It's a good question.
We think probably not-- relative to chronological peers, she seems pretty on top of things, and she
can focus quite readily when she's willing to do so. She simply
never forgets things that are important
to her, and she has no trouble absorbing/recalling even quite complex information-- when it suits her.
She's just completely oppositional when it comes to being
told to do something that she thinks is pointless
and unpleasant.
She's
very much an adrenaline junkie. I can see that light of exhiliration in her eyes when she's in the middle of chaos and riding the hurricane to get more finished than should be humanly possible... she definitely sets herself up to do it deliberately on some level. She truly thinks of herself as someone who "works best under pressure" and views it as a time-saving technique. LOL.
SHE doesn't seem to mind that process. It's everyone else that thinks it isn't good or healthy.
ETA: It was good to take a renewed look at this, though, and carefully consider the possibility again. Thank you for the suggestion. It's such a good idea, in fact, that I'm going to paste the link here (there is a wonderful checklist of differentiable behaviors):
Before Referring a Gifted Child for ADD/ADHD EvaluationMy daughter's behavior is
squarely on the "gifted" side of things; but if she were actually sixteen (not 11) it might not be wholly age-appropriate in terms of executve function (her judgement of time management is
mostly very good-- but sometimes she miscalculates and gets herself into trouble). It's so very hard to know what "appropriate" looks like when a child is far away from age norms. I can see very easily how my DD might be labeled as ADD in a classroom, however.
