Actually Val, hyperfocus is considered a symptom of ADHD. And ADHD, particularly inattentive type (which used to be called ADD) is not about the inability to pay attention ever, but the ability to control your attention. Just because a child can read a book or play computer games for hours, or any other activity that the reward is part of the doing, does not mean they are able to make themselves pay attention to somethig boring now for only an abstract later reward (or avoidance of later consequences).
I think it's really hard to diagnose ADHD in the presence of poor school fit, because as you say how much bordem can you expect a 6yr old to tolerate? But the gifted, primarily inattentive type kids who can manage to pass school are the ones that get missed, especially girls - because they aren't bouncing off the walls, picking fights and generally driving everyone else spare.
My DD is nearly 10, in so many respects she is SO much better now than at 6.5, with some improvements due to maturity, some due to OT, diet, piano & swimming, etc. But i cant tell you how much I wished we had pursued an accurate diagnosis at 6.5-7.5 yrs. And while I know that all those things we did before accepting we needed to go for the ADHD and ASD assessments helped her, putting the cart before the horse only made getting a diagnosis that much harder.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I agree that a gifted kid bored out of their brain can be misdiagnosed. But dual diagnosis is a very real possibility and given how under diagnosed girls can be, let alone gifted girls, I do wonder how likely is misdiagnosis v. dual diagnosis? It's oh so appealling to say that it's just over excitability and giftedness. Would that my DD was just over excitable...
