Testing gifted child with Aspergers/SID/ADHD (xpost)

[Kay in Cal]

I'm cross posting this from the special needs board because I'm hoping someone here may have some insight with a child like this--twice exceptional (or more?) meaning gifted but also with developmental issues.

 

Been a long time since I've been on the boards, so a quick intro:

 

I have two sons, homeschooled always. The oldest (DS8) is both profoundly academically gifted and diagnosed with ADHD, SID, and most recently--Asperger's. He has had serious behavioral issues since toddlerhood.

 

Which isn't really my point...

 

For the first time this year we started using a homeschool charter. It has been a good fit, we have had access to a couple of extracurricular classes and have not had to change our curriculum at all. We do what we do and once a month our Educational Faciliator writes it up so it fits the standards. Perfect.

 

Because we are in a charter, this is the first year he has had standardized testing. The results of the STAR test just came back. In reading he scored 90-100% accross all content areas. No surprise. In math he scored above 90 in all areas except--Place value/fractions/decimals (75% correct, still in the target proficiency range) and Addition/subtraction/multiplication/division where he got 63%!!

 

Additional pieces of information: The kids had three full days scheduled to take the test at their own pace at a school location. He finished the entire test in less than two hours, claiming it was super easy, that he had been careful and double checked all his answers like we practiced. He was the first student to finish by several hours.

 

When I talked to him about the math scores, he answered... "It's boring... I estimated." Talking with him about doing some more drill to work on those skills has led to a major breakdown this morning. His argument, "I know how to do it!"

 

I know he UNDERSTANDS the material, he can demonstrate that in conversation or practice. We had looked at the review booklets together and the problems were not nearly as challenging as the ones he does at home. I'm not worried about his abilities, he's enrolled one year above his peers, and doing work (including math) at a much higher level. And he still scored "proficient" in math and reading--but getting 92% in algebra and 63% in arithmatic tells me that he's rushing through and guessing rather than taking the time to do the work.

 

I'm more worried that he won't ever be able to demonstrate his abilities because of testing issues, behavioral issues, etc. I was a "quick and careless" test-taker as a child myself, I get that being careful in tests takes practice. But his behavioral issues complicate the matter... this is a child who goes from calm to enraged in sixty seconds when overstimulated or frustrated.

 

Ideas? Reflections? BTDT?

[Cindyz]

I'm just curious if there is a reason that he needs to do well on the tests? Are they needed to get into a certain program, etc? If not, I just wouldn't worry about it. You know his abilities, you don't need a test to tell you that.

[EKS]

When it is important to *him* to do well is probably when he will be more careful. It sounds like he knows how to do it and chose not to.

[catz]

When it is important to *him* to do well is probably when he will be more careful. It sounds like he knows how to do it and chose not to.

 

:iagree: I think this is true. My 9 yo (10 in the fall) is PG. He is not 2E, but he is asynchronous. He's just been age appropriately sloppy and impulsive. I would say from grades K-2 he was closer to grade level at showing output and writing. He's also really non-competitive - he doesn't care one whit about test scores. He's made HUGE strides in this the past year in his ability to show what he actually knows on written tests.

[Carrie12345]

My (aspie) 12yo will not put much effort at all into anything he feels is beneath him. :glare:

 

At home, this means doing extra math problems to "make up for" his laziness. As far as testing, I wouldn't sweat it unless it has some sort of impact on your homeschooling program (increased oversight or whatever).

 

While ds hasn't *fully* accepted the need for careful, neat, precise (boring) work, he's getting there. He is realizing how much it stinks to work hard on a complicated problem, only to have it marked wrong because he dropped a sign or mistook a 7 for a 1 due to inflated confidence. Or should I say arrogance? :tongue_smilie:

 

At 8, before equations got long and complex, he just refused to believe it would ever matter, and there was little I could do to convince him. The light is dawning!

[brownie]

DS9 is asp and gifted as well and we have the same issue...no answers, just the same issue. I try to make him redo problems he gets wrong but it does just make him angry. I will give him a math test and he will get an 80% so I will review for a week and retake the same test...another 80. Then my mom says well maybe you need to break the test up. So we study for 2 more weeks, break the test up and he gets a 64! He doesn't get the same problems wrong twice so clearly he knew how to do it the 2nd time around...I just don't get it. Quality is important in life though so while the test itself may be irrelevant we continue to work on quality.

Brownie