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DS 6 year old currently in a pull out half day gifted program. His problem is recess. When he gets into an unstructured environment he tends to get overwhelmed and easily irritated. Apparently when someone is "annoying" him he's started to lash out with his hands and hit. He's been diagnosed ADHD and has very poor impulse control. He also has some OCD tendencies that make anything outside his "rules" upsetting to him. The teachers are great and have been addressing each incident carefully and keeping in good contact with me.

So now the gifted coordinator would like to think up some alternate activities to occupy him during recess to avoid any future issues. We're hitting the library this weekend to pick up some good science books that he can poor over and I'm going to see if there is a good creative (educational if possible) game for his DS. He doesn't like to color and I don't want to send him to school with a mini-dvd player & movies. Thought & suggestions?

Oh and the gifted coordinator is also the head of the full day gifted program he starts next year. I'm anxious that he'll lose his spot due to behavioral issues.

I would think that an ADHD kid needs more gross motor activity during recess time, not less. Maybe they need to be organizing Capture the Flag games at recess or something, for all the kids, not just him.

Our school has an organized "walking club" sponsored by the PTA. They track mileage for each kid (and give out little plastic prizes when the kids reach milestone numbers of miles). It would be some work to set up, but it was really key for my DS9 (2E Asperger's) who had similar issues of not being able to occupy himself at recess in earlier grades.

He still likes the walking club; it appeals to his number sense and he likes to rack up the miles.

DeeDee

See this article.

http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/9346.html

Note the first comment after the article.

How about a balance board?

Has he been thoroughly evaluated for Apserger's? As a parent of an AS child, problems with regulating attention, getting overwhelmed and irritated easily, poor fine motor/coloring skills, and having rigid expectations for rules that can result in emotional outbursts when those expectations are violated sure sounds a lot like it bears close investigation to me.

A lot of times, symptoms of Asperger's in gifted kids are written off as "gifted quirks" instead of being recogized for what they are.

"Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults" is a good resource for clinicians and parents that helps clarify the differences between signs of giftedness and signs of ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, OCD, etc., and also describes what these disorders look like and how they manifest when they occur in gifted people.

[quote=aculady]Has he been thoroughly evaluated for Apserger's? As a parent of an AS child, problems with regulating attention, getting overwhelmed and irritated easily, poor fine motor/coloring skills, and having rigid expectations for rules that can result in emotional outbursts when those expectations are violated sure sounds a lot like it bears close investigation to me.

A lot of times, symptoms of Asperger's in gifted kids are written off as "gifted quirks" instead of being recogized for what they are.

"Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults" is a good resource for clinicians and parents that helps clarify the differences between signs of giftedness and signs of ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, OCD, etc., and also describes what these disorders look like and how they manifest when they occur in gifted people. [/quote

I've asked about the Asperger's myself and was told it wasn't a perfect fit since he was too capable of social/emotional interaction. Though sometimes I think he's just very good at learning what behaviors are expected but doesn't really seem to get it himself. He's just very out of sync with social cues.

Hmmm, I'll look for one at the toy store this weekend. Thanks for the suggestion. I'd really rather find a way to keep him doing something physical.

That 1st quote is EXACTLY the problem. He cannot take normal childhood teasing at all. He's very literal and just doesn't get it. His incidents almost always start with "well they said...."

Irishmaggie, a couple of things:

--I agree with Aculady. Asperger's is a distinct possibility. The literalness, the inability to be flexible about rules, the tendency to escalate... it's very familiar. Gifted kids with AS are often missed because they can be very verbal, and even sociable (my DS is quite extroverted, actually, just lacks the skills to be socially successful). If you can revisit this and get testing through a qualified doctor, I'd say do it.

--Does your DS have an IEP? Because if not, you should start the process to get one. (See the book From Emotions to Advocacy, or the Wrightslaw website). You may be able to get additional help for him with social skills, and even possibly support at recess. He needs to learn these skills.

DeeDee