At a recent seminar by an "expert" in ADHD manifestations in the gifted, we heard that in the very gifted kids, ADHD has the following 3 components:
1. Inability to sustain focus on mundane tasks, despite good focus on preferred or stimulating tasks.
2. Difficulty starting nonpreferred tasks (like cleaning out the garage) despite good ability to start and complete preferred tasks.
3. Thinking of numerous other possibilities before getting to the right answer (=non linear thinking?) instead of just seeing the path to the solution and taking it.
He said these characteristics can interfere with academic performance and need to be monitored and treated. I asked if it wasn�t normal for kids to avoid doing things they don�t like, and he said no. Normal kids will see that they can take the path to good grades and follow it no matter how boring.
Gives some fruit for thought, but I'm not sure I buy it. I'm not ADHD and I avoid doing things I don't like to do. But then again, I'm not highly gifted. And he said this is how it looks in the highly gifted because they can hide/cope with their other symptoms.
That just can't be true... I think that, particularly #1 and #2, have to be totally normal. I'm not HG, but seriously, this makes it sound like I have a huge case of ADHD. And I don't. Just because I like to procrastinate and haven't gotten around to writing a simple thank you note that I've been meaning to since January doesn't mean I'm pathalogic. Geez.
What does #3 have to do with ADHD, I wonder. That's just thinking things through, isn't it?
