IDEA does! So if that parent gains knowledge in IDEA then she or he can use federal law as a means of getting the necessary educational programming for their child

I'm not sure where you're located, but special education does NOT appropriately address the needs of gifted children in most states: community.greatschools.net/groups/11537/discussion/667939

Finally a parent that thinks out side the box, WONDEFUL, Your child may still have ADD but at least you found out that those behaviors possbily are the cause of bordom! You having a gifted child still gives that child protection under special education law. Special Education ISNT just for children with learning disabilities, its alos for children taht are gifted.

Glad to hear things are going better for your son!

After switching to private school with small class sizes and teachers who work with different learning styles, my son is thriving at school. Just had first parent-teacher conferences and I cried because all the feedback we were getting about him was so positive. It is a 180-degree turn from past school experiences. I wish we had done it sooner.

He was on the late side for walking, and sort of went from 10 words at a little over 12 months, to talking away by 18-20 months. I am a big believer in Omega 3 (haven't tried zinc, but absolutely will). My son has been a Salmon fanatic from the first time he tried it as a baby. He would take it over pizza any day, and is the same with tuna and most other fish. I think he was simply craving what he needed. I started giving him Omega 3 supplements about 4 months ago, and definitely saw a difference. He said he felt it too. Thank you for sharing the info about dyes, etc. I'm going to take that advice.

I totally agree -- ADD is not necessarily a negative, but it requires extra work on everyone's part -- my son's, his teachers', and ours as his parents. I just keep talking with him about it as much as possible, so he understands that his mind works differently and he has to work harder than most to keep himself reigned in when the situation requires that. Somedays it's easier than others, and I'm sure it can be exhausting for him at times, but we talk about all the positives too -- creativity, unique problem-solving, a really interesting perspective on the world, smarts. A blessing and a curse as they say.

I had my daughter in therapy for some time. The therapist told me that she experienced a high number of her gifted students exhibited those symptoms that are associated with ADD. As I understand it my children both think outside the box as does maybe 5% of the population. This may be the same percentage of the population where our truly "gifted" people come from. I don't think of ADD in the negative. I make sure my son has an organized scheduled and that his teachers are keeping him fully occupied with work and yes that may be above the class average but it keeps him busy and productive.

I am SO happy for you.

You took an excellent approach - having your son understand his wiring and giving him the tools to work with it. Good job mom!

My daughter is too young for us to determine if she inherited her dad's ADD (and genius). I have been so worried about how I would deal with issues at school. You have been an inspiration!

Dr. Amen (a clinical neurologist, psychiatrist, and brain imaging expert as well as the father of two daughters with ADD) says that removing some things from diet such as food dyes have been proven (through brain scans) to be equally as effective for consentration and focus associated with ADD as Ritalin. This is no hokie pokie stuff. Dr. Amen also swears by Omega 3 and Zinc for ADD. He is the author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. You may catch him on PBS.

One question – My daughter was a late talker and walker, but super advanced in other milestones. I read that erratic development (milestones) are often seen in people with ADD. Was your son “late” with walking and talking?

Thanks for your response. I agree with you and yes, he does display some of those behaviors outside of school, but we've been going to counseling to help him deal with behaviors that are causing him problems and his smarts are working in his favor, because he gets it. He is acknowledging what traits he has and is proactively controling them. It's still a struggle, but it's better and he's starting at a private school this fall. When they tested him, they said "We understand kids with this profile. He belongs here." I could have cried I was so happy after years of hearing what a pain he is in class.

Observe your son’s behaviors outside of the classroom. Does he struggle with forgetfulness and other behaviors associated with ADD? If so, then he may indeed have what I call GM (Genius Mind) also known as ADD

My husband and I just learned that he has ADD. My husband is a genius, literally. It is my humble opinion that ADD comes with genius. I believe that gifted individuals, by design, have sub-functioning “lower level brain functions”. I think its nature’s way of keeping the gifted on task of their purpose. It can’t be a coincidence that Mozart, Bell, Edison, Franklin, Einstein (the list goes on) had ADD.

Best wishes!

I just want to point out that students can be highly gifted AND have ADHD and/or LDs. The term for those students is "2e" or "twice exceptional," and I've compiled a multitude of resources and information about them at community.greatschools.net/groups/16042

VERY GOOD QUESTION!

MY oldest son acted out LOADS in second grade. I questioned with his teacher if it was because he was board but she wouldn't have him tested. The first week of third grade the teacher called me for approval to have him tested. She not only get him in the 3rd grade gifted class, by the end of the year she was letting him go to the 4th grade class too. AND she let him read ANY book he chose from the library whenever he was already done with an assignment (the librarian reported he was going through a book a day!).

Going into 4th grade we had some attention problems again but after a conference with the gifted teacher and class teacher we came up with a new structure for him where he could still have plenty of reading time and follow the new teacher's desired guidelines.

It worked at home too....after advice from his gifted teacher I started noticing whenever he started acting out I'd give him a few math problems above his grade level, a chess or other challenging game, or just something to read....he settles down...AND I give him sometime to just go wild!

Yes, my child is exactly the same way. He was basically kicked out of "two" preschools because of his behavior. Those teachers told me that I might want to have him evaluated for ADD/ADHD. Before I wanted to do that, we went to family counseling. After our six week counseling session, the counselor told me that he believes that he is not ADD/ADHD. In fact, he may be Highly Gifted and Talented. He prescribed some tools for us to use such as challenging him at home by giving him educational worksheets and other things. This was 2 1/2 years ago and now he is in the 1st grade. We do experience some of the things as before, however, it is not as bad. I have talked with his teachers and told them to give my son extra worksheets when he finishes his work early (he is usually one of the first students to finish and gets the right answers). When they dont do this, he will usually misbehave. The same thing goes at home, when he is bored, he will misbehave. When he is being challenged, he will behave. He can also concentrate for as long as it takes to get his work done (which is something an ADHD child could not do).

Just because a child is gifted does not mean he has the requisite skills for classroom learning. ADD,NVLD,PDD, OCD, S&L pragmatics, usually struggle with social issues. These children often become lost in the classroom and can fall into a pattern of failure and problems with conduct, if their social - emotional needs are not addressed and supported. Often, it is more difficult for the gifted LD child. Educators can discount the legitimacy of the child's needs because of his or her tested abilities.
Your child was not misdiagnosed. He was mismanaged by the school.

Possiable many kids with ADD and ADHA are gifted as well goes hand in hand for some many kids I also was told of a Dr in Tennessee that can test for both he designed a computer program that tests them and he says in 3 days you will know if meds work by re-testing...I have not had personal experiance with the Dr but was told he really helps works on referal by ped Dr.

I feel the same way with my child right now. He is also 8 and scored 99% on the Tera Nova test last year, every one says he is ADHD and is even on medication to help him concentrate. He gets all A's but has more disrutive days at school than the average kid. I agree with you on being gifted and being over looked. Some how we have to get our smart kids ahead of the game and have them stand out because of their brain power not because they talk to much and disrupt the class.

I disagree jackieth, about "trademark symptoms), it is also indicative of gifted kids who often are not the straight A kids in school, and honing in on something that is interesting is also called focus. I am an artist and I can "hyper focus" for 6-7 hours. The fact that certain kids can read, play music, draw, or take things apart for extended periods of time does not make them adhd. It means they're interested. Unlike some of the so called normal kids who all throughout high school and college "don't know what they want to do" and have no direction or focus whatsoever. Of course they've found other drugs to self medicate with.

"there are many times and situations when my son is completely attentive and highly focused, "

Trademark symptom of ADHD. It's called "honing in" or "hyperfocusing". They can sit for hours doing something they are interested in. However, this doesn't work out too well in the school setting, because school work may not be the thing they are interested in.

Pandamomium,
I agree completely with your remark that no one knows a child better than his mother, and that are gut feelings are hardly ever wrong. Stand your ground and stand tall. Your son will thank you some day for believing in him and not caving in to the pressures to label or pathologize him. Good luck and God bless.

I don't know if you have ever looked into the different types of ADHD. Maybe he is not the classic ADHD but one of the other types.

add.about.com/od/childrenandteens/a/typesofadhd.htm

Check out the link and see what you think.

I don't think we're going to have him re-tested, although I did consider that route for a while. No one knows a child better than his mother, so armed with test scores and a mother's gut feeling, I'm fairly convinced that I have a very intelligent child who exhibits some ADHD behaviors, but is not ADHD. What truly convinced me was his performance on our state's standardized testing. That kind of testing is difficult for an ADHD child to sit through, particularly because so much of it (even the math portion), is reading comprehension based. ADHD kids have a very difficult time maintaining focus when those kinds of questions are presented over and over. He received advanced scores in both English and math. In fact, he only missed 1/2 of 1 question in math and got every other question right. He's very smart, but not gifted, and he is impulsive and easily bored, but not ADHD.

Pandamomium,

I really relate to your post because our son was initially tested in first grade and diagnosed as adhd, but the psychologist also said he was gifted. Trouble is, he did not do an accurate test ( I now know this, since he never interviewed us as parents, there was no pediatrician or physical exam, and I don't know whether there was a teacher questionnaire either) and he never elaborated on giftedness. He never mentioned that many adhd behaviors are also common to gifted children. My son retook his intelligence tests last year with a psychologist we chose (the first one was affiliated with the school, not picked by us), and we now believe that he was misdiagnosed. There are still people who try to convince me he is adhd, but one of the facts about the behavior is that it must be pervasive and there are many times and situations when my son is completely attentive and highly focused, especially regarding music (he plays and performs piano and violin). So, my advice is have him retested by a psychologist that understands highly intelligent children and see if the results are the same. And then find a gifted program for him. Also, you might want to read: Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults: ADHD, bipolar, OCD, Asperger's, depression, and other disorders. (2004) Scottsdale: Great Potential Press. Available from the publisher.
Author: James T. Webb, Edward R. Amend, Nadia E. Webb, Jean Goerss, Paul Beljan, F. Richard Olenchak

I'd love to hear back from you and see what another test would say....send me a private message sometime! Good luck.

The more I learn about truly gifted children, the more I realize that my son is not. (Your nephews sound amazing 140!! WOW!) My son's WISC score was 116 -- high average. Many of his test scores were outstanding, like reading, writing, vocabulary, etc., where he was in the superior to very superior range, so I think he is bright and has some amazing talents and aptitudes. Some of his ADD behaviors are seeming to become more controllable as he gets older. This school year, I'm pushing him to take more responsibility for controlling himself, working on organization systems, etc. and there are days when I really see improvement. At this point, we're looking at private school, because, I truly believe that the rote nature of the public school curriculum that is dictated by the state standardized testing (thank you "No Child Left Behind"), is just plain not a good fit for him and is contributing to his defiant behavior during class time. Of course, we could start spending 20K/year on a school and find that it isn't making a difference.

While a child can most definately be gifted and have ADHD, I would not go by the grade equivalent scores. The percentile scores give a much more accurate picture. Can you post those?

Not with my own daughter but with two nephews. But in their cases both they were gifted and ADHD. In second grade both score 140 on an IQ test, the highest you can score at that age. Both struggle in school until they were able to get the ADHD under control. The youngest's was sever enough that from middle school through the first year in high school he had a walker go with him from one class to the next to make sure he didn't get distracted and miss class. The good news is they did make it through and are both now in college.
I would worry a little about the evaluation he received. Both of my nephews had about an hour with the evaluator before she looked at the survey my sister-in-law filled out and then another session afterward. Can you have a second opinion submitted?
Jeanne