We have a 5th grade daughter who is gifted with inattentive ADD. Agree with many comments. Would suggest dosing of short acting agent at homework time......AND PATIENCE. Our daughter uses a school-required homework planner. She is in private school, we live in Delaware, and we have had terrific support on her neuropsychologic report recommendations. She occasionally needs extra time on tests. BIG problems with projects and larger assignments. We have to help her by breaking down the project into smaller parts. Smaller classes are also a BIG help. She is held accountable for all work not turned in and our expectation is that she brings all needed homework home from school. It has been a battle, but she is catching on.

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I, too, have a son who is in honors classes and taking Vyvanse for his ADHD. He performs well in school but just can't perform well on tests. Homework and projects he is fine but when he takes his tests, he just isn't showing his true aptitude. He does have a 504 but quite often he isn't getting the extended time as he should because he is too embarrassed to ask and doesn't see the need a the time. I don't always think it is the time issue though. Does anyone else seem to have this problem and what have you done? We have talked about taking him to Huntington or similar but of course he isn't happy with that idea. Just curious.

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I am so glad there are other parents out their struggling with their gifted children who have special learning needs. Sometimes I feel like I am a drill sargeant just to get us out of the house. My kids need meds to remember to take meds. Right now they are on Vyvanse 30 mg. We made the switch from Focalin XR with an addtional dose after school to this new med. Seems to be working more smoothly for them. Homework is an ongoing issue. They are in sixth grade in a private school for gifted kids. This is their third year at this school and it is just so intense. I am afraid to switch to a public school at this point because they love the information they are learning, it is just the intensity of the homework. They are also very small for their age and I think they would be overwhelmed at a large public middle school. Supposedly kids with ADHD mature at a rate 30 % slower than the average child. They may be bright and adorable, but the homework is hell and the only help I can find from tutoring centers deals with issues of intellect, not with organization and executive function. Any ideas? I think they are too old to pin their homework to their shirts. Somehow they can lose a piece of homework that has been done just by walking into the school building.

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It is very frustrating to know what the right decision might be. Our son was placed in a gifted program 3rd-5th grade run by the school district. I truly believe it "saved" him. Yes, it was demanding. Yes there were tough papers and projects. Many nights of tears especially the first 6 months while he adjusted to the workload and higher expectations. He felt he was "not smart enough" although he tests as highly gifted. He struggled so much with disorganization, focus, etc. Finally his 5th grade teacher recommended he be tested for ADD. I was not happy and at the time one of those parents that thought meds for ADHD were crazy. We decided to wait and see how 6th grade, middle school would turn out.

6th grade was hell, changing classes, trying to keep up with the busy work. Middle school offered just one "gifted" class. Same wonderful teacher for 3 years. Again, that saved him. Now a 9th grader - he still talks about how incredibly boring 2nd grade was and claims he slept through it. After much turmoil and anguish for half the middle school year we tried Concerta - and it was like night and day. Suddenly the frustration, anger, raging outbursts were gone. He also takes fish oil supplements and we take a break from meds in the summer. I know not all agree with med breaks but he is very skinny and the meds suppress his appetite.We were lucky, the first med tried worked with no side effects other than appetite reduction. Even that is not severe.

So far he is managing high school honors classes. The gifted program has prepared him for the intensity of high school. He can whip up a paper or project and present to the class without notes. A hard challenge is not always a bad thing, life is full of them. That said, not all gifted/talented programs are created equal. Having tons of homework is not good. Sometimes you just have to push back and say no, not doing it. We did that for things that seemed like homework just for the sake of homework.

A lot of people resent gifted programs and classes and much is done for kids at the other end of the spectrum. The very bright or gifted students remained bored and unchallenged. Imagine that in your own life, day in and day out. You would go nuts. Many people feel that "they are so smart, they'll be fine". Not true. They need different programming just like LD kids.

Yes giftedness can mimic ADD. That's what we thought initially about our son - he was just an "absent minded professor" type. So you have to look at many behaviors. Do testing. Our daughter is also gifted but has faced none of the challenges that our son faced/faces.

The bottom line of this long winded email is that you have to try different things, school programs, maybe meds, whatever - to make life better for your child. It does get better. Gifted minds need challenge. That much I know!

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momofmatt said: WOW, am I grateful to see your post - it's so like my situation, it could have been written by me!! He tested as gifted this summer, but we didn't find out until 2Q parent-teacher conf. that the school had misplaced him in "regular" class when his teacher said, "Matthew is very smart - have you thought about putting him in the gifted program?"!! That was a Fri, Nov. 9th. The following Monday, he started in gifted 4th grade class and has been steadily behind ever since. Went from A+ in regular class to C,D, and F's in the gifted class. Homework load has at least quadrupled, and I feel like he's skipped from the basics to h.s. level stuff! If he's not overwhelmed, I definitely am!! Met with his teacher a long time in Dec., then with teacher and principal 2 weeks ago. They believed he could do it (even the principal, who has an ADD son, too) and so we stuck it out til the end of the Q last Fri. Finally we decided that the misery wasn't worth it, and told the principal to take him out of gifted and move him back to reg. Yesterday/this morning, he is insisting he wants to be home-schooled! I'm half willing to do it, but am not very disciplined/routine, and know the kids need that. His dad is ADD, too. If we keep him in school, I want to advocate for him to get an IEP and special help. His teacher's given him extra time on assignments and dropped others, but he's still flunking English, and I really only feel he's gifted in math. I'd much rather take the focus off his "giftedness" and focus on him learning self-management and emotional regulation at this point, and let him be intellectually challenged later (like h.s.!) He was asking for tutoring, so I called Sylvan to check it out, but at $225 for assessment and $50/hr. thereafter, I don't know if we can afford it! He throws such fits about getting up, going to bed, anything that crosses his will, it's a real pain. Reminds me of myself in some ways - I've been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and am being helped by dialectical behavior therapy (check out Marsha Linehan on Amazon), and he is benefiting from me sharing the principles with him (emotional regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal relationships). I would LOVE to talk/email with you further. He's been on Concerta 36 mg daily since he was 5. He's now 9.5, the youngest and shortest in his class. Another ADD special ed. friend suggested he might need his meds modified to help; I'll start looking into that, too. PRAY, and good luck! Will let you know if anything works for us!! (P.S. I was thinking if I homeschooled him, we could focus on mastering his ADD deficits and weaknesses instead of academics that he's already good at.)

My gifted daughter was spending from 4:00 after school until 10:00 or later every day to complete her homework last year. How can she be doing homework that whole time? I wondered. I came to realize that it was taking her much much longer than other kids to do the same amount of work that they could complete in one to two hours. I talked with the teachers at her private school for "smart" kids, and convinced them to reduce the amount of homework (especially repetitive stuff like math) and look for quality instead of quantity. I convinced them that, because of her gifting in math (as an example), she could learn a new concept with fewer repetitions in her assignments, enabling her to put her valuable homework time into other subjects and maybe get done in time to have a life. It really helped. Also, when she tried writing exams in isolation with additional time, she found it very helpful. Her exam marks improved as did her stress levels.

My son started out Grade 11 in the IB program (similar to AP) last year. Although the teachers assured him and us that he was more than equipped for this level of achievement, the additional structure, workload and pressure to conform nearly brought him to a state of clinical depression. It is so hard on anyone to hear "what's wrong with you, you know you can do better!" all the time. His confidence hit bottom and so did his grades. He asked to be moved to a different school with a fresh start for Grade 12. This year, in the normal stream (but much smaller class sizes) he is thriving, regaining his confidence, and best of all, he's earning honors marks. Yes, he is gifted, but he is also ADD and in need of things that make him feel good about himself. Better an A in regular stream than a D in honors. The frustration level he was operating in last year made him moody, impossible to get up, he couldn't sleep, wouldn't socialize, and was difficult to even converse with. This year, we have our cheerful, cheeky guy back and his improving confidence is a wonder to behold! Advocate for your kids...and when the teachers won't co-operate or think they know better, push back until your gut tells you it's right. No one but you has what it takes to understand what is best for your kid. Seek advice, but the decisions are yours... and when something isn't working, fix it, fast. Life is short. (Okay, I'm off the soap box!)

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Julie,

I am an educational diagnostician and I frequently conduct GT evaluations. Regardless of the ADD, it does not make sense for a GT child top have to complete the same amount of work to demonstrate mastery. If the teacher can see that he understands the concept, why does he need to do the same amount of work? Furthermore, one of the hallmarks of a good GT curriculum i s one that compacts the information so that the students learn the content at a faster pace. They can demonstrate knowledge through alternative means and they are not responsible for completing regular work as well as their advanced assignments. I hope this helps.

Heather

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Federal law mandates that schools must accomodate your DS. The best route is by requesting a 504 plan (his school will know what this is). My son's school told me initially that he could not have a 504 because he was in the gifted program. I pointed out that while he is gifted he is not performing on grade level in writing. All I wanted was for him to be able to write his journals on the computer (without spell check), this meet with resistance until I brought in an advocate. Gifted children do have problems with writing because their thoughts get ahead of ability to physical put them down on paper (and my son's handwriting is awful)-this is a characteristic of gifted. But, they should be performing at least on grade level.

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Hi there,

I am in the exact same situation!! My son is 7, in second grade, is youngest in the class and has the highest reading level and in the gifted program. I am also a teacher and have extensive work with ADD kids. I am in the situation now where I am not sure how much to modify the classroom materials.

It's an interesting combo, isn't it? ;)

Alana

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As a gifted sophmore with issues on the report card, reading these comments brought light to my situation.

I'm not alone anymore!

In school, I find it hard to translate the envigorating disscussions that we have in honors English to the linear style thesis essays that are about at sturctured and boreing as a row-house from post-war eras. It's hard to be so creative and then be expected to churn out something so moulded and [i]school[/i] like to get a good grade. This also applies to the math program. As being a strong visual learner as well, I find it most difficult when we are forced to sit and do problems three through sixty multiples of three only. After about the fourteenth quadratic formula I have to copy out, it seems hopeless to even lift my pencil again. Science is easier, with diagrams, models, and colourful topics about fauna and flora... it's just his style of homework is hard. He gives more than 1,000 points in a quarter, but if one misses an assignment, it can never be made up.

.....I really don't want to take medication. I prefer my body being as organic as possible, and it would be devistating if my creativity were damaged by a drug. I don't see how a child would be forced to take an artificial man made chemical to change their brain structure to CONFORM to a system. It's disheartening!

Any sugestions?

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Hi all

This is my first time on the forum. I haven't read all the posts, but just wanted to offer my ideas/thoughts/advice (take it with the whole salt mine, not just a grain though...) as I have a LOT of experience with education, advocacy, and supporting kids with all kinds of challenges, PLUS I'm one myself.

My background: diagnosed 3rd year university: ADHD (inattentive subtype) LD (short term working memory) Gifted (98th percentile overall for IQ, suspected to be higher b/c of my anxiety at the time of testing) -social anxiety developed b/c I wasn't getting the support I needed -I had to basically design my own support system by figuring out what works for me, and how my brain works, and being proactive and honest -graduated (hooray!) with a BA in Psychology, minor in human geography

I have 10 years experience teaching in some way or another: 8 years teaching swimming lessons to people of all ages and abilities; 2 years autism behavioural therapist; and a year and a half as a special education assistant (on call for all grades, just got my "permanent contract" at a high school!)

I love teaching, but trying to sort out my "issues" has made everything take a bit longer than what I see others in the same field doing... but I've come to terms with it since I'm getting feedback from people who've been in the field for years that I'm actually good at what I do.... hehehe... the psychology degree definitely helps.

My general observation from my own personal experience of figuring out how to learn best, as well as from seeing families/parents and teachers.... - you need to experiment with different things

-IT IS ESSENTIAL to ask your child what helps them...sometimes they won't know... b/c no one's ever asked them

-if they say "I don't know" you need to ask MORE SPECIFIC questions: is it harder or easier to understand instructions when... written out? demonstrated? told to you? coached through it?

- when people find what works, it makes them feel more effective/successful and you will see that in your kids (make sure you show that you noticed that the specific strategy affects their performance in this specific way... often kids won't process that it's worked well, and that it's a good strategy, and that since it's a good strategy it would be a good thing to use it again)

- colour code things keep it consistent with EVERYTHING in school. Math: blue textbook cover, blue notebook, blue math set (ruler, compass, calculator...). -associated with above: in their agenda - write assignments for subjects with coloured underline. Math would be underlined in blue. -schedule to be colour coded

accommodations: - find a good special education assistant who knows how to give feedback on their performance WITHOUT being disrespectful (when you do , it makes others _. I know you want to be _. So what is a better way to do this? or... I notice that when , that happens/affects you this way. Is this good for you? What's something better you can do?)

- make sure your child is GETTING THE ACCOMMODATIONS. you'll need to keep on top of tests/quizzes... if you find out that your child didn't get separate space, then you take the education plan and say this is to be followed. -I've seen it where the kids themselves don't want to have the accommodations, so then you need to go over why (so they can do better, which makes your child feel better)

-start working on TYPING skills AS SOON AS POSSIBLE -again, start working on TYPING ASAP!!! you can type thoughts MUCH faster than writing, possibly before the thought disappears from our heads

That's all I got in general.

I'll go through and see if I can offer suggestions, strategies, resources for each of the posts.

Oh yeah, I've also dealt with depression and being bullied, so I have insight into all that.

My goals are to eventually have a job with a school board where I can look at what's NOT working for the kids with special needs and come up with ways (curriculum, instructional strategies etc) to correct them... I KNOW from talking to a lot of kids with ADHD and LD and other issues that they're super smart and our brains work in different ways than the rest of the human species.

I LOVE having conversations with kids/people with ADHD b/c I can let my guard down and just go off on tangents and the other person will follow my tangent and vice versa. I have the best conversations with others of my kind...hahaha.

Oh, one more VERY IMPORTANT THING... Us ADDers KNOW that we say random things... but not acknowledging the thought and simply saying "OK you need to focus." doesn't help us feel better. It just reminds us that our brains are all over. What I find helps get kids back on track is asking: What made you think of that? ...and it will actually have to do with something they were working on or something you were talking about with them... and when they tell you, comment that you see the connection, and then guide them back to what you were talking about.

if it's a school thing, it might help to write down the topic or key word as you talk about something, so you have a visual when you need to bring htem back. Or have them make a mind map while they do readings...

OK that's all I got!

If you have specific questions/issues/frustrations, please feel free to message me and I'll ask some q's (some things you'll have maybe done/thought of...) and try to help you out.

My mission is to help kids KNOW they're smart in different ways, and everyone has cool things about them.

By knowing the issues while your kids are young, it's going to help them out a lot more when they're out in the real world... but it will take a lot of trial and error and succcesses.

:) Best wishes to everyone, Maki

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