Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional How can we meet this child's needs?!

(THis is in reply to the original question, whereas my posts above are in reply to a response. Sorry, I am just learning the ropes here, so I am not sure I am posting correctly.)
I don't know if this will be any help at all, but I will throw it out there -- my oldest son was born with autism (totally different situation from your child, obviously). But we started an intensive program LATE by most people's standards (we first wasted three years in programs that had been recommended by the local physicians, psychologists, .... which turned out to be locally popular but not helpful for kids on the autism spectrum). So when ds was 5 I took time out from my own career (completing a PhD) and worked intensively with psychologists who had trained at UCLA in applied behavior analysis. Autistic kids are VERY uneven in their abilities (even more than what you described in your child). My ds had some areas of great strength and other areas in which he functioned like a 8 month old. We actually constructed a program from scratch for my ds and "plugged the holes" with an amazing degree of success. My guess is your child, who does NOT have anything like what mine did, still could do exercises which may well bring his working memory up to the normal range. None of these mental abilities are set in concrete, not for a 12 year old, and truly not at any age. My mom started developing dementia about 6 years ago, and we have done a great job providing her with exercises to address areas of weakness as we see them presenting in her. She has done very, very well. I am not saying we can succeed with my mom forever with that (against progression of vascular based dementia), but if I had a chance to work with your gifted young son, I would love to try to pinpoint exactly what kinds of tasks are especially difficult (in terms of working memory), and then create games which incrementally challenge him to improve those exact skills. I am not a psychologist, just another mom, and I of course cannot guarantee it would work, but who knows? As for the handwriting, we are still struggling with that (times 3, all three of my sons have a significant problem with it). If anyone has any suggestions on THAT, I am all ears!