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    Joined: Jun 2014
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    I've been concerned about this previously, but I haven't gained any traction on figuring out what's going on.

    My DD9 has an FSIQ of 147 (GAI of 159) but basically makes low Bs and maybe even C level work. She doesn't appear to have ADD (she doesn't zone out or lose things although she can get really really hyper when she's excited about something). However it appears that her academic achievement is nowhere near her IQ would indicate. I recently got her CAASPP scores back (we are in California) and she just barely tested into Standards Met. I know some kids don't test well and this was the first year she had to take take it, but I'm really concerned because I expect that she would at least test at the middle or top of Standards Met based on IQ... my DS who is 2e and has a lot more visible issues and the same basic IQ has consistently tested into Standards Exceeded. Also her school work is in line with the test results. I can't ignore this... but I have no idea what the problem is... ? The school checked her reading but said she is at grade level so I should drop it. Teacher states she notices that she makes careless mistakes. She is an artistic child- likes crafts, does not really seem to like academics but still does her homework, wants to please the teacher etc. Doesn't like reading unless graphic novel. I don't get that she doesn't care, in fact I think she'd love to be a top student if she got the chance. However, I don't need her to be the perfect student, but I am worried about the fact that she just got through 3rd grade by the skin of her teeth... yikes. Please think tank this for me. I have asked similar questions before, and aeh mentioned that there might be a problem with automacy but any and all suggestions welcome.

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    How does she feel about school?

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    Up until grade 3 this sounds similar to my DS10. Occasionally he'd get a higher mark in science or math (his passions) but mostly B's and occasional C's. He's 2e (dysgraphia) so we weren't really shocked about low writing marks because he wasn't really being properly accommodated. We were working on trying to improve that as well as trying to get some differentiation in math/science. Careless mistakes happened way more when things were really easy for him (but try explaining that to a teacher without sounding like a crazy person trying to protect a precious snowflake of a kid....).

    Where things differ is that DS reads constantly (and way above grade level so we knew that wasn't an issue). He HATED school pretty much from the start and had little desire to please the teachers (with 1 exception - interestingly enough she was the only teacher out of 15 that said nice things about him).

    Last year (grade 4) he changed schools into a full time gifted program where he's taken off. He LOVES his teachers and classmates and actually looks forward to school. The depth that he craves is finally there and he is finally in an environment where he can talk to people that can follow his conversation and actually contribute. He is no longer told to be quiet in classroom conversations. Kids no longer look at him like he's alien. His teachers actually get 2e and he is getting much better at typing so he's able to express his ideas on paper/screen. His first report card was almost all A's, his year end was straight A's. We were shocked.

    I realize that we are very lucky and that not everyone has the luxury of a gifted program that actually fits their child so YMMV but I do think that school environment is a big thing. I wouldn't go as far as saying that his past teachers and peers bullied him but there were several instances that were far from ideal. DS figured this all out pretty quickly and this resulted in him shutting down and/or becoming rather prickly to deal with.

    I also want to say that my experience with 2e has been an adventure of trying to tease out the can'ts from the won'ts. Even with a firm diagnosis (he's been through two full founds of ed psych assessments) there are nights were he's fought me and I can't tell if it is
    a) too easy because of the gifted part
    b) too hard because of the LD part
    c) homework that is taking time away from his current novel/lego project/whatever
    d) he's just cranky for some other reason

    In my experience kids really, really want to do well and when they can't they are very good at convincing people that they just don't care. If they aren't there are usually pretty good reasons. Unfortunately they can be a challenge to figure out.

    Not sure if any of those ramblings help but I can definitely empathize. Hopefully others will have more helpful input.

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    I would get her evaluated privately by someone who understands HG+ and 2E. With that ability level, I'd expect her reading level to be well above grade level. Anything less is, to me, a red flag.

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    I'm not sure how to get her evaluated.. I already had some person who did "her own evaluation" of her reading which was helpful NOT. She basically thought she might be ADDish based on the fact that she said her brain never stopped but she is not someone who can diagnose (and frankly her evaluation did not give me anything at all on paper so it was a waste of time and money). She basically just said she's reading at level, and she didn't see any learning disabilities.

    My DS has some inability to regulate attention related to his second e, but I know what that looks like and she doesn't look like that at all. I would think possibly stealth dyslexia except that she can sound out words she's never seen before (at the 8th grade level) and she's a good speller. She says school is a 5 on a scale of 1 -10. Her favorite subject is art. She has multiple friends at school, she's outgoing, she doesn't love school but doesn't hate it either.

    She does have some impulsivity (interrupts at home) but teachers have never complained about her behavior. Her teacher last year said she kept wanting to get up and get a tissue, get a drink of water, etc. but there was a lot of chaos in that room cue to teacher not being very organized and some kids with behavior challenges and I think it was hard to concentrate. However, she has had this pattern for more than just this year.

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    Which instrument did you use to get the original test done? The tester should have broken the test down into different sections and given more feedback. For example if it was WISC there would have been a WPI etc

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    Flipping back through some of our previous correspondence, I notice one trail that might be worth investigating is speech and language evaluation, to look at whether there are subtle expressive/receptive language deficits (as distinct from her very high verbal cognition). I would suggest that this is best in the context of a comprehensive neuropsych eval, which you may be able to access through your primary care physician.

    I don't know this program specifically, but one resource might be something like this clinic in collaboration with UCLA: https://www.thehelpgroup.org/professional/the-help-group-ucla-neuropsychology-program/


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    Just posted a few links on visual spatial giftedness on this current thread:

    http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....band_is_a_skeptic_I_am_o.html#Post233312


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    aeh that's very interesting...why do you think speech and language would be an area to investigate? My DS does seem like he has an expressive language disorder, he uses um, gets log jammed a lot when trying to say what he means.. in these situations he often never gets to the point and just says never mind (which makes me sad as I can see he tries to hard to tell you what he's thinking). But my DD doesn't appear to have anything similar to this, and her social skills are really good...

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    Can you explain more about her grades in school? You said she makes "careless mistakes". In what way? For example, if she makes errors in arithmetic, are they because her columns are not lined up, or because she works too quickly and doesn't check back, or because she's trying new concepts just for fun? Does she skip questions? How is her work in, say social studies, which can be a combination of fact-based and open-ended expression?

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