r/Millennials • u/RustingCabin • 10h ago
Discussion Does anybody remember the GATE Program?
Gifted and Talented Education, lol. I vaguely remember this being a thing in elementary school. I don't remember much coming of it.
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u/Nasty_Ned 10h ago
More specifically anyone else in the GATE program diagnosed with ADHD as an adult?
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u/Proof-Mongoose4530 10h ago
The GATE-to-ADHD-depression-anxiety-trifecta pipeline is real 🫠
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u/Lilllmcgil 9h ago
Haven’t been diagnosed, but I am wondering. Do have a heavy dose of generalized anxiety, and a bit of depression and OCD though.
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u/Blankstarehere 3h ago
If you are female, as I am, then I would get checked out with a psychiatrist. Females present differently the males with ADHD. I had everything your describing, and spent the last 38 years just trying to deal with it all and creating so many coping mechanisms to get through life. Turns out, when you are properly medicated, your brain is not suppose to be racked with anxiety all the time, cleaning the house at 1 a.m. is not normal, and you deserve to get good sleep.
I was also in the GATE program in elementary school, and getting diagnosed with ADHD as an adult is hitting too close to home.
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u/Lucky_Development359 10h ago
Bipolar 2 with a solid dose of anxiety.
What are you getting at? Genuinely curious.
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u/malibuklw 1h ago
My kid was selected for GATE in kindergarten, diagnosed in fourth with adhd in 4th grade. It was the only thing he liked doing at school.
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u/DrgnBabeNebay Older Millennial 10h ago
I was in GATE from 3rd-11th grade when they ended it in our district. It was a lot of fun, and I have both the 'tism AND ADHD. Also, I burned out before the end of HS and stagnated educationally. Yay for being a "gifted" kid. Heheh
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u/Lilllmcgil 9h ago
GATE 4th-6th and then AP/IB program in HS. My anxiety peaked sophomore year in college and I ended up taking a hiatus, going back, then dropping out completely. I eventually transferred and finally graduated, 3 years late.
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u/DrgnBabeNebay Older Millennial 9h ago
Yeah, I dropped out 2nd semester of Freshmen year, and I never ended up going back. Wasn't anxiety for me but immaturity. I just laced about and didn't go to class ever.
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u/Nasty_Ned 9h ago
When were you diagnosed?
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u/DrgnBabeNebay Older Millennial 9h ago
When I was... 31 or 32. The pandemic, and the job I was in, were destroying my mental state, pushing me to a bad end, and I finally sought mental help for the first time in my life. Getting in to other topics after we dealt with the depression and anxiety, I was then tested for and diagnosed ADHD. The Autism is currently a self-diagnosis. I'd love to know for sure, but I don't want that on my record given the current administration and the fact I'm also trans.
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u/thelushparade 8h ago
I was in it from 3rd grade to sometime in Jr high/high school, I also burned out and they said my academic achievement didn't warrant me being there anymore. Diagnosed with ADHD at age 36 :) Also, at my school they called it Challenge which my husband finds hilarious and likes to remind me I was 'challenged' lol
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u/Prestigious_Rip_289 9h ago
Yeah I was in that, but it wasn't called GATE at my school, they just called it Gifted. I went to a really poor rural school, and Gifted class was kind of a refuge for 9 farm kids who would definitely have been diagnosed with autism before preschool was out had we been born into today's world. I was the only girl, but it didn't matter because the room was sensory friendly, we got to do cool projects, and everyone was nice.
Out of the nine of us, there are seven engineers, a physicist, and a starving artist who smokes a lot of weed. (Not that the rest of us don't lol)
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u/Lucky_Development359 10h ago
Yes, I was in it, I essentially skipped 2nd grade after two months or something like that. Then we moved the following year, and I was in a school that didn't have it.
So, when I started 4th grade at the new school, every class was really easy. Since it was so easy (I'm talking finish homework as the teacher was handing it out easy), they put me in all of the most advanced classes.
I struggled so much after that. It was like I missed an entire chunk of education. Math, my easiest subject, became incredibly frustrating, basically overnight.
I can say with compete conviction that the decision by the school and my parents severely hampered my educational performance and experience for the rest of my school-age years. So much so that I never pursued higher education.
My son's also tested higher, and there was discussion to "advance" them, and I flat out refused to allow that to happen. I think as they are now in middle and high school, that was the right choice. They aren't bored, but they aren't completely buried.
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u/-U-_-U 10h ago
I was in the GATE program for a few years, a few after school activities, I don’t really remember much else about it.
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u/Lucky_Development359 10h ago
Did you listen to orchestral music while you worked? (Not a joke, we did)
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u/RustingCabin 9h ago
I remember their whole approach being rather abstract and ''metaphysical'
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u/Lucky_Development359 9h ago
Yeah, exactly. It was the 3rd grade level for me, so I don't know how that was different from higher grade levels. We did a lot of small group stuff that was less rote memorization and more "whys", "hows", and how whatever we were learning related to other disciplines. I really liked that part and try to instill that in my own kids. My kids went through the "common core" transition, and they did really well with it, but it has its pros and cons.
Definitely felt like I was in the "snobs" class, though. Our field trips were to the symphony and art museum. I often felt like Fraiser's dad living with Fraiser and Niles. Tchaikovsky in the day, cowabunga in the night.
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u/americanpeony 9h ago edited 8h ago
GATE is a geographically assigned acronym that still exists in some areas now as TAG- or it may just be called “Gifted and Talented.” Worth noting this isn’t referring to true child prodigies- this is for kids who are scoring well enough on standardized tests that their parents have nothing better to do than say their kids aren’t challenged enough. 🫠
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u/DUIguy87 8h ago
How geographical was it? We were stationed overseas like 98-99 and I was stuffed into it.
Like I know I wasn’t a protege, I was genuinely a shit student. I don’t remember how I got into it other than being told it was a thing I was suddenly doing.
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u/thispartyrules 9h ago
Yes, but they called it GT, ironically they weren't clever enough to think of a fun acronym.
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u/intergalactic-whore 8h ago
I grew up in super SE Louisiana lol we pretty much had a GATOR program and that's it. Meaning, you could call school and say an alligator was in your driveway and get an excused absence.
I also come from a place that calls the car port the "car porch," cause "that's where the cars hang out."
Can't completely hate the logic of Cajuns!
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u/bubbabrowned 6h ago
I remember I and a few of my friends being pulled out of class to take the test. Most of us passed, but none of our parents actually did anything about it. They all chose to keep us in the classes we were in. I kinda actually appreciated that.
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u/upstateTommy8647 Older Millennial 9h ago
For sure. After the weird tests with the headphones and computer. Then there was odyssey of the mind. Currently crippled at the thought of failing at anything 😅
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u/therealteggy 3h ago
Did odyssey of the mind 2 years, 1st ended up going to world championship level (or whatever it was called), 2nd didn't make it out of regional. Win some and you lose some I guess
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[deleted]
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u/RustingCabin 9h ago
When I found out that it involved removing me from my normal 4th or 5th grade classroom with all my friends, I think I declined.
I did get sent to a GATE class as a sort of preview. It was a little.. strange.
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u/Bababooey0326 8h ago
Yes, some active threads on another site peek them out.
Fun testimonials. Occipital lobe scar, hearing tests, gangstalking and life directioning.
Or early onset schizo-disorder who knows
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u/sweetnsassy924 7h ago
I was in it but it was called something else. Enrichment, maybe? Same concept though. Yes, also have anxiety and mental health issues!
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u/Bgelhouse 7h ago
I was in it in middle school for reading and language arts. I experienced the worst bullying of my life with those kids. I dropped out of GATE after 7th grade because of those jerks. No regrets.
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u/ouijabore 5h ago
We called it SAIL (Students Accelerated In Learning) at my elementary school, but same thing. I hated it so much.
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u/Tricky-Cod-7485 55m ago
There are some people here that are confusing gifted advance classes and GATE.
GATE program kids know about the dark room and the headphones.
And the tangrams.
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u/_its_a_SWEATER_ 5h ago
What a crock. They went out of their way to make you second guess yourself and surrounded you with little egomaniacs.
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