Hi and welcome 3DMom. That sounds like you may be just at the very beginning of this journey, so I'm answering as if this is the case.
First, you should be congratulated for continuing to look for answers for your son. He is luck to have such a determined mom.
Second, you should know that giftedness is something that is misunderstood an awful lot by people who *should* be experts (such as teachers, and other school personnel) especially if it is 'out there' intelligence and not just enough to do well answering questions at school.
A great place to start with LOTS of articles about giftedness and gifted children is Hoagies (
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/ ) especially the gifted 101 (
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/gifted_101.htm ) After reading there and looking around a bit you may find that you have a better idea of what you are dealing with. For me the shock of recognition was amazing!
If you take a look around this forum, as I'm sure you are, you will see plenty of stories of children who are both gifted and facing other challenges. Alternatively, there are a lot of stories about just 'plain gifted' children who were presenting with behavior that looked a bit like Aspergers whatever that were actually a perfectly 'normal' response to a completely inappropriate educational environment, and the 'problem' went away when the environment was fixed. I wish I could tell you which category your son falls into!
I have heard many on this forum and others recommend a book called something like "Misdiagnosis and dual diagnosis of gifted children" or something like that (please help me out someone!?!) but I haven't read it myself. It is supposed to help tease out these issues.
I haven't had my children tested. We are not in the school system so I don't really need to at this stage, but if you are in the system and are fighting for an appropriate education for your son, that might be something to consider. It may give you the information you need at this point. Others may be able to give more specific information about that, or you might find some on the forum.
I hope some of this is of some assistance to you.
FWIW, with all the challenges and extra stress having gifted children - or adults - brings to my life, I wouldn't trade it's richness and thrills for anything else!
(Will someone please remind me of that next time I'm here to gripe!
LOL)
