I am new here and my DS is 4 y/o and was identified as gifted last year. He has always been very emotional. If he's happy he's extremely happy but if he's mad he throws a full tantrum. Screaming, stomping, crying. He gets so worked up that I don't think that he even know that we are there trying to talk to him. Now that he's 4.5 they seem to be getting a little less frequent but with even more intensity. Does anybody else deal with this and what kinds of things do you do when it happens? We talk about it and he tells me that he just gets very angry and instead of talking screams. He says that he knows that talking to me would be a better thing to do but that he just can't do it.

Another thing that I'm really worried about is his inability to pay attention. He is always either looking in the sky or behind him or to the side of him when he's walking. I can be standing right behind him telling him over and over to watch where he's going but it seems like he's in such a daze that he doesn't even hear me. When we are out in public I usually have to hold on to his shirt and kind of lead him around so he doesn't run into people or things. If I want him to listen to what I'm saying I have to physically hold his face and get him to look at me and sometimes even when I do that he can't repeat back what I've said yet 30 minutes later he can recount our whole conversation.

Another part of the problem is that he's very impulsive. Not only does he not pay attention but he seems to need to be in constant motion. This gets him into a lot of trouble at school because instead of sitting on the mat to listen to the story he wants to stand behind the class and jump up and down or crawl on his knees. He'll absorb everything that the teacher is talking about but he just can't seem to do it sitting down.

I've considered autism but I really don't think that's what's going on. It seems more like he's stuck in his little brain so much that he has a hard time living in the world around him. Is this a common thing or is it something that I need to really worry about?

Thank you for reading!

Jamie

Last edited by Jamie B; 04/12/09 06:53 PM.