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Our 13 year old as just spent 3 days in hospital because he wanted to kill himself. He has been battling depression for 2 years now but it was suggested to us that he should be evaluated for adhd that ist is often overlooked in gifted children. The more we talked with the psychiatrist the more it sounds like he may have it. It was a shock to realize this because it was never even suggested by anyone before. Has anyone had a gifted child that was diagnosed with adhd and what has helped. In school he is doing great but he often falls apart when he comes home.
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First of all, there is a book out now about *mis-diagnosing* gifted children. I took a class on this about a year ago.[url=http://www.sengifted.org]SENG: Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted[/url] is about understanding the emotional needs of the gifted. Here's a SENG article on mis-diagnosis: [url=http://www.sengifted.org/mis_diag.htm]SENG: Articles & Resources - Misdiagnosis and dual diagnosis of gifted children[/url]Note this chart there: "Table 1: Possible Problems That May be Associated with Characteristic Strengths of Gifted Children"To balance that, children who're gifted *and* have some other learning "disability" are called "2-E" for "twice exceptional". They do exist, with dysgraphia, dyslexia, etc. As far as "ADHD", research shows gifted brains do process information faster, and observable characteristics of gifted children/ adults may include thinking and moving quickly, and moving a lot.Secondly, are you familiar with gifted sites to go to for info on gifted children? Hoagies has *everything* [url=http://www.hoagiesgifted.org]Hoagies' Gifted Education Page[/url]Read this article on Stephanie Tolan's site, the "Cheetah" article to understand giftedness: [url=http://www.stephanietolan.com/is_it_a_cheetah.htm]Is It a Cheetah?[/url]Stephanie wrote an article about her own issues with depression, concluding that it's just part of who she is, that her giftedness and ability to create books is intrinsically interwoven with it... and more or less accepting it. The Davidson Institute offers support for profoundly gifted children -- don't know where your son is on that scale:[url=http://www.davidsongifted.org/]Profoundly Gifted Children Services and Programs by the Davidson Institute[/url]Another article from Stephanie Tolan, on "Dabrowski's Overexcitabilities" (does over-excitable ring any bells, ha!), in part:more here:[url=http://www.stephanietolan.com/dabrowskis.htm]Dabrowski's[/url]Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me with any questions.
Dabrowski talked about OE's - over-excitabilities ("superstimulatabilities"), and how the gifted were extremely sensitive in a variety of areas. It's a stimulus-response difference from the norms. It means that in these 5 areas a person reacts more strongly than normal for a longer period than normal to a stimulus that may be very small. It involves not just psychological factors but central nervous system sensitivity.The five areas are:PsychomotorThis is often thought to mean that the person needs lots of movement and athletic activity, but can also refer to the issue of having trouble smoothing out the mind's activities for sleeping. Lots of physical energy and movement, fast talking, lots of gestures, sometimes nervous tics.
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I have a close friend with a 2-E (gifted & ADHD) son. He has been recently suspended. The school no longer wants his scores, they just want him gone. The sad part is that he is beginning to feel that something is wrong with him that makes everyone hate him. He is sad. He just turned 10. Thanks for info Alys, I'm going to share that.