Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Regrets or doubts on getting assessment/eval/dx?

Looking back at my childhood, what they focused on was my mother had a mental health dx of p schizophrenia, so they assumed junk like I was hearing voices instead of children picking on me and stuff like that.

I did get an ADHD diagnosis and tons of therapy and school interventions and everything under the sun because of that. But I'm a confusing person with an unclear label even today. About the only good thing a label is for is to get services... because tell someone you are bipolar for example and if they know lots about bipolar they will be thinking of all sorts of stereotypes about you.

Angix, that's what I was afraid of. Getting a label and nothing good coming out of it. His behavior isn't totally out of line especially at school so I always debate...

If he fits Ruf Level 3 to 4 even 50% then yes - travel for your assesment.
These kids are confusing, and that alone is a reason to 'get with' a professional. There aren't just there to spit out and answer such as:


"Need radical acceleration"
or
"must homeschool"
or
"is 2E with the following exceptionalities________"

although that might help you with the school questions...

they are there so that when the X hits the fan for you, you can get some reasonable guidance from someone who 'gets' your kid -

And if they can help you understand your child better, well now we are talking about something truely useful. (provided that they are correct - truly dangerous if they are incorrect, sad to say, but usually even the incorrect ones help move things forward provisionally.)

Here's a try for a link:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&a...f403bed&z=4

Best Wishes,
Grinity

Grinity,

Would you travel (a long distance) for an evaluation by one of the experts based on the Ruf Levels 3/4 if school IQ testing/screening does not show HG/PG numbers? My GD 5 yrs, 10 mos is going to be evaluated at school (they suspect Asperger's - we're skeptical) and as part of the evaluation will be giving her an IQ test. They would not say what test so I'm not sure if it will even be a "true IQ test" or just a "screener". If because of her age (just under 6) or her lack of cooperation due to being at school (bad experiences), or a possible 2E issue affecting the areas requiring concentration, she were to score as "only MG", would it be worth it to spend the $$ to get an opinion from an expert based on meeting almost all of Level 3 and some of Level 4? Sorry to butt in on the original post, but your answer made me wonder how to look at this. Of course, I'm just speculating about the results at this point.

My DS8 and I have just gone through this. He has been diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome, which is more than just the outward tics, it has components of OCD and ADD. We are not medicating but are writing an IEP next week to accomadate his classroom needs. I will say that having this dx has made the teachers lighten up and give him some room. It also lets me know that he isn't just trying to drive me nuts. Before the dx it was suggested as aspergers, add, ocd, opp/def and everyother group of letters. We were fortunate to see Dr. Amend in Kentucky to review our records and he agreed with all this. I would have never thought of Tourette's due to my own preconcieved ideas but looking back it is now obvious, there I just put one more possibility in your basket sorry

It's my belief that it is even more important to travel in exactly this situation. It's so easy for the less experienced testers to say - 'Congratulations, you have an optimally gifted child' and break out the champagne, while you are stuck still wondering about overlooked 2E issues and PG issues.

That's what my life experience tells me.
Love and More Love,
Grinity

Grinity,

Thanks for the advise - my daughter is already considering getting a second opinion depending on the outcome of the school evaluation. If it seems warranted, I will try to convince her to at least do a phone interview with one of the best and if she likes what she hears, travel this summer for an evaluation. We desperately need to get the "real scoop" on GD and I don't know if there is anyone in Houston we can trust to be familiar enough with kids like GD.

vicam - I'm glad you got your son an accurate diagnosis and are seeing a change in attitude with the teachers at least. I guess I should look up Tourette's now - thanks I think. Seriously I appreciate the input and will do more research. I've been doing a lot of reading lately.

Any and all info on Tourettes needed - experiences and first observations? DS has been doing what we think are tics for a week now:
blinking a lot
mouth stretching
sniffing (but hard to tell if allergies bc allergies year round for him w/runny nose)

Stress!

Motor tics are very common in young boys especially. Usually they are benign and just go away without any intervention. You could see a pediatric neurologist to reassure yourself or ask your pediatrician, but the vast majority of these are transient and require no treatment.

Tics that persist over time, are multiple and include vocal tics, and/or interfere with the function of the kid, may warrant an neurologic exam to make sure they are not Tourette's or any other more complicated neurologic issue.

IIRC, it's been a while since a read about this, but I think about 8 is a very common time for tics. You can just google "transient motor tics" and find a lot more resources.

My DS went through a period of about a month with tics and rapid eye blinking. I talked to his pediatrician and she said give it a little time. It went away within about 3-4 weeks. Apparently it is something a lot of little boys do, no idea why.