I'm not an M.D., so I'm just thinking out loud here.
Six and a half is very young. Today's schools expect children to sit still for far longer than they did in the early 80s and before. IMO, this is unhealthy and the expectation that children can sit still for hours is unrealistic for many kids. Especially if the children are highly creative and highly energetic.
I believe that my son is highly gifted. We haven't done an IQ test, but he's skipped two grades and his current grade isn't much of a challenge for him. He's never taken Ritalin (though it was suggested that we look into it back in kindergarten). Like your daughter, he wouldn't sit still, created distractions (circle time was a big problem), and was generally a huge challenge for his teachers. We had constant meetings about his behavior. Yeesh.
A big part of the problem, which a teacher who taught him for two years finally admitted, was that the work was too easy for him. Some kids act out when the work is too easy.
She reads at least at 4th grade level. She can do any math skill on the computer. She writes and illustrates amazing stories. But she just WON'T complete a worksheet no matter what!
Repeating: I'm not an MD. I also haven't met your daughter. But here is a thought that occurred to me in reading through your previous messages: does she really have ADD or she just frustrated with boring worksheets? Why should a six-year-old ---
a little child --- be expected to sit and focus on something that's too easy? If she can do relatively complex things on a computer, why should she be happy to sit down and count little pictures of fruits or balls or happily do other very basic stuff? Personally, I was not surprised one bit when my six-year-old was getting fidgety when asked to spend hours focusing on stuff that was too easy for him. Who wouldn't?
I don't know your daughter and I don't know how serious her problems with paying attention are. But if she can focus on stories or non-worksheet math problems, why are you convinced that she has ADD? Isn't the ability to hyper-focus kind of the opposite of ADD? A kid in my class in first grade had ADD. He could not sit still and could not focus, and if he was off his meds, it was blazingly obvious to one and all. Phew.
Has anyone asked
your daughter why she doesn't want to do those worksheets? When does she concentrate and when does she fidget? Is there a pattern to her behaviors?
It gets worse after lunch.
Does it get worse after lunch at home? What classes does she have after lunch? Is she tired? Does it still get worse if she's asked to sit down and do something that you've seen her hyperfocus on?
I googled
"gifted children" ADD misdiagnosis.
This book was one result.
ADD has a very broad definition and we live in a culture that (IMO) labels children with ADD too readily. And the jury is still out on Ritalin and changes to permanent changes in brain chemistry.
Again, I don't know your situation, so if I'm coming across as rude or clueless or otherwise negative, please excuse me. It's just that I've read so many messages here describing kids who sound so much like yours, and are suffering from a poor educational fit rather than ADD. You know your daughter's problems better than anyone. I am only here throwing out questions that may or may not have been asked.
Just my two cents. Well, maybe fifty cents at this point.
