Is my son ADHD or gifted?

Darcie - posted on 05/26/2012

Our son was just was just 9yrs. old when the results of his Scholastic Foundation Assessment tests rocked our world. He scored in the "OMG" realm for some subjects and the "Holy Shit That's Amazing" for others. Our journey though multiple and costly professional assessments ultimately determined his learning style and lead us to understand that our son was both learning disabled and extra-ordinarily gifted . . . like "off the map gifted"!

His psycho-educational assessor explained it this way: we are all born with a finite number of eggs in our basket. One may be extra-ordinarily gifted intellectually, athletically, socially, scholastically, musically, visually, creatively, numerically . . . and the list goes on, BUT we have all been blessed with the same number of eggs in our basket.

An “off-the wall” gifted ability assessment doesn’t make your child the second coming of Christ, but rather presents parents with a myriad challenges – your child excels in some arenas, but will struggle in others.

Get your son a professional and certified educational assessment by an approved and certified psychological educational assessor who can work with the school to craft an IEP (Individual Eduational Plan) that will follow him thorugh all levels of education and is crafted to accommodate his specific learning style. It will change his life and yours.

Valerie - posted on 05/23/2012

Request an IEP to be done on your son ASAP if one hasn't been done as of yet. It does sound very strange and there must be other things left out as a child cannot be told they won't accept him at a public school unless he has been expelled for whatever reason.. I am in Northern California too, not far from you and I have one special needs child with an IEP that has followed her through school since kindergarten. Every year we meet and set goals for her and they do her schedule for school to fit her needs and her goals that the IEP team, me, and herself have set. If it's a private school, there is probably more ways for them to say "don't come back" but a public school cannot just decide they don't like what your child can or can't do. I have only had good experiences with the schools in regards to helping my daughter who has needed extra help. ADHD or gifted isn't really the question, the question really should be "how can I get my child educated properly". Good luck!

Shawnn - posted on 05/22/2012

Why, if for "all these years" they've been telling you that your child's needs are not being met, have you not found a school to fit his needs?

You live in California, the homeland for "specialties". Special schools, special accommodations, etc.

Whether your kid is smart or not is really irrelevant if they cannot perform basic functions needed in order to survive cannot be performed. I'm certain that your son would LIKE to know how to read, and write.

Ask your school district for a learning needs assessment, and go from there.

Ramona - posted on 05/21/2012

Why is not accepted?

Jen - posted on 05/21/2012

Your post isn't too clear about what kind of school your son goes to or why he is suddenly being kicked out. If your son cannot read or write, he should have been put in a special program/school years ago. Whether he has ADHD or is gifted is not really relevant - he can't function in life if he doesn't learn basic skills, and if he can't learn them where he is then he needs to be somewhere where the teachers know how to work with kids who have special needs.

As for what you should do, I would contact your local ARC or school for the people with developmental disabilities or delays. They might have a program that would work for your son, and it should be free. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that your son is not smart. But he definitely sounds like the school he's at is not meeting his needs, and a special school might. They can also test him to see if he has any specific learning problems (ADHD or something else) that should be addressed. Good luck!