Originally Posted by Grinity
Originally Posted by shellymos
That can be because of his interest level or that could also be a symptom of a child with ADHD because they don't just not focus, they tend to hyperfocus and focus very well on certain activities.

I'm a little skeptical about the hyperfocus argument to discern between gifted and ADHD. I mean, if anyone has research statistics about 'hyperfocus' in kids with ADHD of average IQ (in families with siblings of average IQ) I would love to see those statistics, until then, forgive me if I remain close minded.

Well, being a therapist at a children's mental health clinic for several years I saw it quite often. ADHD is not about lack of being able to sustain attention, it is a disregulation of attention...sometimes too much and sometimes not enough. Kids with ADHD often notice everything, but sometimes nothing. So often times kids can be very focused to the point of having a hard time transitioning to something else. I used to always hear the TV/computer argument with parents. They would say their child can't have ADHD because they can spend forever being engrossed in certain activities. They would say that their child would ignore them when the TV was on. Anyhow, don't have research on me, but I am sure there is plenty out there on it. I know I have read some of it when I was working in that position. There is a lot more to a diagnosis of ADHD, but just wanted to point out that I have seen children with ADHD that hyperfocus a lot in a population that was not gifted.