His handwriting was actually 100% on first grade level at our first parent-teacher meeting of the year. She also said his relationship with peers was on par as well. This all changed over the summer, from kinder to 1st grade - maturity perhaps? We did see a pedi neuro a few years ago who said autism didn't exist, it was all just frontal lobe immaturity and some kids catch up, others don't. I thought he was a nut but the more I see, the more I think he may be right.
Shari - we're in south Texas, not *too* far from you.
Is profoundly gifted a diagnosis...I wonder. I wonder if school districts account for it at all, those without a dedicated GT program. Your typical gifted child will be bored in school now and then but generally doesn't act out or have behavior problems. But PG kids are so into their own worlds that they have a lot of trouble doing what is expected of them and behavioral issues result, I'm sure teachers can't see beyond the acting out most of the time. A ton of these kids fall through the cracks and are never tested because their schoolwork doesn't show what they're capable of. They're also more often medicated, which can dull their giftedness. The book was good in identifying the behaviors - all of what I've listed with my DS fit the bill - but not how to manage them. Hence another order placed with Amazon.
So if he is identified in this subgroup, I wonder if he could receive provisions at school to balance out the behaviors, ie, having giftedness as a diagnosis? I guess we'll learn more about that after his testing. Anyways, there's a big difference between an Aspie who doesn't interact with peers because he doesn't understand the social relationship, and a PG who "gets it" but doesn't care because it's not a big deal to him. I really don't want to be paying $200/month plus 4 hours of therapy to teach my DS something that yes, he knows, but no, he doesn't care and will care when he needs it, if indeed he's quirky smart like your kiddo.
My mommy gut tells me he isn't an Aspie. When we first got the diagnosis, I was ecstatic - after 2 years and numerous clinicians, I had something on paper I could hold on to, not "sorry, I can't help you" again. Someone who knew more than I did found out what was troubling my child and now I could read more about it and find all the tips and tricks that would make our life easier. But I have a shelf of books on Aspergers now, and they still don't make sense. Yes, he has some of the same characteristics, but the source of trouble is different. He's not a "little professor" by any stretch of the imagination, he's still just a very odd, quirky kid. I would love for him to fit the Aspie mold, to have a neat little pocket to fit in to, but it's not happening. I truly believe he's not on the spectrum.
And thanks for the tip on the Wormhole, we missed it on the Science channel but that would make a great stocking stuffer for Christmas.
DeeDee - his initial diagnosis of Aspergers was made by a developmental pediatrician who is one of the top in the field for autism. We were on a 10 month wait list just to be tested, which took 4 separate days. So she is very well versed in that disorder - her own son has Aspergers. However, she is not versed in gifted kids. So on one hand, I have an ASD expert telling me she thinks he has Aspergers but he doesn't test on the ADOS and there are a lot of characteristics that can't be explained by the Aspergers (she thought it might possibly be bipolar, which is mentioned in the misdiagnosis book as another frequently misdiagnosed condition). My plan is to have him tested at the gifted center and if they come back and say hey, this kid is just gifted and all his quirks are part of his giftedness, then I'm going back to the dev pedi with this information, and the misdiagnosis book, and ask her what she thinks and would she revise her diagnosis based on this information or not? Or, if the center comes back and says "looks like Aspergers," then I have my answer. Either way, I will be able to gain a little more insight into what makes him tick and hopefully it will help to guide my parenting. Because right now, I have a bookshelf full of books that have approaches that haven't done squat.
DeHe - looking forward to when schools go entirely digital. My kid would fly through homework if the assignments were on an iPad....his G&T class are writing out fables and I didn't know the kid LIKED writing until they did it all on iPad.
