I'm not saying there is any data saying such, just that all of the articles I can find on the internet talk about gifted adhd being different from what would be seen in typical children. Here are some quotes from a quick google search of adhd and gifted:
"The more academically inclined and more intelligent the student with ADD (ADHD), the later he or she begins to encounter serious challenges related to ADD (ADHD)."
addvance.com
"Several factors contribute to the delayed diagnosis of gifted students. Inattention and other ADD/ADHD symptoms may result in lower scores on tests used to determine eligibility for gifted programs. Also, teachers are less likely to notice ADD/ADHD symptoms in students who are not disruptive."
additudemag.com
I am used to googling a subject and getting useful information to help me understand the situation and help with improving it. Maybe stuff to pass on to a teacher to help them understand my son better. Most of what is out there is focused on the supposed high prevalence of gifted students being misdiagnosed with ADHD (also no data available to back this up). Much like searching about ADHD and medications brings up mostly articles concerning the terrible dangers of medicating children for made up disorders like adhd (also no data available to back this up). Maybe my trouble is really with the internet and not with the reality of highly gifted but severely adhd children?
I was mostly just wondering if anyone here has a kid like this and how it worked out as they aged. DS is just starting 1st grade (since I home schooled 2/3 of K and he was kicked out of everything else he's ever tried, this is his first real educational experience). DS started private gifted school on Tuesday and I haven't really gotten any feedback yet. I'm hoping it's a no news is good news thing. Seeing as every other program I've had him in I got a day 1 call to either pick him up early or schedule a conference I'm guessing things are going much better than usual. DS also seems happy and wants to go to school, a first for him. Maybe I'm being dramatic, but I feel like the medication saved his life. If he can manage at this school I will be the happiest (and maybe poorest) 2E parent around. I feel like we went from a future of incarceration to a future where there may be real success. Hope is a nice thing
Also there things like this to be found, while a different subject, it still indicates that gifted adhd children present in a unique way that regular adhd kids do not:
"Often, when people describe hyperfocus in children with ADHD, they are referring to the child who watches television or plays video games for hours. This typically is not the same way that hyperfocus is described in gifted children, where a child works on a Lego set or reads about space for hours."
Davidsongifted.org
My son has been making molecules for over an hour now and I guess that's not likely to be something that would interest an average adhd kid. He only reads if I require it, but he could sit and watch tv or play video games for hours if I let him do so. His favorite shows are Cosmos and stuff on HGTV, so maybe that's a little different from average, but he also loves Finding Nemo and Studio Ghibli films and even Peg + Cat. And he hates lego for some odd reason. How weird is that? But I wonder how true it is that gifted adhd kids will naturally gravitate towards more intellectual activities vs. screen based activities, especially in homes where space books and lego are not even available. My son is adhd and gifted and also a kid. It's hard enough to really feel confident in any of this stuff without half the internet making general statements about what gifted adhd kids are like and seeing none of it really relate to my son.
