Thanks everyone for the replies. I am sorry I haven't responded earlier. We are in the beginnings of more therapy and evaluations for my daughter and emotionally I am just so exhausted. Instead of jumping right in with a full round of neuropsychological testing, dd is seeing a therapist to see if we can get a grasp on what is going on with her in an overall sense and if, indeed, the testing is needed.
Grinity, such good questions. She is defiant with her teacher and is so strong-willed about what she wants to do. She'll read all day in school rather than doing the school work. She does not work with her peers and frequently kicks or wants to fight/argue with them. She has two friends in her class of 32. She has inappropriate responses to things, what her therapist calls "maladaptive behaviors" including growling, yes, growling, when she doesn't like what someone is telling her to do. She identifies with animals far more than people and she does seem to lack empathy for people. She has been very self-centered (she is an only and is seriously overstaffed).
Her teacher also saw that she seemed to struggle with math because she couldn't explain how she got to her answer and she attributed that to not understanding the math concepts. It's the same thing I have heard about dd since she was 7. She resists learning math in the classroom and has even stated that she "can't" learn math in class. However, since I started her with an independent learning program for math she is doing very well and her teacher is now saying she is "advanced" in math.
On the other hand, she is developing more of a caring attitude and is being more and more considerate as she grows up. She has an amazing imagination. She plays cooperatively with other children in a small group or one-on-one. She is very expressive. All these things seem to contra-indicate AS.
Her teacher just wrote a note for me about her behaviors in school and in the note she ended with a statement about her being an independent learner and that she would thrive in another school environment. Now I just need to find that environment. Her teacher is genuinely concerned about her if she goes back to the school she is in. She is in the gifted class right now, but honestly, I have to say what they are doing is not what I would call gifted work. She is globally advanced in all academic areas, with math being her weakest subject (as I mentioned above). She is an independent learner. She teaches herself so much through various non-fiction science and history books as well as historical fiction. Her teacher has frequently commented on just how broad a knowledge base she has. She reads on a college level - comprehension, vocabulary, and speed (350+ WPM). When she does write, she writes very well with generally correct spelling and punctuation and with neat handwriting. She just doesn't like to do it, or has some other issue such as dysgraphia, but I am not really sure what dysgraphia is exactly. Her lack of writing could be related to her desire to perfect her ability in something before demonstrating it. She did that with reading. She went from not reading to reading at a 5th grade level (or higher) in first-second grade. Until I mentioned it to her teacher that she was reading certain books, her reading testing didn't recognize that she was the highest-level reader in the class. That's typical for her with teachers and classrooms - she does not demonstrate what she knows.
I have so many books - Taking Charge of ADHD, the Gift of ADHD, the Dual/Misdiagnosis of Gifted Children, Living with Intensity, Raising the Spirited Child, Dreamers Discoverers and Dynamos, and Taking Control to name some of them. Right now I'd say I really like Living with Intensity. I see dd in the pages. It's nice to have some sense of reassurance. However, without a professional saying "yes, this is what is going on," I haven't been able to diagnose my daughter myself (go figure). Sometimes I come to this forum hoping that by reading something I'll have that "AHA!" moment and realize exactly what is going on. Of course, I would prefer to discover that she is just way smarter than I realize and that all her quirks and behaviors at school are related to boredom and lack of true peers. I am, like most parents I expect, afraid of the answer I'll get from further testing. I already have grief related to her having been diagnosed with ADHD. Sigh.
I think we are going to end up having the full testing done - once we can afford it. I just need to have some concrete information for decisions. Testing so far has shown that she is gifted, with verbal being her strength. The difference between her verbal and her perceptual scores were another thing that seemed out of whack when she was originally tested at just-turned-six using the WISC-IV. However, those scores are suspect as she didn't complete some of the testing due to lack of sustained attention.
So, yes, this is a novel, which is one reason why I haven't written it yet. If you have read this, thank you. If you skimmed it, thank you for that too.
Oh, and yes, we do lots of enrichment at home - from shows to games to little mini-lessons and hands-on stuff on subjects she is interested. And lots and lots of trips to the library.
-- Sky.
