Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Boredom, AD/HD and giftedness

I deal with all this with my children all the time. I'm not sure where to draw the lines for them. I tell the school that you cannot assume that all bad behavior is because of a child's bad attitude and that if a child is challenged to his/her appropriate level then you can really tell what the issues are. So I told them that I will accept behavior plans and motivations (because my DS7 does need to learn how to verbalize better when he's mad), but they have to do pre-testing, work on challenging him and try to make sure that he is working to his level. Like I said though, the main focus of elementary school seems to be writing out everything in a repetitive, boring manner and using lots of materials to create crafts. My son dislikes both things.


BTW: On the ADHD thing...stimulants relax ADHD kids, they do not get them to hypefocus. That's the big difference. To a normal person, a stimulant will actually stimulate them, making them feel more alert and ready to take on the world. To a true ADHD person, a stimulant will relax them because to be ADHD is to be understimulated. So the stimulant will allow them to focus, which allows them to rest a bit.

I'm not sure I believe in ADHD as a general diagnosis, but I do know that the stimulant thing is true, because I have this issue. If I drink coffee slowly, it helps me relax just enough to be able to do mindless boring work. If I drink a coffee quickly, I will be unable to stay awake.

Lya