Gifted Bulletin Board

Welcome to the Gifted Issues Discussion Forum.

We invite you to share your experiences and to post information about advocacy, research and other gifted education issues on this free public discussion forum.
CLICK HERE to Log In. Click here for the Board Rules.

Links


Learn about Davidson Academy Online - for profoundly gifted students living anywhere in the U.S. & Canada.

The Davidson Institute is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted students through the following programs:

  • Fellows Scholarship
  • Young Scholars
  • Davidson Academy
  • THINK Summer Institute

  • Subscribe to the Davidson Institute's eNews-Update Newsletter >

    Free Gifted Resources & Guides >

    Who's Online Now
    0 members (), 86 guests, and 12 robots.
    Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
    Newest Members
    Amelia Willson, jordanstephen, LucyCoffee, Wes, moldypodzol
    11,533 Registered Users
    October
    S M T W T F S
    1 2 3 4 5
    6 7 8 9 10 11 12
    13 14 15 16 17 18 19
    20 21 22 23 24 25 26
    27 28 29 30 31
    Previous Thread
    Next Thread
    Print Thread
    Page 2 of 4 1 2 3 4
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posts: 687
    P
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    P
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posts: 687
    I never heard of a hyp0tonic kid who was really fidgety and bouncy. Typically floppy is the total opposite of bouncy.

    Joined: Jul 2009
    Posts: 342
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Jul 2009
    Posts: 342
    Originally Posted by TwinkleToes
    My DD often cannot stop talking, often with accents or strange voices, singing, often like a Broadway show tune, loves loud sounds for the sake of sound, is always moving, grabbing, doing sudden movements, etc. ALL DAY LONG. She NEVER stops. She is cranked to HIGH all the time. She also interrupts a lot and seems to need a ton of attention. She also insists on interacting with me a good portion of the day and cannot stop speaking to the point that my head will pound. I feel bad that I cannot handle this level of intensity that many hours, but I have my limits. If I ask her to back off or go in her room and busy herself so I can rest my head, she cannot seem to do it.

    Lately, DD has been having fun do the whole different accents thing too. Just yesterday she made each one of her fingers talk to each other in a different accent. We've definitely entered the non-stop talking phase too and incidentally it seems to get worse around bed time. eek She seems to feel the MOST need to talk if DH and I are trying to discuss something... ahh! Oh, and add to that that now she thinks it'S a good idea to rearrange our furniture (obviously, the smaller pieces since she can't exactly move the couch by herself! :D).

    Just commiserating with you, no real suggestions. We TRY to do a lot of outdoor time but DD wants to just swing the entire time at the playground instead of running around getting out her energy. crazy Add to that that she has an ear infection, which means no swimming at the moment, one of the best ways to get rid of all that pent up energy!

    We've always wanted to do a martial art with her (more for safety reasons than anything else)... when can you start with that?


    Joined: Jul 2009
    Posts: 342
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Jul 2009
    Posts: 342
    Originally Posted by cricket3
    Hi newmom- I'm sure it varies by school, but most in our area take kids as young as 3yo. My DS9 started in a class for 3-5yo kids when he was in K; he loved it, though pretty quickly moved up into what they call juniors here. He liked that too, but the young class was exactly what he needed at that age- they always ended with a game, and there was a lot of emphasis on safety, focus, self-esteem, etc. They made sure the kids knew their address/phone, knew how to react in multiple scenarios with strangers, and even practiced a "polite greeting" to an unknown adult in every class (another parent chosen by the instructor.) All skills I wanted him to know, but received much better coming from someone other than mom, IYKWIM.

    Thanks! Wow, that sounds great with all those safety lessons, definitely something we'd be interested in. We have a Karate school literally right next door to us so I might ask there when they start (I'm not sure if it's for kids, though...). There's also one associated with DD's school but I think I recall them start at age 5.

    Joined: May 2010
    Posts: 281
    F
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    F
    Joined: May 2010
    Posts: 281
    Hi for some reason I do not have all the posts to this section...so hopefully this is not too redundant. My now dd13 was full of energy. We did karate. One of the things we were taught in karate was to quiet the energy, focus and then let the energy "explode" into moves. It was years of training in focusing and directing the energy. I do not think we could have done Yoga or Tai Chi as they were to "slow" and we needed the speed of Karate. (I am also very high energy which made it worse in some ways as we would bounce off of each other, hence I needed training as well!) When my dd was 4 she could hike four miles up hill and we did a lot of that. I think being outside made all that energy dissipate into thin air, whereas being inside made it bounce off the walls.

    Joined: Dec 2010
    Posts: 1,040
    A
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    A
    Joined: Dec 2010
    Posts: 1,040
    passthepotatoes,

    My son has low tone as part of his issues, and he could never stay still. He's still fidgety. And he talks, hums and sings almost constantly, even if no one else is listening - and he's 14. His OT explained some the constant motion as being partly a retained reflex issue (movements constantly being reflexively triggered) and as attempts to maintain proprioceptive input, so he would know here his body was in space. The constant movement improved somewhat as a consequence of the reflex integration techniques she used with him, and what remains gets better when we do deep pressure and massage a few times a day for him. Nothing but reading a sufficiently absorbing book or playing video games that are at the limit of his capacity will make him quiet, though.

    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posts: 687
    P
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    P
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posts: 687
    Aculady - I think that gets to the problem with using the terms low tone or hypotonia - they are way too vague and can be used to describe kids with minor impairments and kids who are lucky to ever learn to walk. Lots of OTs seem to use that pretty freely to describe kids with a very minor degree of lack of strength. I'm thinking more of kids who are actually really floppy - kids like Lori's son who have trouble with even walking into an event from the parking lot. It is hard to have the energy to be bouncy when you are totally floppy.

    Joined: Dec 2009
    Posts: 435
    T
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    T
    Joined: Dec 2009
    Posts: 435
    Thanks for the insight, Hereandnow. I used to be right there with her connecting and meeting her intensity for a good portion of the day but I also have a three year old who is very demanding and active and some hormonal issues so I have less to give. Nonetheless, I thought about what you said yesterday and tried to truly be there when I was interacting. I am going to do that today as well, though it does seem it is never enough. I think finding some friends for her to play with would solve so many things. Perhaps if I can find an engaging program for her to be involved with that would also direct her energy. Right now she is just home full time with me, no classes, is very hard to motivate to go outside and play (doesn't like bugs, the sun, etc.) and we don't have any kids nearby. Yesterday was nice (which has been rare here. It has been raining and cold) and so I got her out a good portion of the day. Thanks everyone for suggestions, and also empathy.

    One of the hardest parts for me is that I can't find quiet time to read, write, reflect, surf the Internet etc. to the extent I'd like. I need those quiet times to rejuevenate. She seems not to require any quiet, introverted moments and I have my own sensory issues. I don't like loud noises, bright lights, commotion, and yet I gave birth two two loud, active, sensory seekers! She also crashes into me hard, leans hard, and elbows me etc. I have to be on guard LOL

    She wakes at 5 am and doesn't nap, then can be up until 8:30 at night and by that time, I am exhausted! I have done things to tweak her sleeping, but have accepted she will always wake up early and be on fire before the rest of us have come to full consciousness. Acceptance is the name of the game in some ways. Yesterday I decided that the road to happiness for me was to let go of doing the things I wanted to do for myself: working in the yard, reading. When I try to do them, I get frustrated because she is so disruptive. If I don't try to do them, then there is less of a battle. Some day when she is in school or more independent, I guess I will read, write, and garden...

    oh, to all those who mentioned video games, do you have any recommendations?

    Joined: Feb 2011
    Posts: 433
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Feb 2011
    Posts: 433
    Hi TwinkleToes: I am just nodding reading your post; you and I are a bit alike I think. Some of it is the introverted parent (who needs to recharge alone) parenting a highly extroverted child or two (who recharge by interacting with other people) Of course the problem is that the kids are recharging at the same time they are draining you! I also imagine that the giftedness magnifies all this.

    You are so right to be thinking about bringing other people/children into the mix. Even story time at the library is a start (and while the librarian is reading, there are all those nice, quiet grown up books lining the walls for you). Would an activity like this suit her?

    Will she go to Kindergarten in the fall? Even if it is not a great academic fit, the social piece could be priceless.

    My other challenge when my kids were this age was I wanted to be friends with other parents, but I didn't really have the "social energy" to initiate the friendships. Everything got much easier once I had a child in school and they started to find their friends, which naturally led to friendships with their parents for me.

    In the meantime hang in there and be sure to get as much sleep as you can. My downfall was always trying to "recharge" after the kids went to bed...by staying up late. It didn't work & the next day I'd be exhausted.

    Last edited by herenow; 05/10/11 07:46 AM.
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posts: 687
    P
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    P
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posts: 687
    Originally Posted by herenow
    In the meantime hang in there and be sure to get as much sleep as you can. My downfall was always trying to "recharge" after the kids went to bed...by staying up late. It didn't work & the next day I'd be exhausted.

    That sure sounds familiar - it is a bad cycle but so easy to do.

    Twinkletoes - I am agreeing more people would be good. Any possibility you have a nice energetic 10-12 year old in the neighborhood who might want to be a "mother's helper" afterschool and this summer. It likely wouldn't cost as much as babysitting and your daughter might enjoy having a devoted playmate.

    Joined: Feb 2011
    Posts: 64
    E
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    E
    Joined: Feb 2011
    Posts: 64
    Hi Twinkletoes.
    I have a super,high energy kiddo too (no ADHD).
    These are things that have worked for us:
    #1. a mini,one-person trampoline. It is a fixture in our family room and is used throughout the day (we are on our third!). This is a serious lifesaver.

    - Schedule your day so that your daughter knows that at x time(s) she will need to occupy herself in her room or other quiet space. This should not be seen as a punishment of course and could be worded as quiet playtime or "me time" (meaning her). Even if her "me time" is in the kitchen teach her that she needs to occupy herself for an appropriate time frame (based on age). I would actually do this twice a day. Over time it will help and it will also give her skills she actually needs . It is not realistic to allow a child to talk all day, non-stop,and interrupt (even when it is their nature). These "me times" can be short, but you will see an improvement and her ability to occupy herself will increase.
    - When my son wanted toys/video games that involved construction or reading instructions to set up I would tell him that if I purchased it he had to set it up himself or teach it to himself. I have never set up a video game etc. and he occupied himself figuring things out. I started this when he was 5 (please note that I did set boundaries/rules especially when it involved electricity).
    Hope this helps- bet the trampoline would be a winner : )

    Page 2 of 4 1 2 3 4

    Moderated by  M-Moderator 

    Link Copied to Clipboard
    Recent Posts
    Help with WISC-V composite scores
    by aeh - 10/28/24 02:43 PM
    i Am genius and no one understands me!!!
    by Eagle Mum - 10/23/24 04:11 PM
    Classroom support for advanced reader
    by Heidi_Hunter - 10/14/24 03:50 AM
    2e Dyslexia/Dysgraphia schools
    by Jwack - 10/12/24 08:38 AM
    Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5