jenL Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 We had our final eval appt with the neuropsych yesterday, and ds9 is definitely gifted. He also definitely has ADHD. There is also a statistically significant discrepancy between his GAI and his full scale IQ due to working memory and processing issues. He will probably always be asynchronous as a result. They said this should in no way affect his future if we allow modifications such as typing his work, breaking things into small chunks, giving him lots of movement throughout the day, etc. They told us to think of "the absent-minded professor" to help us wrap our brains around how he is bright but will struggle with organization, follow-through and so on. I'm not sure if I fit in this forum or the Special Needs one (or maybe both?). They said he would always need things to be "challenging, novel, and interesting (to him)". They also told me this road will probably be harder on me than on him since I am the one who will need to stay one step ahead of him! So, how does that look in your house in terms of opportunities, curriculum, activities? I think I need to rework a lot of things we've been doing... which explains much of his frustration, boredom, and laziness. I always knew he was smart, but not as smart as he is, kwim? What has helped you tremendously in parenting and teaching your gifted child? I'm wide-open for suggestions! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 We had our final eval appt with the neuropsych yesterday, and ds9 is definitely gifted. He also definitely has ADHD. There is also a statistically significant discrepancy between his GAI and his full scale IQ due to working memory and processing issues. He will probably always be asynchronous as a result. They said this should in no way affect his future if we allow modifications such as typing his work, breaking things into small chunks, giving him lots of movement throughout the day, etc. They told us to think of "the absent-minded professor" to help us wrap our brains around how he is bright but will struggle with organization, follow-through and so on. I'm not sure if I fit in this forum or the Special Needs one (or maybe both?). They said he would always need things to be "challenging, novel, and interesting (to him)". They also told me this road will probably be harder on me than on him since I am the one who will need to stay one step ahead of him! So, how does that look in your house in terms of opportunities, curriculum, activities? I think I need to rework a lot of things we've been doing... which explains much of his frustration, boredom, and laziness. I always knew he was smart, but not as smart as he is, kwim? What has helped you tremendously in parenting and teaching your gifted child? I'm wide-open for suggestions! :001_smile: This sounds a bit like my 8 year old. His GAI and FSIQ are within 1 percentile though. His working memory and processing skills are quite a bit lower than his other skills. Organization and follow-through are difficult and he is often "absent-minded." I must say that in the past year it seems like he is maturing with his executive skills. I've probably readjusted some of my expectations too. I've done some work with him on his executive skills using a Linguisystems book. I also make sure to cover verbal logic because that is an area of difficulty. I give him challenge for visual logic activities because that is an area of strength. For school I do lots one-on-one with him. I keep math at a fast pace and reading challenging. Because of vision tracking issues I'm having him read aloud to me still. I have him read content subjects independently and come up with his own projects about the topic. He loves that. I write down his school list each day so he knows what needs to be completed. I color code the things I expect him to do on his own and the things he will do with me. We do a bit of foreign language here that adds a bit of challenge. He does well with curriculum and activities that allow him to be creative. Also one day a week he is in charge of his own learning for the entire day. He decides what to learn and how to learn it. I just give him a big block of time. I do constant reminders for chores and to help keep him on track during his school day. The best thing that helped me was to accept and appreciate him for who he is. He is unique and was designed that way for a reason. I work to keep my expectations appropriate to who he is. I try to stretch his skills whether they are strong or weak. In all that I'm attempting to be less exasperated by some of the mishaps, forgetfulness, and distractability. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwayslearning Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I would love to actually talk with you and learn a bit more about the process of testing. I am certain I have the same situation with my 9 yr old and just don't have many people who "get" it ... would you be willing to email penpal a bit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 This sounds a bit like my 8 year old. His GAI and FSIQ are within 1 percentile though. His working memory and processing skills are quite a bit lower than his other skills. Organization and follow-through are difficult and he is often "absent-minded." I must say that in the past year it seems like he is maturing with his executive skills. I've probably readjusted some of my expectations too. I've done some work with him on his executive skills using a Linguisystems book. I also make sure to cover verbal logic because that is an area of difficulty. I give him challenge for visual logic activities because that is an area of strength. For school I do lots one-on-one with him. I keep math at a fast pace and reading challenging. Because of vision tracking issues I'm having him read aloud to me still. I have him read content subjects independently and come up with his own projects about the topic. He loves that. I write down his school list each day so he knows what needs to be completed. I color code the things I expect him to do on his own and the things he will do with me. We do a bit of foreign language here that adds a bit of challenge. He does well with curriculum and activities that allow him to be creative. Also one day a week he is in charge of his own learning for the entire day. He decides what to learn and how to learn it. I just give him a big block of time. I do constant reminders for chores and to help keep him on track during his school day. The best thing that helped me was to accept and appreciate him for who he is. He is unique and was designed that way for a reason. I work to keep my expectations appropriate to who he is. I try to stretch his skills whether they are strong or weak. In all that I'm attempting to be less exasperated by some of the mishaps, forgetfulness, and distractability. HTH This helps tremendously. Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm going to digest this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 This helps tremendously. Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm going to digest this... I would love to actually talk with you and learn a bit more about the process of testing. I am certain I have the same situation with my 9 yr old and just don't have many people who "get" it ... would you be willing to email penpal a bit? Sure. Please pm me through here, and I will help if I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 I successfully homeschooled my 2e ds from 2nd grade through high school, and he will be graduating from college in the spring. He is still a mixed bag of gifts and weaknesses, and though he found a college that fits him perfectly he still had to turn to his "toolbox" of learning strategies to get through some classes. His biggest challenge has always been processing speed and a basic lack of RAM, or working memory. I remember the stark numbers from his testing way back when -- 5th percentile on processing and 99th on language. His output was far behind his input for years. The things that worked best for him included: typing -- he learned when he was 7 and did almost all his work on the computer after that a giant white board for math -- until high school geometry, in fact! a calculator for math -- yeah, I know, it is blasphemy to many, but with his limited working memory and slow processing speed, it was essential check lists and planners -- he has really taken advantage of all the apps available on his iPhone to keep him organized a large exercise ball for sitting on while working having the computer at counter height so he could stand and work, then pace around the house between sentences or paragraphs audio books and mom reading aloud though he did read on his own, too organizing courses around interests (until high school learning was mostly, not exclusively, interest led) unrestricted use of the camcorder (the old days before digital cameras!) He used iMovie to edit his images, add sound, and he made some brilliant videos over the years. The more creative the project, the more he enjoyed it and learned from it theater classes and being involved in youth theater productions looking beyond book learning -- documentaries, movies, visits to the theater and the zoo and museums, especially attending lectures and special events aimed at adults, all helped cement connections to history and science and literature. This falls under keeping learning "challenging, novel and interesting"! I freaked out and panicked on a regular basis. There were fabulous years and some years where I just about despaired of him ever making it to college. This board was very helpful over the years as was the special needs board. You start to find the others who are walking similar paths, or just glean what bits are going to be useful for you. I managed to keep the inputs at his advanced level and to not worry to much about the output until middle and high school. It was miraculous how things leveled out with maturity -- I really began to relax when he was 16 or 17 because things had leveled out and he had blossomed into such a good young man. The best thing I ever did was to get him started volunteering with the tech department at our church when he was about 13. He did much better with adults than with his peers during the brutal middle school years, and he found his passion, which is theatrical lighting design. He is very thankful he was homeschooled, and appreciates all I did for him. His younger brother, after tutoring him through a college math course, told me how much he admires that I stuck with homeschooling such a challenging student! So hang in there! Try not to panic, but enjoy the journey. It may not look like anything you see described by other WTM'ers but it will still be quite wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 I'm glad that you have some more pieces to your child's puzzle! At least, I feel like teaching them and helping them grow into their potential is like working on a puzzle with them. Your dc sounds a lot like my DD10 - intelligent, but it isn't always visible to the rest of the world. Her 2nd and 3rd grade teachers told me she was gifted (in their opinions, not by formal evaluation), and I now know she is highly VSL. I'm in the thick of getting outside professional help to find a few of her "pieces." She's been to see the developmental pediatrician, the SLP, the dev. optometrist, and OT. She was diagnosed with ADHD (man, I dislike the prevalence of acronyms in our lives), a stutter, some fine motor deficiencies, some visual suppression and tracking issues. She's been through OT, VT, and I am meeting with the pediatric psychiatrist every few weeks. The ped recommended an ed/psych or cognitive/developmental evaluation as well but insurance and school districts aren't making it simple to accomplish. I guess I am no further (behind more likely) than you in figuring everything out. But there are a few things that I have heard and find to be true in our case. First, expect them to be able to intake at a higher level but output (what they produce in terms of school work) should not be any higher than their age mates (unless it is in an area of their interest). Writing is such a chore (handwriting, spelling, mechanics, coherence) around here I even have to provide accommodations for her to write at grade level. Her reading level is grades above her age but her critical comprehension is below age level. I also believe it is important to stay one step ahead of them, and provide material which challenges them. However, two things they will have to learn to function in a college setting, a job setting, and family setting, etc. are learning to stay focused even when the material is boring and to not give up when they don't get it right away. These are skills/behaviors we have to teach them more actively than someone who is not 2E. My DS7 (also 2E) has amazing musical gifts. He can hear things once and sit to the piano and play them (at least the melody) and in the correct key (he has perfect pitch). Reading music seems superfluous to him, so I am spending a lot of time, and patience, teaching him to sight read. His piano teacher gave him a new piece that was longer, was printed smaller, and he had never heard before. He shut down and was unwilling to try it because it was "too hard." Well, after much gentle guidance and times of mutual frustration, two weeks after receiving the piece he has the first half down cold and his confidence for the piece has grown immensely. Best wishes to you and your DC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 I successfully homeschooled my 2e ds from 2nd grade through high school, and he will be graduating from college in the spring. He is still a mixed bag of gifts and weaknesses, and though he found a college that fits him perfectly he still had to turn to his "toolbox" of learning strategies to get through some classes. His biggest challenge has always been processing speed and a basic lack of RAM, or working memory. I remember the stark numbers from his testing way back when -- 5th percentile on processing and 99th on language. His output was far behind his input for years. The things that worked best for him included: typing -- he learned when he was 7 and did almost all his work on the computer after that a giant white board for math -- until high school geometry, in fact! a calculator for math -- yeah, I know, it is blasphemy to many, but with his limited working memory and slow processing speed, it was essential check lists and planners -- he has really taken advantage of all the apps available on his iPhone to keep him organized a large exercise ball for sitting on while working having the computer at counter height so he could stand and work, then pace around the house between sentences or paragraphs audio books and mom reading aloud though he did read on his own, too organizing courses around interests (until high school learning was mostly, not exclusively, interest led) unrestricted use of the camcorder (the old days before digital cameras!) He used iMovie to edit his images, add sound, and he made some brilliant videos over the years. The more creative the project, the more he enjoyed it and learned from it theater classes and being involved in youth theater productions looking beyond book learning -- documentaries, movies, visits to the theater and the zoo and museums, especially attending lectures and special events aimed at adults, all helped cement connections to history and science and literature. This falls under keeping learning "challenging, novel and interesting"! I freaked out and panicked on a regular basis. There were fabulous years and some years where I just about despaired of him ever making it to college. This board was very helpful over the years as was the special needs board. You start to find the others who are walking similar paths, or just glean what bits are going to be useful for you. I managed to keep the inputs at his advanced level and to not worry to much about the output until middle and high school. It was miraculous how things leveled out with maturity -- I really began to relax when he was 16 or 17 because things had leveled out and he had blossomed into such a good young man. The best thing I ever did was to get him started volunteering with the tech department at our church when he was about 13. He did much better with adults than with his peers during the brutal middle school years, and he found his passion, which is theatrical lighting design. He is very thankful he was homeschooled, and appreciates all I did for him. His younger brother, after tutoring him through a college math course, told me how much he admires that I stuck with homeschooling such a challenging student! So hang in there! Try not to panic, but enjoy the journey. It may not look like anything you see described by other WTM'ers but it will still be quite wonderful. Thank you for sharing your story, it is very inspiring. My DS just turned 6, so I'm no help to the OP, but I wanted to point you in the direction of the DYS forums, they have a 2E board that is fabulous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Welcome! I think we belong on both boards depending on the topic. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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