Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional ADHD and test taking skills

What about hyper-focussing? My DS10 can sit and read for hours as above, and is *completely* unaware of everything around him. On the other hand, he has almost all the ADHD traits Mich described so well above (organization, attention shifting, staying on task, completing projects). And his VCI is 42 points higher than his PSI. I'm planning to discuss the possibility of medication with our pediatrican next week.

LotsOTots5: my DS10 has done very similar things with frozen water!!

"And...sorry to say the skills have not improved with time, because the coping mechanisms I was using are simply inadequate to manage mothering 3 kids and a house with a husband who works 80 hours a week."

Gosh, that sounds tough, did you end up taking meds? Have you tried fish oil (Omega 3?)

Verona, does your son put together legos or models for hours too? My DD would make great clay creatures and spend lots of time putting in details, she also would spend a lot of time practicing an instrument, is there a difference between hyper-focusing and just choosing to focus on what you are interested in and choosing not to do stuff that seems pointless?

I guess that is one of the things that throws me, my DD said she saw most schoolwork as pointless since she mastered the material quickly, and being told to do the work just for the sake of the almighty grade just didn't cut it. That made lots of sense to me but when I mentioned this to the psych, he said "well that's just the excuse".

There are many ADHD "look alikes" and it is sometimes difficult to tease out what is causing the symptoms. Your evaluation is a good start - especially if it looks at academic skills, EF skills, language processing skills in addition to IQ.

I disagree that homeschooling is the only choice for a child with ADHD that cannot take medication. As you have noted, there are some supplements that can help, exercise has been shown to be a help, and schools must offer accommodations and supports to help students compensate for the affect (or is that effect) of ADHD. There are schools that specialize in teaching EF skills and they often provide a learning environment that is multi-sensory and structured so that the student can thrive. Some public schools offer explicit instruction in study skills, organization skills etc so that their students with ADHD can be successful. If needed, the law requires diagnosed students be afforded reasonable accommodations such as extra time.

I have one child that is gifted, has profound dyslexia and ADHD. When we first started out trying to understand him, I could not believe that ADHD could be part of the mix. He is calm, extremely well behaved and could sit still for hours when we went out to eat, working on art projects or spend hours playing in the woods. What I didn't realize is that because he became so distracted and entranced by things happening around him (ADHD), it looked like he was on task. Really, his mind drifted around constantly. And, when it comes to school work and chores, it takes him FOREVER to complete things. As it turns out, ADHD was part of the mix, and luckily, medication helps a lot.

For my daughter (not gifted), she has some processing and concentration issues, and we found that she has learned to compensate without medication. She worked with a tutor for a year that taught her how to study, organize, stay on task. We were able to secure a 504 plan at school that allows her extra time on tests. She went from a B/C student in college prep level classes to an A student in honors and AP classes without medication - just by learning the EF skills and by being given the time she needs to complete tasks.

If you are not already working with a medical doctor that specializes in ADHD, I would suggest that you seek one out. It is difficult to determine if a gifted child has ADHD or other challenge. A specialist will be able to analyze all the data and help you "peel back the onion" to help determine if it is more likely that your child has ADHD or another condition.

Good luck!

Mich, how did you teach EF skills?

DeeDee

Yes, he does focus for long periods of time on drawing, legos, and computer stuff as well as reading. Other posters have said that some children with attention problems *can* pay attention but it takes much more effort than a child without an attention issue and might not seem "worth it" for uninteresting tasks. Or they might "use up" their paying attention capacity and become difficult and emotional (I see this in DS).

I should also mention that we don't have a diagnosis of ADHD for DS10 and I am still very much on a learning curve! From what I have been reading here, our psy. maybe didn't do all the testing needed to figure out what's wrong. He said NVLD (based on WISC scatter and a reading and writing evaluation), but there seems to be such overlap between NVLD, ADHD, EF dysfunction, and some aspects of Aspergers that I'm not totally convinced.

"but there seems to be such overlap between NVLD, ADHD, EF dysfunction, and some aspects of Aspergers that I'm not totally convinced"

I know what you mean, I feel like my DD has a little of all of the above with a touch of ODD and existential depression. I think puberty really put the final straw on top of the pile.

I'm not Mich, but there is a lot of literature out there on this subject-- a lot of it is geared toward pre-adolescent kids, since that is where the executive skill set first becomes 'out of sync' for kids that are at all asynchronous.

One of the things that I read recently was
Smart But Scattered by Dawson and Guare

The two of them have an older book in this area, too:

Executive Skills in Children and Ad...cal guide to assessment and intervention

I've not read the latter, but the former is extremely accessible and thought-provoking.

I keep wondering if you can have just have stand alone low EF. That is what I see at our house...

Apparently yes. Mich wrote a really helpful post on this a while back (see "feeling stuck" thread from a few months ago).

I've recently read this book. It contains a lot of common sense recommendations (lists, rewards, consistency), and we were able to figure out why what we'd been doing in the past hadn't worked (mostly in that we'd stop the process too soon).

The book recommends working on no more than two things at a time. Taking that recommendation, we're continuing the system we started before I got the book (homework neatness & completeness) and one more task (emotional control in playing games). We have a list of about 10000 other skills and tasks that drive us nuts and hamper our daily lives or DD's education. Those are in line according to urgency.

It seemed to have much lower expectations for EF for an age group than we have in this house, and significantly lower expectations than schools seem to have for children. I was left with the sense that I shouldn't even be reading the book based on the expectations of kids in grades 1-3. Even if I were to look at expectations for older kids, DD (age 8) would generally be marked as fine. And yet, she cannot be relied upon to finish getting herself dressed once she starts. This left me with the sense that they underestimate how much you can teach a kid with respect to EF, and wondering if maybe we could tackle an additional task or two right now.