Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Former Special Ed suddenly identified as gifted?

I think we don't have enough information to assume that this psychologist is selling anything, or even how alternative their suggestions actually are. It might be as simple as CBT as an ALTERNATIVE to medication... Or occupational therapy to see if it helps first... I think really we are way, wayyyy out into "not enough information" territory here.

That said, absolutely agree with the sentiment of HKs post 100%. And second opinions are always a good thing even when you really LIKE the first one.

As I posted above, it is absolutely possible for a 2E kid to proceed through seven years of life appearing less than gifted.

But I did want to mention that if a child's scores don't confirm what a parent already knows about that child, then those scores may be wrong or at least not telling the whole story.

But I'm talking about a parent here, not someone with less intimate knowledge of the child.

ShiningStars, as the parent of two children who were thought to have ADHD and later found to have other issues, I wonder a bit about the actual ADHD diagnosis - please know I realize I can't diagnose through the computer screen and a few lines in one post - but the description of the girl "drifting off into a fog" might be something other than ADHD. Do you know if she's ever had a full neuropsych veal? If she hadn't, this is a good age to do a full eval.

The other thing that might be helpful to her mom is if she or you could post the names of the tests she's scored high vs low on - it really isn't all that unbelievable that a 2e child would test extremely high on some tests and extremely low on others - I've had that happen with all three of my children. Not all tests test the same abilities or capabilities or learned knowledge, and I've found testing to be especially puzzling and challenging to interpret for my dd who has a challenge with an ability that impacts reading.

I also have experienced thinking one of my children *wasn't* all that bright, and then having her score high on the WISC. All of a sudden thinking she was "gifted" actually changed the way I talked to her, my expectations, and how I interacted with her. It was amazing how differently *she* reacted in return. I think most of us have preconceived ideas about what "gifted looks like" but from what I've seen - it can "look like" just about anything - all kids are so very different.

Best wishes,

polarbear

I agree with Polarbear. "Drifting off into a fog" can be due to a number of reasons, not necessarily ADHD.

Neurofeedback can give you a more definitive, objective answer as to whether ADHD is present or not based on actual brain wave activity. It's now being used to treat ADHD and other brain-based issues. My ds7 is 2e and has been in/out of neurofeedback for the past year.

I had no idea my ds was eg/pg until I placed him in a private gifted school after he shortly turned 5 and started to read/write more. Up until 5 and pre-k, he had been in special needs for pre-k. Bright, yes. But giftedness, we didn't have much evidence until he started to read/write more from vision therapy.

Ds, too, was diagnosed as having ADHD. I went to a 2e specialist last June and we talked about neurofeedback then based on comments on read on this forum. I have since learned that the ADHD diagnosis was a misdiagnosis. So I'm glad we didn't rush to medicate him or listen to what many people suggested we do.

when you say fog, you are sure she's not having absence seizures, right?

MotherofToddler, they did wonder about those, but the psychologist they saw thought it was ADD not absence seizures. If someone talks to her, she may not respond, or she turns her head slowly and may respond slowly like she is moving through tar if that makes any sense. This Dr. did extensive testing and seems set on the ADD diagnosis. I am just a bystander who was curious about such a turn of events. The mom never suspected giftedness at all. As far as I know, they may not have received the full report yet. She hasn't brought it up since. I guess it isn't really my business, so I won't bring it up again.