I am new to this forum and am seeking your collective wisdom about my "2e" son, who is 13 and in 7th grade at a public international baccalaureate school.

At age 9 (end of 3rd grade) he was evaluated by a neuropsychologist and diagnosed with:
1) Superior intelligence (GAIS of 129, but IQ generally difficult to interpret due to significant discrepancy between 4 index scores- weakness in working memory and processing speed/ strength in visual reasoning and comprehension).
2) ADHD- inattentive type (never medicated)/ executive function weakness.
3) Dyslexia
4) Weakness in fine motor coordination
5) Color blindness.

The school system identified him as �gifted,� particularly in critical thinking, and offered limited services. (They also recommended he skip 4th grade, but we declined). He had private OT to address the lack of fine motor coordination and some private tutoring for writing and executive functioning skills in 4th/5th grade, as well as speech therapy due to a later diagnosis of a Central Auditory Processing Disorder in 4th grade.

In 6th grade he attended a different public elementary school and performed well academically (mostly As, a couple high Bs) with no outside tutoring or assistance from us.

Now, in 7th grade at yet another school, he has been asking since September to skip a grade because he �is not being challenged� and �is bored,� and because he �gets along much better with the kids in 8th, 9th and 10th grades.� He has, indeed, always gotten along better with those older than he, especially adults, and he has often been bullied and excluded by his peers at school, so this complaint does not come as a surprise. Nonetheless, his grades are all over the place. He continues to struggle with writing (not with articulation of ideas or limited vocabulary, but with organization and grammar), and he often doesn�t get assignments in on time- either because he doesn�t start them until the last minute or doesn�t remember to turn them in. Also, he doesn�t seem very interested in most of the work assigned, although when he is interested in a topic or assignment, he is very motivated.

So, my question is this: should we even consider asking that he skip a grade? One friend who is an experienced educator in another IB program said that �at that age if they are emotionally-socially mismatched, they don�t learn much� and �if he doesn�t have one true peer� you�d have nothing to lose by moving him up.� Any additional thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Patricia