Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment overexcitability questionnaire?

I have so many questions this week about my DS6. We have completed initial consultation (developmental hx, behavior rating scales, questionnaires, etc.) and will have full neuropsych on the 9th. Has anyone's child taken an overexcitability questionnaire? My son came up as statistically significant on three of the OEs (sensual, psychomotor, intellectual). Just wondering if this questionnaire is commonly used and, yikes, three OEs seems like a lot. He's also been identified with some sensory issues (sensory seeking, auditory sensitivity), so perhaps that is part of it.

We had this as part of the Qualitative Assessment both of my kids did. In that questionnaire I think it came out with a scale of 1-5 for each OE. It was part of the QA because overexcitabilities are one part of the definition of giftedness the assessor was using. Makes sense to me - my personal definition of giftedness would almost always include intellectual OE, for example.

I wouldn't worry about it as a diagnosis, except to realize other kids might react differently from your DS in these areas.

Thanks, ljoy. I'm trying to tease out what is gifted overexcitabilities, what is sensory "stuff", and what is anxiety. It seems all muddled together. Can't wait to have his testing results.

We found that DS's OEs were the most out of control at 6/7. The intellectual and psychomotor have become much more under control as the rigor of classwork and competitive sports increased. There are still times when they pop out, but they are much easier to address. The biggest struggle for us was finding the classwork and sports that worked for him. Good luck!

Thank you, mykids. One thing I will say is that after filling out all of the rating scales and developmental hx, I do feel like the OEs are becoming more manageable with time. It's a slow process for sure but we're getting there.

Yes. I have filled out those types of questionnaires. My ds8 was born with severe sensory processing disorder (visual, auditory, vestibular, tactile, etc. - the works); he had five years of occupational therapy, including three in a sensory gym. Of course, when he was much younger we had no idea about the LOG. However, I did have an OT say to me that SPD was an indication of how bright ds was. Ds has fluctuated from avoidance to sensory seeking, etc. So I know. It's exhausting some days.

Yes, I agree that the OEs and sensory issues are more manageable when ds8 is getting enough cognitive and physical stimulation. Ds8 starts to unravel and spin out of control when he's not getting his needs met.

I can say that the sensory, giftedness, OEs, anxiety often overlap, or at least that's been the case with our ds. However, I also think a lot of it is due to time, brain maturation, and maturity. Boys, even gifted boys, often lag a couple of years behind girls in terms of social/emotional development and this is normal.