his teacher also explicitly informed us that he was in no way gifted.
Me thinks his teacher is WRONG!!
As Cricket posted above, your DS sounds very similar to my DD9 (ADHD, stealth dyslexia and dysgraphia). We only pursued testing in grade 2 because the ADHD diagnosis did not explain her extreme resistance to school work. It is interesting the things that emerge as you begin to test... and boy do you have to continue to test!!! If we had stopped after DD's initial IQ and achievement testing, we would have left with confirmation of her ADHD and been sideswiped by the unknown HG+/PG identification. So we left that test thinking we just had an underachiever on our hands. Then, we spent 1.5 years pushing and pushing for her to show what she could do. How I wish, more than anything, that I had trusted my gut feeling and pushed for more testing straight away. I knew something was missing. It just didn't make sense. How could a child who was that 'smart' struggle so much with in an average classroom? She, too, was reading way above grade level. No one seemed to be as worried as we were and we allowed ourselves to be distracted by the GT label.
My suggestion? PUSH for more testing. Pay for it yourself!! You are the only advocate your son has and he needs you to step up and help him. Don't wait any longer. I wish I could show physical proof of the damage my DD's self-esteem has suffered in the past two years. Her dyslexia diagnosis was an amazing relief. And that diagnosis would not have come without us finally stepping in and saying, "These labels don't fit!"
FYI - we had separate writing and reading assessments to get the diagnosis we were seeking. I can dig out the specific tests, if you are interested.
Trust your gut feeling, Mom. With a family history of dyslexia, you have good reasons to be suspect.
