Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums GT Research Behavioral Quirks in Gifted Children

I too don't understand why the teacher can't give your daughter a heads up about the end of class, but maybe is there some kind of electronic watch with an alarm, or a timer, that she could use to remind her when it's 5 minutes before the end of class? That might be all she would need.

We kind of have opposite issues--almost a complete lack of organization, no matter how much time is available. So I'm a little jealous

Two of the three engineers that I work with regularly will not allow anyone to knock on their office door. If it is open, you're welcome to come in and ask them a question. But when it is closed, they are architecting systems and solving huge problems with design, and they refuse to let anyone else disturb that process unless it is an emergency. And if you do ask them a question or even make a comment when they're focused on programming, it takes a while for them to "surface" to answer you.

The reason I point this out is that I've become very aware that a lot of the traits that make someone excellent at their job are the very same traits that annoy teachers and make kids feel inadequate in school.

My son also focuses deeply on projects, takes a bit to surface and pivot to something new, and will sometimes "waste" time in class that he could be doing work because he says it isn't enough time to get into it and get it done, so he'd rather wait until he gets home. I've had to come down on him for chatting and disrupting others when he's opted to wait until he gets home and am working on helping him break tasks down into 10-minute bites so that he can do parts of his work at school.

But to a certain extent, I'm not going to let him think focusing intensely is a bad thing, because it's not.

At least in my state, to suggest a diagnosis means that the school corporation must PAY for testing. We are encouraged to tread lightly when talking with parents about a possible disability and to discuss specific behaviors, but not a diagnosis. I find it surprising that a teacher would go there.

That being said, I wouldn't take the concerns lightly either. If the teacher felt compelled to mention it, he/she must truly be concerned. It's never easy to talk about problems that a child is having.

My dd9 hates transitions too. She also hyper-focuses on things and appears to ignore you... Makes my grandmother furious.

My guess is that it's a sign that you aren't showing "leadership".

Excuse me? I'd say you were assuming an awful lot about my leadership skills or lack thereof based on two paragraphs I wrote about people that I don't even manage manage.

These engineers own their own company and are very successful. They are not my employees; I only consult with them as a client with my own company but do know them all personally and as such am privy to their personal work styles.

The point I was hoping to make is that hyper focus is not a bad thing. You're certainly welcome to assume whatever you'd like.

My point was that such type of behavior in children would quite possibly be taken as a lack of "leadership potential."

I wasn't saying anything about your leadership or their leadership, or their success, or anything in the adult world, merely how such intense focus is likely to be interpreted by school teachers.