Hi,
I had my son evaluated in June and the psychologist diagnosed a NVLD and verbally gifted. His WISC IV: VCI=142, PRI=113, VMI=109; PSI=100. He did part of the WIAT for reading comprehension (he tested as grade 9 level) and writing (he tested at grade 3-4 level). I wasn't convinced by NLVD initially, but after alot of reading, thought that enough things fit that perhaps a NVLD or at least some aspects of it combined with boredom with parts of the curriculum could explain the difficulties that DS10 had during grade 4 (very oppositional, disorganized, low motivation, attention problems). Academically he keeps up, and loves reading especially, but doesn't like school and acts out. He is in a Montessori school.
So I decided, in consultation with the psy., who seemed like a pretty smart, articulate person who specializes in child psychology, to have a meeting with my son to talk about some of the frustrations he had at school and to let him know that he is not "dumb" (something he said to me alot towards the end of the year).
The meeting with the psychologist was a disaster. He did not connect at all with my son and began by telling him that he had a "learning disability" etc but that verbally he is "gifted". This is confusing (even to an adult) and not at all how I wanted things to be presented to him and thought that we would be talking in a more child-friendly way about how he feels at school and what we could do to help.
Afterwards my son said that the man was lying and that he (DS) is just as average and normal as everybody else. He also said that he probably says to anyone who is a bit above average that they are gifted so that he can make more money. This was a pretty disturbing response, but I think DS was just shocked by the way the whole thing was presented. DS is very concerned with being normal and fitting in -- not always easy for him, but he makes a big effort. He really does not want to be "different"
Now I'm not sure what to do. I tried to repair the damage by re-explaining the situation in a way I thought was more appropriate. I also apologized and told him that I probably made a mistake taking him to talk to that particular doctor.
Any suggestions about how I can talk to him about this would be appreciated. I thought that the session could open the door to some interventions like OT, etc, if he understood why we were doing it.
