Hello all, My son is eight years old and is doing well in third grade. He has some classic signs of Autism and ADHD. He is very smart and exceptionally verbal. Last year, he scored 129 on the Naglieri and had made such vast strides in Math and Reading that his school asked me if they could evaluate him for the gifted program. He scored a 126 on the woodcock Johnson and was found not to be in need of Gifted Support, but now they are going to do a full psychoeducational evaluation to determine if he has a disability that is masking his giftedness. I am a 2e student from way back when, and I know how hard it is to not have a place to belong, and have adults around me that didn't know what to do with me when I was having trouble. Even though I was in GATE, I ended up dropping out of school in my HS years. I'm afraid that his school is going to determine that he is ineligible for support either way and he is going to fall through that safety net. It terrifies me.
We live in Pennsylvania where the cut-off for entry is 130 IQ. If Nolan had scored a 130 we would not be doing a complete evaluation. Throughout the eight years of his life, his father and I have avoided seeking a diagnosis for our son because he has not had a significant impairment. We think his creativity and intelligence has masked his difficulties. And his difficulties have masked his intelligence. What do we do to ensure that he gets support? We know he needs it. In first grade he had a teacher that didn't understand him. She forced him to stop flapping his arms and to sit still. He ended up pushing her away from him and getting suspended. In second grade, his teacher understood him, his individual needs and abilities. He went from scoring in the 50th percentile for reading to the 96th percentile in one year. And, he won the school-wide art contest. We've seen what a difference it makes for him to be allowed to flap his arms, stand and dance around, and take frequent breaks. And, in second grade, all students receive gifted enrichment in our district. So, this periods were all our son could talk about. "Finally someone was using Minecraft to teach us code! I've been saying this forever!"
My question to this community is, how do I go about getting him the enrichment and support that he needs without sounding like a crazed and overbearing mother? Should I have him independently evaluated? How far will that really get him? Should I insist that he be retested with another test? Should I wait for the full assessment results? Has anyone else experienced this, and what was the outcome?
