Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Confused mother looking for answers?

Hi I've never been on one of these sights before it seems I sent emails yesterday instead of it coming up on this sight so my apologies for that.


My son is 12yrs old he is in yr 7, 1st year at high school.
I was informed when my child was in year one at primary school that he might be gifted and did I realise how intelligent he was. To be honest I didn't.
In year two I was told by another teacher how she was expecting ''marvellous things'' from my child and how disappointed she was to learn that he had all the information ''in his head'', but he could not write it down on paper, she then apologised to me for the other teacher getting it wrong! From then on my child was labeled with behavioural problems, for not concentrating, shouting out answers and off task. He is also getting into trouble for lack of home work and lack of equipment.
He as been above average in English listening and reading and science. He achieved 5 for english, listening and reading and 4 for writing in English in year 6 sats, 4 for maths and science.
Every year I was told the same by teaches of how my child tells ''fantastic story's'', but can't put it down on paper and if only he could. This changed in year 6 to if only I could read his writing after he had told the class the story that he had written as every one is so engrossed in the story even the teacher, I would also like to add that a new problem had arisen of my child being the '' class clown''.
Now he is in year 7 his grades are all over the place starting with high grades then they go low then high again in subjects like science, geography, maths, German, English, information technology. I'm surprised at him getting 3 a in German as his teacher is always saying he's off task and rude, my child believes his German teacher '' hates him''.
It has become apparent recently that my child thinks in pictures and images and he talks about seeing videos in side his mind of lessons etc, he now thinks that he does not need to revise as he goes back to scenes in his mind to find the answers, he talks about being able to zoom in and out of scenes and pictures in his mind to get detail. He also says that he visualised a whole paragraph on population and he was able to pull the picture back up during a test and write it word for word, he believes by doing this he cheated in his Kat test. He says he can imagine any thing but finds punctuation, spelling and maths harder to visualise than science and geography . He as been up set recently as he did not finish his maths test paper he had 3/4 pages left to finish, he sats he only got a 4a and he needed a 5b which he previously achieved twice since starting secondary school. He also talks about his hand feet becoming tight when writing.
He also says he can imagine any thing he wants to and see's images of 3d maps, shapes and can rotate them and change their colour.
He as also has problems with labels in his clothes since being a toddler, he says it irritates him.
He gets into trouble at school for not concentrating, off task and not working to pupil level. Even though every time there is a test he surprises me. He also seems very emotional lower than his years, he is forever with older kids and his girl friend is 15 years old, I'm really searching for answers.
I guess I'm writing this to see if my child is a gifted visual spatial learner?
I'm losing sleep at night worrying about him. Can anyone give any advice?

Someone with knowledge of resources in your country may chime in. But as you wait for that.... I'll share that your son sounds like mine with how he visualizes things though mine is only half the age of your son. Your post suggests that he may have a learning disorder. When kids are gifted AND have a learning disorder we call them twice exceptional or 2e.

You might read more in that section of this website to see if you can relate to those posts. From the information you provided, you might also want to research dysgraphia (also known as disorder of written expression) and see if that fits what you are seeing. Generally outside of having a professional evaluation it will be difficult to understand specifically what is happening with your son.

I hope you are able to find answers soon.

When your DS was in year 1, schools were required to keep a "gifted and talented" register, which identified the top 5% of pupils in each subject in that school. Depending on the school, this could mean a variety of things, but it doesn't typically mean "gifted" in the sense the word is used anywhere else. I'd let that identification go, if I were you. The current research also does not support the idea of there being visual spatial learners who need specific kinds of instruction. Both these issues sound like red herrings to me, perhaps even excuses. Your DS may be gifted, but nothing in your post particularly suggests it; certainly his National Curriculum levels do not. I'd be inclined to focus on the behaviour side, because even if he does need more challenge at school he isn't likely to get it until his behaviour improves, realistically. Can you help him more with the organisation of his homework and equipment, for a start? While it's ideal that children do this themselves, many year 7 children can't yet and parents need to help them develop those skills.

I agree with Colinsmum-- working on building social/emotional and organizational skills will be very important.

It is sometimes the case that people see unusual behavior in a child and think the child is gifted, when the unusual behavior is something more like Asperger's Syndrome. I think it would be worth evaluating to see if a developmental disorder or learning disability is causing the collection of unusual traits you're seeing. A neuropsychologist could help you make sense of it.

DeeDee

Daisy, I'm in the US and I'm not familiar with the testing/scores in your country so I can't help you there. I can tell you a few things based on what you've written:

1) Visual-Spatial learner concepts seem to be controversial, but my ds13 thinks *exactly* the same way you've described your ds thinking - he would describe it the same way too.

2) My ds has an expressive language disorder which impacts written expression much more than speech - some of what you've written sounds a lot like this - the inability to express in writing what you can tell verbally.

3) I have a dd who is also 2e (her challenge is with skills associated with reading) - like your ds, she has grades that go up and down all over the place and the ups and downs don't always seem to make sense. There can be a ton of reasons for the grades, but scattered random issues with grades that don't make sense *can* be a sign of a learning disability.

4) Extremely messy handwriting that doesn't improve with grade level might indicate dysgraphia - I'd suggest googling "dysgraphia symptoms" and see if any of the other symptoms fit your ds.

5) Tight hands/feet sounds like anxiety - and anxiety can also be a sign of a learning challenge.

I'll second DeeDee's recommendation of a neuropsych eval - it really can help you make sense of all of it.

Best wishes,

polarbear

Just FTR, I have literally never heard of anyone getting a referral to a neuropsychologist (as opposed to an educational psychologist) in the UK. Of course the profession does exist, but I doubt there is any way Daisy can get to one for her DS; even if she has the money to do so privately it would be quite tricky as she'd still need a referral from a GP. Different world.

CAMHS (ask your GP for a referral) might be worth a try, but I'd be a bit surprised if you could get a referral even for them based on what you said.

ColinsMum, is it possible that a neuropsychologist (US) and educational psych (UK) might be very similar in the types of eval a student would receive? I'm just curious - we frequently hear neuropsych evals here referred to as "educational evals".

FWIW, our neuropsych does not see patients unless they are first referred by another dr, most often a child's pediatrician. Folks who are concerned can't typically just call up a neuropsych (or other type of therapist etc) office in the US and just get an appointment - even if they want to pay out of pocket. I agree, it's a different world! I have friends from the UK so I've heard a bit about the medical system there... just wanted to point out it's not something you can just order up on a whim here either

pbear

I don't know; presumably at least the basics would be the same. The required qualifications are different for neuropsychologists and for educational psychologists, and I'm pretty sure I've seen people here advise against using educational psychologists, who do, I think, exist in the US too. Ed psychs are in short supply here too at least in some places, with long waiting lists, but for them I think you can contact them yourself and pay; I've heard of people doing so when they suspect dyslexia. Not sure what would be most use here. My first guess would actually be CAMHS (mental health services, rather than SEN evaluation).