Re: Gifted 9 year old girls struggles
aeh
12/25/25 09:43 PM
FWIW, if the WISC-5 was the only measure given, that's not really sufficient to rule ADHD in or out. School-based psychoed's can be very useful (but that is what I do, so I might be biased!), but schools may not have all of the resources necessary to sift through the subtleties of a twice exceptional learner. And on the other side, pediatrician-based evals for ADHD tend to be rather cursory (I also tend to be the pass-through for the teacher information that they request, so I see that data). To be clear, I am not taking a side on whether she has or does not have ADHD. Just saying that if there are functional concerns (including how she perceives herself as a learner), then it may be worth investigating further with someone who has both the skills and experience relevant to a 2e evaluation (such as clinical/neuro/school psychologist with specific 23 experience). If there are not functional concerns, then I would probably go with watchful waiting, if it were my child.
You note that she may also be bored. It's worth thinking about why you do not see the symptoms at home, but the teacher reports them in school. How are the settings different? --in structure, --in demands, --in stimulation, etc. Because it's possible that she really does not have ADHD, and the problem is not located within-child, but within-environment (the school environment). A learner significantly underplaced with regard to their actual intellectual stimulation (aka learning) needs can appear much like a learner with ADHD, even to the extent of underperforming on easy tasks. Just think about how well any of us would do on staying focused, following directions, and completing tasks with accuracy if our instructional environment as reasonably competent adults was at a kindergarten level.
And on the other hand, you may find that the home environment is subtly scaffolding executive functions (attention, organization, etc.) in ways that the teacher either cannot or does not.
