Does he have a 504 plan? you may be able to get extra time for him to complete class work. As for the homework, some doctors recommend a short acting medication taken after school to help with homework time.

Elaine

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Thanks for your reply.

We aren't able to do the 504 plan at this time. He's not disabled ("enough"). Our school system has an additional program in place, with goal setting, and progress tracking, and the ability to make accomodations for additional time, etc. We are in the process of putting that in place now. If this doesn't work, then we can go the IEP or 504 plan route.

I am hoping to find ways to increase his self motivation in regards to his school work. Especially written assigments. Reading is no problem, except sometimes he reads in class when he is supposed to be working on a written assignment.

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You didn't say if your child is on any medications. If he is and has a physicians diagnosis you must be given accomidations throuh IDEA. It is a federal law and over rides your schools statement that he is not impared enough. Many children are dual labeled as gifted and special ed. If he is on meds and these don't seem to be doing the trick then try another medicine or dose. Often it takes several attempts to get dosing just right and as they grow and mature dosing must be tweeked. Please do not let the school fall into the misconception that your child couldn't be ADHD because he is gifted. ADHD has nothing to do with IQ. Medication and behavior modification have been found to work the best. My daughter is 9 and I had the same situation you do. It is possible to be both and have accomidations at school. Good Luck

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My son is also gifted and ADHD diagnosed in 6th grade. It can be very frustrating to see your child performing at a level less than they are capable - my son is 98%tile but would often get low B's due to his homework not being turned in (forgot, lost, you name it). The school is less than sympathetic when you have a gifted child that needs accommodations. We met with his counselor and teachers. We also ran up against the "his issues aren't serious enough for a 504 plan".

Homework was a disaster before he started medication (Concerta). It would take him hours (crying, angry outbursts, frustration) to do maybe 30 minutes worth of work. He could not get started either. It doesn't help that much of the work in middle school is more "busy work" - and when your child is gifted, or even above average intelligence, they will have no patience for busy work. Add an ADHD diagnosis and it's even worse. Medication allowed him to get motivated and stay motivated, even on the tedious tasks.

My son is now a freshman in high school. It is a little better because the classes are more challenging and he can work above grade level. He is still on medication and will take another, short acting dose on days he has a lot of work or projects. I met with the high school counselor before the school year to try and discuss his issues with organization, etc - she told me "Don't worry, he'll be fine." Sigh. We decided to employ a wait and see attitude and so far he has been O.K. - his school uses "block scheduling" (classes meet every other day for 90 minutes) and it has helped him tremendously to have that day in between for getting things done and not being overwhelmed.

Report cards come out this week - I am keeping my fingers crossed!

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I have a son who is also in 4th grade. Very gifted in Math and Science, reads above grade level, goes to a private school, and who does not take Meds. We keep our son busy with very energetic sports, and recently started with an Omega-3 supplement, vitamins, and low sugar diet. All of this seems to be helping our son, however, he continues to have trouble transitioning (changing classes, work topics, playtime to lunch time etc..) and this is something we (his dad and I ) and constantly working on. I find ADDitude Mag extremely helpful and informative, and on the side I am constantly researching what the medical and non-medical communities are doing to help my son master his ADD.The best advice I have is stick with your son by using creative, yet disciplined approaches. I also have ADD and take no meds. I do take Omega-3's, vitamins, and try to adhere to a low sugar diett with my son. All of these things and my upbringing helped/and continue to help me today. With all of this said I feel I am a very successful individual. So stick with your son, find creative ways to help and I things will work out!

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One is gifted, both are very independent, stubborn, and lack motivation. Their dad also displays many ADD symptoms. Sometimes I feel completely outnumbered and overwhelmed. We could not find meds for either child that did not have subsequent side effects worse than the original problems. Both were diagnosed as teenagers, which has made starting constructive problem-solving habits very difficult. They are under-developed emotionally, and socially, advanced academically and intellectually, and lack motivation to socialize, exercise, or do work outside of their interest set. They just want to be treated like "other kids" but neither acts like "other kids". I fluctuate daily, sometimes hourly, between elation at their wonderful moments and despair that they will eventually "get it together"! What I would like to see is some constructive advice and available expertise on helping them develop ways to help themselves (since they are not willing to accept help from me). Can anyone out there relate?

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I have had similar issues with my son...he is also in 6th grade and has been on meds since 2nd grade...failed 3rd grade because we live in Florida and if you fail the FCAT you fail the grade! well he was not on a med that worked well for him. We swittched to Concerta and Zoloft and the next year (4th grade) he made mid-year promotion and made honor roll for the first time last year! (5th grade) I cried like a baby... he thought it was no big deal and I had lost my mind!!! I must say he still isn't very motivated...he sees a psychologist for behavior mangement ( who got him a 504 before I pushed his IEP through) a speech therapists for help in learning to orgainize his thoughts and be able to write effectively. He used to have horrible tantrums due to frustration but has just gotten so much better. He tested just below gifted but I was told he wasn't very motivated during the tests...imagine that???? Just keep at it you will find what works best for him. Good luck!

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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.)

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My daughter is ADHD, gifted, dyslexic, you name it, and just graduated high school. The number one thing parents of gifted ADD high schoolers need to know is that if you think your kid will need accommodations on the SAT or ACT (for instance, extra time), you must have a full neuropsychological evaluation and report done while he/she's in high school. Anything older will not be accepted by the testing companies. Otherwise, you have no chance of receiving that accommodation.

That's the easy part. The hard part is dealing with the ADHD and giftedness. The best thing we ever did was go to the neuropsychologist (our previous workup was way too old). It was she who explained what had been frustrating us for a long time--that being gifted and ADHD is a whole different sub-set from just being gifted or justing being ADHD. For these kids, it's not intelligence plus distractability, it's the tendency to hyperfocus for very long periods of time on one subject to the exclusion of all else. Then there's the tendency to see things globally rather than linearly, which makes it extremely difficult to churn out papers.

My daughter begged to test to attend a local high school for gifted kids because the curriculum at the regular school was so watered down and boring, and it was driving her out of her mind. This makes sense, right? But if this optiion is available to you, think twice before doing it. These kinds of schools, or equivalent programs within a regular high school, expect kids to be fast readers, churn out papers very quickly, and at least in our case, and provide very little structure to the day. Structure, of course, was something my kid desperately needed.

IEPs or 504s? Are you kidding? We had to bring the neuropsychologist in (she's located 3 hours away) to explain what the school's legal requirements were. The teachers? "We don't have any learning disabilities here." We did get a 504, but many teachers ignored it (math teachers seem to be especially resistant). My daughter did graduate, but at great psychological toll, even though she's proud of her accomplishments.

By the way, she has been on medication since 4th grade that works very well, and a previous poster's note about taking a short-acting dose of medication for the evening is right on the mark. Otherwise, it's maximum distractability at the time of maximum need to concentrate.

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JulieK said: My 9 year old son (4th grader) is gifted and has been diagnosed with ADD. He takes meds to help him stay focused in school. Even though he is probably the youngest in his class, he has been placed in the advanced math class and is reading at or above the level of a 5th grader. He generally tests well, but has a very difficult time getting himself started. He doesn't always do enough of his classwork for a grade reflective of his knowledge and abilities, because he takes so long to get started. Homework is the same issue, so most days I have to sit at the table with him to keep him on track.

Does anyone else out there have a similar situation?

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