Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Had both the kids tested today

Um - what are the credentials of this person who is making a diagnosis of "ADD" on the basis of an IQ test? Was a clinical interview done? Rating forms? Other cognitive testing?

Yeah, that bothered me, too. My son has a slower processing speed than his mental ability, but there's no WAY anyone would call him ADD. He's a laser!

It seems like a weird thing to throw out there based on this evidence.

Thanks, Jool. I meant to say something about that and got distracted. (I'm supposed to be organizing my homeschooling stuff, but I'm resisting, so I'm sort of all over the place today! )

I had to fill out a form before he was tested that asked me all the "scale of 1-5" type questions. Distractibility was one of them....I think I put a 3. So that might be where she got that. But to me it's more of a gifted type thing with DS. He will be working on one thing, and all of a sudden it brings up some other question that he wants to know more about and he completely forgets what his original goal was. Because of the homeschooling, we can do that. He does eventually complete the original task.....sometimes with lots of redirection from me, though.

The Dr that did his WISC also mentioned ADD, but didn't seem that concerned.....said further testing was up to me.

Well, as you're describing it, I see this with my son, too, and I think it *is* the processing speed thing. But I don't think it's related in any way to ADD, in my totally uninformed layperson's opinion, worth about half what you paid for it. (You have been warned there!)

What I see is that my DS just transitions more slowly, so once gets on another train of thought, he tends to stay there, especially if it's a more interesting train for him than the original.

In fact, it almost seems to me to be the opposite of ADD--thus my laser comment. It's not like he's flitting fast from one thing to another, it's more like he has a hard time moving from one thing to another, so once he goes, he's gone and he stays there.

Does that sound like what you're seeing, or is this totally different?

If I'm seeing what you're seeing, then I do think this is one perfectly normal path of development for the age of your son. It's not HG+ processing; it's ND. But it *is* normal!

And FWIW, I already see signs that DS7 is outgrowing it somewhat. He's still not lightning-quick like some HG+ kids are (and I doubt he ever will be), but he definitely does better with getting back on task when necessary without needing so much time to transition.

I guess I think he's just an ND kid in that particular area, and he's developing normally, and that's fine. <shrug> But I am no expert.

Yes, exactly! Just like you are describing. But what person wouldn't want to learn about stuff that interests them more, ya know? It's like he's not satisfied until he completely thinks through whatever thought distracted him. Sometimes that takes 1 minute, and sometimes it takes hours.

The lady today said "imagine a big cloud in front of his brain. If that was lifted, he could learn even faster." I'm not buying that though. I could be completely wrong, but I don't see how processing speed can be taught.

Well, I do think you can work on it and see improvement. We do, just as we would on any other weak area. But especially if you're homeschooling, I don't really see the point of anything official. (Especially not for $3000!) It's just not necessary, particularly since you're homeschooling. As long as he progresses over time, he's just a normally developing kid in terms of speed. I don't think that's a bad thing. <shrug>

We just adapt the way we work to DS7's needs, almost as if it were an LD. It isn't one, but given how much deeper he can think than he can process, it does kind of function like one.

Now, in the traditional school situation in 1st grade, the conflict was becoming a real problem and might have required some more pointed handling, like an LD. It was really awful. When you have teachers with PG test results in their faces saying "he's slow," it's bad! They associate fast with GT. Slow and deep generally wins no recognition in the schools.

But at home, when you can tailor school to his needs, it's just not a big deal. I just allow more time for things, try to minimize more interesting distractions when he's working, give him plenty of time to really burrow into a subject and think it through, and respond with patience (Well, with as much patience as I can muster! Not my strong suit! ) when necessary to redirect him back on task. It's no big deal.

I don't have a problem with his being a deep thinker. I do think it will serve him well later in life. Fast isn't always best.

Do be warned that in the future, timed tests for things like his multiplication tables will be a hassle for you. DS7 hates them. He can get pretty stressed out over such things. He actually works faster without a clock on him because he gets panicky and simply can't think if he knows he's being timed. Just be prepared...You may have to find creative ways to deal with math facts literacy, and it may take longer to get there. The normal routes don't work very well for a kid like this.

Case in point: DS7 is still memorizing times tables while he does high school geometry and junior high critical thinking exercises and pre-algebra. It's weird, but I think that's the sort of thing you have to do with a kid who's not fitting the mold. He needs highly advanced concepts for a kid his age, but he has to spend extra time on the stuff that is more typical for his age. I'm figuring that as long as he has his times tables memorized by the "normal" time for kids, say age 9, then we're doing fine. That is probably developmentally appropriate for him and his processing speed.

It does make it harder to figure out what to do for math though! Curriculum just isn't a straight line for us. I'm mostly flying by the seat of my pants.

Please keep in touch with me on this, will you? It seems like we should really be sharing notes!

The funny thing is, that he has no problems with memorization. He pretty much has a photographic memory...especially with math. His math is what he's accelerated in the most. But to get him to write a paragraph....grrrrr! It's like pulling teeth. But yet on the WISC and the WJ-III, his verbal scores were his highest. Maybe that doesn't translate over into writing. When he's trying to write a story/paragraph he says "I have too many ideas in my head at one time, and it's too hard to sort them out." And I can see his frustration with that

Interesting...

As a former writing teacher, I'd recommend a) a tape/voice recorder so he can talk it out as fast as it comes, b) time for drafting so that he doesn't feel like it has to be out and done and perfect the first time.

I have to process writing aloud often, and I'm writing a novel. I often recommended that my college students read their work aloud as they were writing because hearing it can help them to get what's actually translating between mind and paper.

If that makes any sense... I'm so tired, I'm not sure MY mind is working here!

I just have to chime in here. My DS's verbal scores were the highest too and to get him to write was a chore!!! He also has no problems with memorization either. It was very confusing to be honest. However, we found that he have visual tracking/processing problems that caused him to hate to write. This can also appear to be ADD type symptoms. Have you considered this? If so, check out www.covd.org and see what you think.

Doesn't sound the least big crazy. Sounds like healthy skepticism to me. I hate to rain on the Learning Rx parade, but... I have a problem with their financial conflict of interest. The biggest red flag, though, is the shelling out of the ADD (and who knows what other) diagnosis . Feel free to challenge this bold statement -- I suspect that no reputable expert on ADHD or learning disabilities would approve of their methods. If you could take advantage of the cheap testing and get someone else to analyze the raw data that would be one thing, but raw data is not supposed to be released to the public. Sometimes you get what you pay for...