I used to post here some time ago but convinced myself he wasn't as gifted as I thought. I'd see so many gifted kids achieving and showing drive, mine would not. He shut down. He refused challenges, he wouldn't try. I wanted to work on his problems before we could deal with this, however now I see his giftedness is at the core of his school problems.
My son is eight and in second grade. He struggles socially and was just diagnosed with Tourette's. His kindergarten teacher was bad, she actually told me that we challenged him to read too soon. His first grade teacher got that he's bright but the school challenges all involve worksheets and writing, the thing he struggles with.
He's now in second grade and refusing to do any work. I came across an article on this site that sums up my son perfectly as a gifted underachiever. His MAP testing for reading is about mid fourth grade, for math it was third grade. He has a great teacher and that is willing to try anything to get my son to show what he can do. The school has a gifted program that tends to be geared toward writers. He's not in it now because he won't work and the program isn't set up for the more hands on learners. We're looking into an assessment. ADD, OCD and anxiety often go along with Tourette's. I've also requested an IQ test and, if the school can't provide it, will get one on our own. I regret not following my instincts and doing it sooner. My gut says it's not ADD but I think we need to go through the testing.
What accommodations would you want from the school?
Here's a link that describes a gifted underachiever, all that's missing is my sons photo.
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10442.aspx
