Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Need Advice for DS10...ADD vs. Gifted

www.incrediblehorizons.com/mimic-adhd.htm

I have not read your entire posting, but we were urged to seek medication for our dd(7). The Psychologist indicated she was ADD (no H).

The above link lists 50 conditions that could mimic ADD symptomology. Maybe there are some other things you could look into as well?

Hi JBR,

Something in your posting struck me as interesting, and so I thought I would throw out another book suggestion. My son is the master of disorganization. His desk is a disaster worthy of condemning by any teacher. He collects every small scrap of paper or bit of string because he sees something that he could do with it later. He sometimes struggles to remember to write assignments in his agenda, and we frequently run back to school because he has forgotten his math workbook, for example. <although he does do the chicken dance and changes schools for the last period, so that is an added complication!> And yes, I have wondered for years if he was ADHD (with the emphasis on the H!)

But I read the most fascinating book this summer because of a discussion here. Now I am a true believer in concept of Visual-Spatial kids. The book is called: Raising Topsy-Turvy Kids: Successfully Parenting Your Visual-Spatial Child (Paperback) by Alexandra Shires Golon.

http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Topsy...mp;s=books&qid=1227551190&sr=8-3

I just noticed that she has a newer book on Amazon which I haven't read yet. But this book describes my son to a tee. He is very into building 3-D structures like LEGOs, he has no concept of time, he is completely disorganized... except to him since he knows where things are in the piles of clutter. You might want to check this book out and see if it sounds like your son or not.

Here is another good web site for basic information:
http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/Visual_Spatial_Learner/vsl.htm

Hope this helps! And good luck!
ebeth

Let me clarify, we have an excellent working relationship with our peds and pretty solid medical backgrounds. My husband is a nurse anesthetist, I am an RN. Our peds instructions to us when we started the Concerta were " Start at 27 mg, then increase by half if you aren't seeing results. We can go higher if we need too." We tried 27 mg for 2 weeks and 40 mg for one week. I rec'd an e-mail from his teacher last week saying she wasn't seeing any improvement, and neither were we. That info, combined with the new possibilty of needing testing for giftedness, has made me leery of maxing out his dose until we have solid evidence that that is what we need to do. Everything I have read says that Concerta will work fairly quickly. If our Peds calls back today and says, " Try 54 mg, and it might be what he needs for it to kick in", then I will do so, but I am not comfortable increasing the dose on my own nor continuing on a dose that so far is ineffective.

Thanks all,
Jen

Hi Jen,

What provisions does your district have for gifted students? --San

There is a GATE program in the district.

I finally spoke with the counselor by phone yesterday. She spoke with DS teacher, and the consensus on their part seems to be that he his having difficulty with anxiety during "novel" situations. ( her words ). EX: they took a field trip to a space museum this week and each child was in charge of a different aspect of their "Mission", DS was to read directions on cards as part of the Medical Team, and execute what was on the card. He needed to be re-directed several times by the co-ordinator, who finally brought the teacher in to help him. The counselor felt that he was having anxiety re: the outcome of the mission.
Let me say that this does not sound like my child. What I imagine happened was that this was a really cool field trip for him, and there was so much going on that he had trouble focusing on one aspect of the "Mission". Just my opinion.

She thinks that he also has difficulty in group work because he cannot control the outcome. He tells me it's just easier to work alone because then he doesn't have to argue with someone over whether he is right or not. ( Although sometimes he's not! ).


Regardless, I informed the counselor that we were instructed to increase the dose of Concerta (after I got ahold of the peds finally yesterday). We will be doing this on a VERY trial basis. She seemed happy with this development. I also brought up the GATE program and she made sure I was aware that their testing was done in the spring, and no, DS did not qualify, though she is going to retrieve his scores for our review. I did bring up the fact that maybe the scores were not accurate, if he has difficulty paying attention, but she didn't seem to think this was the case.

For now, we are trying to play by the school's rules. I am sure they want to see him medicated, which we will do for a short time after Thanksgiving Break. I am still looking for someone to do further testing, which is kind of hard to find in our kind of small town.

Thanks to all for letting me vent..still appreciate any input.

Jen