I spoke on another thread about how I suspected by DS may be gifted in visual spatial learning due to his test scores when he just turned 6 and was diagnosed with ADHD. The scores are here if you're interested: http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....s/233061/Gifted_DD_2e_DS.html#Post233061

Something new has come to light which has made me wonder even more if he is gifted and has, in fact, been misdiagnosed. He has a Snap Circuits kit which he loves and we got it out again this week for the first time in many months. It didn't hit me before, I guess because I never considered that he may be gifted, but I noticed that he can sit alone and focus and play with it for an hour or more. Also, he doesn't follow the projects that come with it, he insists on making up his own.

A lot of material I've read about misdiagnosis of ADHD states that the lack of concentration and focus should be in ALL areas which makes me wonder. Thoughts?

It's entirely possible that your ds may have been misdiagnosed. Yes, I agree with you that if your child can sustain attention for long stretches of time with a book, a snap circuit, or something else that engages him and stretches his mind that it's possible your ds doesn't have ADHD.

My ds10 was misdiagnosed with ADHD at age 6. We took him to neurofeedback instead of medicating him after we saw an expert who recommended it. Neurofeedback confirmed that ds doesn't have ADHD based on his actual brain wave activity. Also, ds is 2e/pg and the OEs can make it look like ADHD. That's another factor many people without expertise on giftedness or 2e kids miss.

Some individuals report hyper focusing with ADHD: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...dhd-hyperfocus-what-is-it-and-how-use-it

So, I'm not sure that your example rules out ADHD.

In addition, neurofeedback is somewhat controversial as a treatment for ADHD:
http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/mentserv.html

Here's a better link re: neurofeedback:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4892319/

I am a gifted adult with ADHD, and hyper-focus was the reason that many teachers argued against the ADHD diagnosis when I was a child.

How does he do with activities that he doesn't enjoy. Is he able to apply his talents and see a project through? One of the things that I noticed when I hyper focus is that the world kind of quiets down.

One common misconception about ADHD is that it is a deficit in paying attention (hmm, maybe the name has something to do with that!). It is actually a deficit in regulation of attention--so individuals may have, at different times, difficulty sustaining attention, or shifting attention. Another misconception is that the deficit should be without exception. Everyone, diagnosis or no, is more successful at sustaining attention for high-interest tasks, and shifting away from boring tasks. The more significant skills would be the ability to maintain attention for low-interest tasks, and the ability to shift attention away from high-interest tasks.

My 10 year old has very obvious ADHD. But she taught herself to read in preschool by following along with audiobooks, and she can focus for hours on things like computer games. Even the computer coding course that she did independently at home, she would stay on task. But she has a big problem staying on task with academic work, esp. if it involves writing, and has a lot of problems with distractability, except for certain tasks like reading a book she really likes. Or doing arts/crafts projects. She stays on task for things that she really enjoys but has a really hard time with other things.

Well said!

Thanks 75west and Flyingmouse for your responses.

I'm not sure if he is hyperfocusing as the article in the link describes how the participants becomes engulfed in the activity and loses track of time and energy. My DS was very focused on the Snap Circuits but then was quite happy to get ready and go out and play soccer for an hour (after a full day of school) - another activity which he seems to have a natural talent for and is able to concentrate on (for the most part!). Granted, he was wiped afterwards though!

I don't enough about neurofeedback to provide an opinion but it seems to be one of those methods that creates a lot of contention between experts.

Thanks everyone for your responses!

I always thought DS had obvious ADHD as I constantly have to redirect his attention when he's doing homework and his teachers have reported the same thing, however he will sit and concentrate on things he's interested in. Also, if he hasn't been outside and burnt off energy, he can be bouncing off the walls.

It does seem difficult to get his attention when he is really into something but I could say exactly the same about DD - and DH come to that!

ADHDers have good days and bad days. Inconsistency in attention is hallmark. As is hyperfocus. It's not always so extreme, and a generally flexible child can snap out of it just fine. My Advanced and ADHD son hyper focuses (like right now) but doesn't have issues with reasonable task switches.

I wouldn't talk yourself in or out of anything - it's too easy and doesn't help anyone. I had myself completely talked out of my son's giftedness and ADHD. I was questioning everything. So I had him retested (IQ) while medicated for ADHD. The difference between pre-ADHD and post-ADHD meds was shocking! I'm not in denial anymore! Perhaps some follow-up testing would put your mind at rest and help guide your parenting and academic decisions?

Also ADHD runs in families, so similar ies between your son's attention and other family members is not relevant in terms of whether or not your son has ADHD. (They might all have ADHD!).

My dad (undiagnosed), myself, my sister and one of her children, one brother (undiagnosed), my son, my ex-husband, my best friend I've known since high school, my close Internet-friend and one of her children. ADHD is my normal so comparing my son to friends and family isn't meaningful!

Thanks sanne, that makes a lot of sense. I have in fact just been tested for ADHD myself and I will be getting the results next week so I'll let you know! I see a lot of myself in DS in that respect.

I will be getting both kids tested I think just to see. DD is in the gifted program at school and I'd be interested to see what her IQ is, also we think she may have 'stealth' dyslexia (my DH is dyslexic). DS is a lot more advanced academically than the first time we tested but we don't medicate so we'll see what happens.

Jeeves, there are different types of neurofeedback and different system manufacturers and a lot of infighting in the field as everyone thinks their system is best. It is unfortunate because pretty much all linear model systems are great in the right hands and the non-linear dynamical system is great in any hands but the infighting and competition for supremacy in the field has really impeded the overall growth and promotion of this modality.

Also, there are a bunch of cheap gimmicky toys flooding the market that call themselves neurofeedback and their lackluster results lead users to think all types of neurofeedback must not work.

I did a lot of research on it before trying it (you can read my thread from several years ago, if you have a couple hours lol). And now I can now confidently speak from 5 years of personal experience. I am a firm believer in this technology.

My experience has been with NeurOptimal dynamical neurofeedback: pretty much everyone benefits and there are no negative side effects. It isn't targeted treatment so it doesn't matter what your diagnosis is, your whole brain gets a chance to observe and optimize its functioning. This means no diagnosis is required to start training and there is no risk of over training or getting it wrong. It is just overall better functioning. Two Olympic rowing teams used it this year for peak mental performance and a competitive edge(England and the Netherlands).

I used it on my 7 year old rescue Border Collie who had severe storm anxiety and after 2 sessions she was like a different dog during thunderstorms so I think that ruled out placebo in my mind

After seeing what neurofeedback did for my daughter 5 years ago, I was determined to make it more accessible (affordable) for others, I have now been renting out NeurOptimal dynamical neurofeedback systems for home training for 4 years (this is the only kind of neurofeedback that I would recommend for DIY or home use because it is fully automated and requires zero expertise to use safely and effectively).

I have yet to have any parent tell me they didn't see big improvements in their child after training a month at home with a rental. In fact, several parents went on to buy systems after seeing what one month of training could do.

I have seen many kids avoid being medicated with training. I have also had a number of parents tell me their child has gone from hating reading to skipping several grade levels - 2 parents in the last 6 months told me their child is now losing the dyslexia label and dropping services because their reading fluency and comprehension now test well above grade level. I am hoping to get a study together on reading specifically. There have been a few very small studies on this topic that look promising already.

Additionally, I just wrapped up a year long placebo controlled double blind pilot study using it for employees in the workplace which yielded some pretty interesting and compelling results, I plan to present the findings at a conference this spring.

It is difficult to deign a good study because each person has a unique set of co-morbid factors and extrinsic constraints -outside variable that you can never really control for.

Here is a video on the use of NeurOptimal in a special needs school last year, note the school administrator says all children benefited regardless of their unique underlying issues and the time away from class was well worth it for the huge leaps that were occurring in the classroom: http://neurofeedbackforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=44

I hope this is helpful for anyone looking into neurofeedback. I couldn't find what I wanted when I began my search way back when so I am doing my best to put it out there for others.