I've had two of three of my kids on IEP - the older son as gifted, the younger originally for speech and has mushroomed from there.
The younger (12 now) started with speech delay that led to the discovery of dyslexia and then testing by a neuropsych where he was diagnosed as dysgraphic and screened and excluded for ADHD. Do know that while some kids (my oldest being one of them) are gifted with ADHD, gifted kids with an exceptionality can appear as if they have ADHD when, in fact, they do not. Having the documentation to prove my son didn't have ADHD has been used more than once with a teacher who wanted a easy pill-popping fix to deal with my son's dreamy inattentiveness, disorganization, or quirks.
Our IEPs have been for the most part very successful. I've found that through the years most of the teachers were my son's biggest advocates, asking for accommodations they thought would make a difference in their ability to really pull out of him what they could see inside and would give him successes they knew he needed. If you have even one teacher who sees the gift despite the disability, recruit them to help you advocate for the best possible conditions for your child. They "inside" the system and, as such, often have sway that we as parents do not.
It hasn't been all rosy, and I have had teachers, especially this year, openly defy and passive-aggressively ignore parts of my son's IEP. But for the most part, the teachers have had the same goal that I have to help my son be as successful as possible.
Good luck with this part of the journey!
