Peggy you said <<My 7 year old has been identified as gifted and has had a difficult time in school. At the reccomendation of the school I had him evaluated by a psychiatrist who has diagnosed him with ADHD and depression.>>
Have you asked the school to refer your son for Special Education? In that manner teachers, along with you, will be required to draft an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for him. Since he is GT it is important not to forget to focus on his strengths and interests in order to excite him about school and learning.
My daughter came down with depression when she had just turned fourteen. I had no idea she could qualify for Special Ed. I just happened to come across a book by Jeffrey Miller called The Childhood Depression Sourcebook. Your library may have it or you may find a cheaper second hand copy on Amazon.com or Alibris.com.
It turned out she qualified for SPED but unfortunately this intervention was too little and too late for her. After many years of depression for which she was treated with Zoloft, individual as well as family counseling, she is now at 21 majoring in philosophy. She will never be happy with the condition of this world and the many people in it who seemingly do not care about environmental issues, but she is trying to cope as best as she can. She too had no peers (still doesn't) and feels different. The best thing you can do for your son is to always be supportive of him and to nurture him so he can feel safe at home with people who love him and accept him. He may have a hard road ahead of him and if it turns out that school makes him very unhappy you should consider pulling him out to home school. That way he can freely develop his interests while learning basics (and beyond) at the same time. In hindsight I wished I had taken my daughter out of school. Both my kids, now 21 and 18, say that school has been a great waste of time for them and I believe them.
Do realize though that teachers do not always follow through with adaptations on the IEP so I suggest you build a relationship of trust with your son's teacher so that communication and the effort of helping him in school will be productive.
