My son had a similar crash at age 9. We made the school aware of our concerns. We took him to an expert in gifted/2e so we could get a comprehensive evaluation.
While we were getting the testing lined up, I would talk to him about school nearly everyday. Getting his perspective on what is happening. We had repeated talks about how I was working really hard to understand why school was not working, to hang on, help is on the way. We also ended up doing a lot of baking. It’s an interest of his. It kept him learning, but in a way completely detached from school. And it gave us something fun to do together.
He was diagnosed with a learning disability (2e). Having the diagnosis allowed him to have accommodations at school and helped me communicate to teachers. 6 months later he was doing so much better and the stress/anxiousness went way. A year later he was winning awards at school and had a gang of friends with common interests. It didn’t “fix” the learning disability, but we learned how to support him and how to explain what’s going on to others. He is still working hard and sometimes long in his weakness area.
Just wanted to give you a little hope that it can improve. I am shocked and relieved as to how quickly the stress lifted once we had a better picture of what was going on. Gifted kids learn fast, so he quickly learned what support helps and started using it. It just needed to be targeted appropriately for a unique profile.
Last edited by millersb02; 06/29/24 07:23 AM.
