing.
Alas, that is rarely the case. We’re changing right along with everything else—even when the fights about screentime and finishing homework and doing chores sound well-rehearsed and never-changing.
If you and your learner are changing, it’s likely your advocacy goals and efforts need some tweaks as well.
Let’s take some time to check-in and see where you’re at now, versus the start of the school year, to see what advocacy efforts you might want to focus on moving forward.
Try asking yourself the following questions:
What were your top three Gifted Guide/advocacy goals or focuses at the start of the school year?
What advocacy efforts or accommodations have been helpful or effective? Which strategies have been less helpful or effective?
How many, if any, of those goals/focuses are still a present point of concern for you and your learner today?
If you have one or more goals/focuses that are still concerns, consider the following questions:
Has progress been made on the goals/concerns you’re still advocating about? Remember: Progress doesn’t necessarily look like you may have thought. There may be progress, even if it isn’t your preferred outcome.
If so, how do you feel about that progress?
If not, what seems to be getting in the way or preventing the progress you’re looking for?
Unsure? What would make you more sure? Can you talk to your learner or their educational team to get more information about the situation and the path forward?
If you feel like your top three goals/concerns have all been addressed this school year, pause here to celebrate! That’s a huge accomplishment. We’ll talk about what’s next in the following section.
If your goals/concerns haven’t been addressed, and you’re not ready to celebrate, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Keep reading.
Sometimes, it can be hard to be an honest judge of just how far you’ve come with your advocacy efforts. We can’t always see our progress or accomplishments. Try asking your learner, co-parent, friend, and/or educational team if they’ve noticed a change in your advocacy goals or your learner since the start of the school year. This might help to give you a more holistic idea of how things have been changing and evolving over the last few months.
An important part of this conversation is to acknowledge that sometimes the change we experience over a period of time may appear to be a setback, or maybe things really have just been stagnant over the last few months. That’s sometimes the reality of advocacy...and life in general.
If things seem to be more challenging now than before, or if things truly seem to be the exact same, that’s ok—even when it definitely doesn’t feel ok. All of this is part of the asynchrony that comes with raising, educating, supporting, and advocating for asynchronous learners.
So now that we have a basic sense of how things are going now, compared to the start of the school year, let’s figure out what you want to do next?
Where to next?
Once you reflect on the questions above and have some time to consider what’s been working and what’s been getting in the way, it may be helpful to start thinking about what changes you may want to make for your advocacy efforts and Gifted Guide work going forward.
You obviously don’t have to make all decisions now. There’s still a while to go before the next school year. But a little brainstorming now can be helpful.
Brainstorming now can help you look at your summer differently. What works and what doesn’t over summer can help you formulate your advocacy goals for the 2026-2027 school year. So, if you start this curiosity work now—doing a bit of an advocacy inventory and brainstorming what might be helpful going forward—you can be better equipped to do your Fall goal setting when the time comes later this summer.
Below are a few articles from the Davidson Gifted Blog to help you get started on your brainstorming. Depending on where you are in your Gifted Guide journey, some of the below articles may be a better fit for you in this moment than others. That’s ok. As always, take what you need and leave the rest. We hope something in these articles can be a helpful starting point for your advocacy brainstorm:
Does any of this seem like it could be helpful to read through now and maybe revisit when we get closer to the 2026-27 school year? Great!
Did it feel unhelpful but gave you a better idea of what you are and aren’t looking for? Great! Sometimes, when we’re unsure of what to do next, eliminating potential options can be a key step in finding the option that works for you.
Gifted and 2e advocacy is not a static to-do list. There is no one path. There is no one right answer. The needs of your learner, and your needs, will change and evolve, ebb and flow over time. Periodically pausing to take stock of where you’ve been and where you’d like to try going next is an important part of being a response advocate and Gifted Guide.
So much of education—and life in general—is presented to us as if there is a master path to follow to an ultimate, definitive destination. But that’s rarely the case, and it’s even less likely to be the case when you’re supporting and guiding an asynchronous, neurodivergent learner.
This month, we’re asking you to reflect a little and give yourself acknowledgement for where you’ve been and all you’ve done to get where you are. Take some time to consider what advocacy goals, tools, and strategies are still serving you and your learner and what have you and your learner outgrown. Try to approach the questions and resources in this newsletter with curiosity, as you brainstorm what could be an interesting next step to try or explore.
Conclusion
Whether this is your first issue with us or if you’ve been here since the beginning, we are grateful to be part of your advocacy community, and we’re here to support you how we can.
If you’re in one of our programs already, you know there are lots of resources for you to access via our private, member’s only website.
If you’re not currently participating in one of our programs, there is still a wealth of information and support available to you. Check out our Resource Library or our free resource guides or any of our other curated resources (like our Spotify and YouTube playlists or our Bookshop.org reading lists).
Finally, a fundamental part of advocacy is making sure basic needs—like food and shelter—are being met for both us and our learners. If you or someone you know might need extra support, findhelp.org may be a useful resource. It can also help you find organizations to support, if you’re in a position to help others.
We hope you find ways to refresh and reset your goals this month! We look forward to seeing you in May!
What’s New at the Davidson Institute?
Apply to Young Scholars!
If you’re interested in joining the Young Scholars program, you can learn more and start your application today! Get started by visiting our How to Apply page!
If you want to learn more about our program, explore our website, or register for our upcoming virtual Application Q&A. Our next Q&A is taking place on July 6 at 11 am (Pacific). Does that time not work for you? Don’t worry. If you register for the event, you’ll receive a recording of the Q&A.
Testing Opportunities – Join the Fall Waitlist!
Through our partnership with Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development, throughout the year, we are able to offer low cost, remote testing for students in grades 3-10.
This testing can be used to apply to the Davidson Institute’s Young Scholars program, along with the Davidson Academy, Reno and Davidson Academy Online.
To learn more and join the Fall testing waitlist, check out our Eligibility Assessment page today!
More Ways to Connect with Davidson...
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We’ll see you next month. Stay well, Gifted Guides!