Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Another gifted/ADHD question

My ds is in 3rd grade. He'll be 9 in June, and the K cutoff here is Sept 30, so he's in the younger half of kids in his class. He attends a gifted magnet school, so all the kids in his class are gifted too. His teachers say:
1 - he calls out answers without waiting to be called on (and sometimes without raising his hand),
2 - his desk is too messy,
3 - he forgets things (to bring home/turn in his homework, to bring home his jacket)
4 - he is sometimes rude to other students (saying, "Hey, that's my chair!" rather than "Excuse me, you're sitting in my seat." and "We just went over that twice!" when another student asks for clarification,
5 - his handwriting is terrible (you may recall he goes to an OT for this, and
6 - during class, he gets up to look at the gerbils, sometimes while the teacher is teaching.

My questions:
1 - In your opinion, is he AD/HD?
2 - Are we simply bad parents?
3 - Is he just immature?
4 - Could there be another issue? And if so, what?

I'd like any and all opinions.
Thanks.

First question I'd ask myself: does he exhibit these same behaviors at home? (if not, then I'd say no)

Next: does he fit the DSM criteria? http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/symptom.htm

The messy desk and bad handwriting just say "possible VSL" to me. See this article - maybe it'll help flesh things out - there's a chart http://www.visualspatial.org/Articles/george.pdf

that's my two cents


p.s. no you're not bad parents!!!

is he bored? that could account for almost all of the above. As far as his rude words - you have to keep an eye on this question: do other kids act just as rude but get away with it?

Sounds *exactly* like my ds, and I've wondered about possible ADD as well. Ds6 did improve immensely with appropriate academic placement but still struggles somewhat with all those issues. So far, we're working individually on the symptoms and not seeking a diagnosis.

I'm hoping we're dealing with an immaturity thing here ... not sure about age 9, though.

I'm sure he's bored sometimes (and gets up to visit the gerbils), but if I were in a classroom and bored, I wouldn't get up and wander around. That item disturbs me the most, but his teachers seem most bothered by the calling out.

As far as exhibiting the same behavior at home, I don't make him raise his hand or sit in his seat for extended periods of time, so I don't think I could see the same thing. I see rudeness sometimes, poor handwriting most of the time, and his room is sloppy, but that just sounds like regular kid to me.

On the DSM criteria, I'd say he's high (but not high enough) for inattention and impulsivity. I have a hard time with those types of lists because "often" is subjective.

I really appreciate your input.

That's a trip. People are saying DS6 has AD/HD but his room is immaculate and organized and orderly. His handwriting is great and he spontaneously writes little booklets on trains or how to grow a plant. He's also very visual. I think his vision is his strongest sense. He likes puzzles, mazes, etc. I am becoming more confused every day.

You know, alot of this sounds like my DS (9 in April) and the psychologist who tested him mentioned ADHD. She said she couldn't be certain just from the testing, but there were 'behaviors' that were flags for her of ADHD and impulsivity.

She mentioned three things - ADHD, anxiety, and asynchronous development. She also mentioned that for it to be ADHD, the behaviors would have been present prior to age 7. To us, he's always been energetic and bounces from one thing to another when he's had enough of whatever it was. He's physically active and it's never really been a problem for us, other than.....we're tired at the end of the day:) His handwriting is atrocious, but so is DHs.

I guess I look at it like this - for everything she mentioned that could be attributed to ADHD, I can look at DH or myself and see some of the same things. I did some reading after our meeting and found that the same behaviors could also be related to his giftedness.

Good luck finding your answers.

Is there a social skills issue? I can definately think of other things and could ask many questions but would start with that.

Hello Keet,
Does he also have meltdowns? Ours had many. You've described my son to a T, when he was that age. He does have ADHD. Ritalin helped him immensely and his grades went from c's and d's to as and b's.
He began focusing on work. Ritalin made him less impulsive, a lot less, to the point of him finally being socially considerate.

My youngest, now 20, also has it. 2-3 dif drugs caused bad side effects such as throat clearings and manic behavior. So, I'd recommend trying the pharms available on a trial basis. I say that Ritalin saved my son's life and aside from the essential grace of God and the better placement, it's really true. He reached his maximum potential on Ritalin and went from failure to success.

He's 27 now and for many yrs. has not needed a pharm. When they growup, maturity helps them control themselves better. He's now a successful Ph.d student. Straight A's for yrs. now.
Best of everything,
San

There may be a social skills issue, but what can we do about that? The OT he goes to has a social skills class for autistic kids, but I don't really think he'd be a good fit, judging from the kids that I see going into the class (it starts about the same time ds goes to OT).

He does not have meltdowns often and then only at home.

His grades are good. On his last report card he had A's in everything except Writing, and that was a B.

We'd be reluctant to try meds anyway b/c he takes a lot of meds for another medical condition.