Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy What should i do , please help ..

[/quote]And as a disability attorney, I can tell you that ADHD is often viewed as a "Ticket To Cash", so there are some secondary gain issues here.

Kind of like everybody's bipolar these days. [/quote]

I have no idea what you mean by a "ticket to cash" or that comment about bipolar

Yes. Start with the school, and let us know how that conversation goes. Not all schools are as receptive to these tests, so you need to start with them. You might get to have your son "try out" second grade even without all these test in place.

ADHD is a popular condition with respect to seeking child SSI benefits. Parents use child SSI benefits as household income, so seeking diagnosis of this condition is sometimes viewed as seeking secondary gain (money).

Bipolar is the diagnosis that lots of people are getting these days, more from GPs than psychiatrists, coupled with prescriptions for Xanax. My psychiatrist BIL sees it a lot. He's of the opinion that the diagnosis often means that you are poorly educated and angry, more than anything else. Diagnoses seem to be run as fads, and for the last few years, it's been bipolar disorder.

Actually during the first 2 weeks of school , the teacher kept telling us about the problem my son had at school , such as fidgeting , interrupting , not keeping hands and feet to himself , squirms in seat a lot .. all of those signs of adhd , so we decided why not asking the pediatrician if he has adhd or no . i am well aware that a lot of children these days are misdiagnosed and just a little acting out , they're told they have adhd , i don't want my son to be misdiagnosed for something that he doesn't have and then forced to be put on a medication . So we took the questionare that the doctor gave us and the teacher , doctor said to be adhd it has to be everywhere , home , school, church , etc .. but my son's acting out only in school , and with that said , his pediatrician said no , he is not adhd , but he's gifted , even the school said this themselves that my son's acting out is probably due to the boredom and because he was a high ability student/ gifted .

We'll see what the school has to say , i probably will mention about skipping grade and like herenow says let my son try out the 2nd grade for a month or so , see how he does . This is exactly what his pediatrician said too yesterday .

This is off topic, but . . .

Yes, there are people who get SSI for ADHD, and like anything else, there are people who abuse the system. A disability lawyer sees a lot of this, I would imagine.

In my pediatric practice, though, I can only think of 2-3 patients who get SSI for ADHD, and we have lots of ADHD patients. The kids who get diagnosed, by and large, really have the disorder, and it impairs them to varying degrees. Our brightest kids can compensate well for many years, so it goes unnoticed. Most ADHD practitioners agree that at least half of people who have ADHD go undiagnosed and untreated.

I am *not* saying that joylivg's son has ADHD; I'm just saying that practitioners and parents are less aware of the symptoms than maybe we should be, and certainly there's a lot of denial about the disorder.

ADHD doesn't have to manifest everywhere; it has to manifest in at least 2 areas of life. So if there are no problems outside of school, probably that's not ADHD. But just because a kid can sit and do legos at home for an hour, that doesn't rule out an attention disorder. This is complicated stuff, as all human behavior is, and that fact that behavior is a spectrum makes it harder to pin down.

JonLaw -
Please do not threadjack:

I think you've gotten lots of great advice. I would ask the Doctor to call the school and tell the school that 45 min x 3 times a week isn't enough, and that a trial gradeskip is needed.

I would also take a look at the home environment. You son might be 'just fine' at home because you are not asking him to live up to the expectations that other 6 year olds can easily live up to. You might be building success into the environment in ways that happen so gradually that you might not notice them. Ask youself, 'If my son had to live at _________'s house, would be able to do it?' about a few of your friends or relatives. Gifted kids can sometimes use their strengths to compensate for ADHD if the environment is quite flexible. Gifted Parents can sometimes use their strenghts to compensate for a child's ADHD if they are willing to be quite flexible.

So it's totally possible that all your child needs is a classroom where the other kids are ready to learn the same things he is ready to learn.

It's also possible that he is both Gifted and has ADHD.

It's time to try a few things and see what happens.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

I agree with the PP about getting outside testing done. It will give you and the school a clearer picture. I wouldn't do it with the school psych as they are not really qualified to test gifted children. Most of them also only have a bachelors!

We got our DS7 tested outside and it only cost us about $300. Not sure where the other poster got $1000? This is from a very well respected psychologist who specializes in gifted children. She's even written a book about it. Maybe the PP was also including ADHD and or asd tests with a neuropsych? That would cost thousands!

Good luck. I'm happy at least the school is being somewhat accommodating. My sons previous school refused to do anything with his giftedness so we are now in private. Not perfect but better.....so far.

I buy psychological testing all the time.

I pay $300-ish for psychological testing such as IQ scores (for mental retardation-illiteracy issues - WAIS and WRAT run me $200 I think - just off the top of my head - from a guy with a masters), whereas I pay $1,000+ for neuropsychological testing (from a Ph.D.).

Some entities accept testing from masters level psychologists. Some other entities require that a Psy.D. or a Ph.D. sign off on it.

Btw. Your kid sounds like mine. DS7 school tested him and said he has ADHD and possible Asperger's. Qualified for special Ed under OHI and ASD. They did not feel his giftedness and asynchronous development had anything to do with his behavior problems. He was tested outside by. PHD and found to be PG with no ASD or ADHD. Sigh....

Long story short they were giving him services for ADHD and ASD but not accommodating his giftedness so none of the interventions worked. We pulled him out of public school and now he goes to private.

Hope something works out for you. Glad the school is being somewhat helpful.