Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Overwhelmed, seeking advice...new to all this.

Hi All, after years of suspecting we had an issue, we finally had our ds (13) and in 8th grade tested. He was found to have a high IQ, (which we had suspected) and low processing speed. We haven't met with the psychologist yet but have had such a horrible week at school that I need some input asap. My son for several years has maintained decent grades (mostly a's and some b's) despite an ongoing issue with completing homework, then forgetting to turn it in. This past week I discovered he had 4 missing assignments, and our school has a zero policy for missing/late work. When I discovered it, I emailed the teacher and set up a meeting for that day, immediately after school. In the meeting, my son searched for and found all 4 missing and completed assignments in various places (desk, locker, organizer.) The teacher could not have been less sympathetic and essentially told him it was time to grow up and take responsibility. This same teacher is writing his high school application recommendations. Could low processing speed have anything to do with him missing the cues to turn in assignments? What is going on here? She says he is often in fog and not paying attention. Any thoughts are very much appreciated. I'm just starting to learn what processing speed is. I'm very concerned that we have found this out so late with high school around the corner. My son is the dearest, sweetest spirit imaginable for a 13 year old boy. But he is also perceived as unmotivated, underachieving, and socially young. I just want to help him.

In your shoes I would be doing some reading on innattentive ADHD / ADD and then making sure to ask about this at your meeting. Your description sounds fairly textbook for a gifted / ADHD-i child.

The things that caught my attention were:

high IQ / low processing speed (often associated with ADHD)
"often in a fog and not paying attention"
Completed but lost homework
Bright child perceived as lazy/disorganised/unmotivated
Underachieving
Socially immature

I can only reiterate the above post. Your son sounds exactly like my gifted/ADHD (inattentive type) daughter. I would take him to see a psychologist to be screened for ADHD as well as executive function difficulties. Our psychologist provided us with an incredibly thorough report which included recommendations for her school to implement as well as suggestions for how we could help her at home. It sounds like you'll get no assistance from the teacher even if your son does have ADHD so you may need to go the route of a 504 or an IEP to get your son the accomodations he needs. Good luck.

Does sound like inattentive type ADHD.

Your pediatrician may be able to diagnose as well, without the psych eval -- there are rating scales (Connors, Vanderbilt) we use that the parents, teacher, and maybe sports coaches fill out . . . some peds do, and some do not.

I personally would be reluctant to let a pediatrician diagnose ADHD on the basis of the Conners or other rating scale without also getting the neuropsych eval. My AS/NVLD/dysgraphic son scores as having a nearly 100% probability of having ADHD inattentive and hyperactive on these scales, but virtually all of the behaviors that put him there are actually symptoms of his other issues.

I agree with aculady--honestly I just don't think the Connors does a good job at getting at inattentive add in a gifted kid and I would want to go ahead NOW and get the full neuropsych eval--I just don't trust the regular ped. to have the expertise to get this right. Your son sounds a lot like I was. I was identified as gifted but not challenged enough, and as an adult I concluded I also have ADD inattentive/executive function issues. (And my brother, father, and cousins have similar stories) So I think ADD could for sure be a factor. But I also know that starting as early as 4th grade I didn't turn in/complete work not because of executive function issues but because I thought it was so completely stupid/boring/meaningless. So it is good to get this sorted out now before he gets further--fwiw I think my executive function skills would have improved with an appropriate challenge.

edited to add: just saw the "in a fog" comment--yes, this could be ADD inattentive--but it is really hard to pay attention and not be in a fog if you are bored out of your mind because the work is too easy.

This letter could have been written by me, many times with my DS14. He was always forgetting to bring things home from school so he would not have the workbooks necessary to complete homework. Even when he did bring them home, papers would get "lost" in the backpack, the desk, left at home, dropped on floor, you name it. Any decrease in his grades from A's was mainly due to missing assignments or late work. The only testing we had done for my son was the school's IQ testing to qualify him for the gifted program. He had qualifying scores, but unlike your son did not have processing speed issues. He was as you describe though in a fog, not paying attention; teachers described him as unmotivated and socially young.
Strangely in 8th grade is when things really changed for him. All of a sudden, he was keeping up with his own things and really doing a great job with it. This could be due to classes becoming more challenging or him just reaching the maturity level to keep up with everything.
Some tips I tried when I was really having an issue. Every day, I shook out everything in his backpack. We went through all papers one by one, papers that could stay home and/or be disposed of. Put any papers that needed to go back to school in special folder. He picked out folder it was a certain color and he knew any work that the teacher would call to be turned in was in this folder. One side of folder had completed work and the other side was for work in progress. He also kept a daily agenda where he wrote down all assignments, upcoming tests, etc. I checked that daily and made sure all assignments that were due were in backpack. If they weren't there, he competed them again so he could turn them in. I asked a lot of questions and spent a lot of time going over everything. We also checked for necessary supplies, pens, pencils, paper, colored pencils etc. and restocked anything that was missing.
On second thought, maybe in 8th grade he got tired of me going through all his stuff every day and asking so many questions, he decided to do it himself. Best of luck to you in getting to the bottom of this.

I strongly second the suggestion of a private neuropsych eval before drawing conclusions about ADHD/inatttentive type. The quote MumOfThree mentioned *exactly* fits my ds, who does *not* have ADHD but has Developmental Coordination Disorder and an expressive language disorder. He was suspected of having ADHD/inattentive type in 2nd grade when he zoned out in class, stared off into space, didn't complete his work. His teacher was convinced he had ADHD. So many of these symptoms overlap between different challenges and special needs, which is why it's important to have a neuropsychologist eval to help tease out what's really going on.

Like your ds, our ds has a large discrepancy between VIQ/PRI and processing speed. The neurospcyhologist chose tests to follow up on that discrepancy which pinpointed what the root of the issue was. Understanding the cause has (I think) helped us deal with it and make accommodations more effectively.

Best wishes,

polarbear

I definitely think the OP should seek the right professional advice! I can't really speak to what that would be in the US is all, which is why I suggested asking questions at the upcoming meeting with the person she is already consulting and going from there.

Neuropsychology is not really a recognised field here in Australia. In actual fact the psychologist I most recently took DD too was a US qualified neuropsych, though it was not mentioned or advertised in anyway and I wouldn't have known had I not read the certificates on his wall while paying my bill. And sadly we weren't that impressed with him in the end, the paed we took her to next was MUCH more on the ball. Though here the advice for developmental disorders is generally to go to a developmental paed.

Thanks to all so much for your replies. Our son was evaluated by a psychologist (neuro?) and had about 7 hours of testing. We had a verbal report for various reasons and will meet with the psych. next week for a thorough review of the report. She did say she did not find adhd. We were expecting to hear an adhd (inattentive) diagnosis. Our pediatrician does feel it is likely adhd. Do any of you have a child with low processing speed and but not adhd who also struggle with organization, turning in complete assignments etc? DS also suffers from frequent headaches (he has been fully tested and it is most likely hereditary- myself, 2 of my sibling, my mom) It is possible the teacher is seeing that on his face. Another issue is that he has always done math in his head (despite constant requests by his math teacher to show his work). His teacher feels he is 'highly capable' in math, but that the lack of showing work is as the problems become more difficult is causing him to make errors and not see them. She also says he seems unfocused and doesn't have the mental energy to do the work at times. I will add that he struggles to fall at sleep at night and gets 8 hours sleep, 8.5 on a good night.
I'm just so stressed that we didn't have him tested earlier. We are in a private school and busy trying to figure out what the best fit high school will be. Thanks again.