OK, I knew DS4 was a little "off" in his cognitive vs social/emotional development, and recent events have just solidified it.

He took the PPVT, and scored... I don't have it in front of me right now, but he scored in the 99.7th percentile or something like that. I have no real desire or need to get him tested any further at this point (everyone at his preschool gets tested because they get grant funding and need to test the kiddos for that purpose), but I think it's a good indication that he is, at the very least, a pretty smart cookie. The adding and subtracting and fraction-getting and reading and writing... also good indications.

His "self-help" was all right, and probably will get better this summer (we do a lot of the dressing stuff because he's such a space cadet; if we waited for him to button his pants we'd get everyone to school/work/babysitter at somewhere around noon) when we have the time to just let him practice and do stuff for himself. And even if it doesn't improve a lot this summer, I'm fine with that. He's the stereotypical "absentminded smart kid." Probably gets it from me.

And then there's his social/emotional score. Granted, it was based on my observations and reporting, and I might be a bit of a "harsh grader," but he scored, ladies and gentlemen, in the 8th percentile for kids his age. The cutoff score for "OK" is the 7th percentile, so he's BARELY doing all right.

He still has trouble transitioning between activities, even with ten-five-one minute warnings, and clear expectations of how "leaving nicely" or "putting it away nicely" looks. He hits when he's angry... but only at home. We put him in time-out when he starts raging, mostly just to give everyone a break, he refuses to stay in time-out. We pick him up from preschool, he leaves happily (which is actually a big step... for the first half of the year we literally had to stuff him into his coat and carry him out kicking and screaming). Then he finds out what we're having for dinner, or what we're going to do or not do that evening, or something else... and it absolutely sets him off. We drive home with him kicking the seat back and wailing.

I know that people usually look at the "immature gifted kid" and see a kid who is gifted but then average in the social or emotional sense and therefore looks immature compared to his cognitive and/or academic abilities... but this is awful. He KNOWS that he'll get to play his computer game again. He knows that even though it's not the pot stickers he wanted, he also enjoys fried chicken and broccoli. And yet... the meltdowns continue.

Tell me it gets better? Or tell me to get him help? I dropped him off at preschool today in tears (me in tears, not him).

Last edited by smacca; 05/22/12 11:07 AM.