gifted but not coping in year one.
Hi all,
I'm new to all of this, and this is my first post. To cut a long story short, but son's teachers are very concerned about him. We got a psychological report done which found him to be highly intelligent in most areas tested, to the point of being in the top 1% of his peers in one area tested. They said he may have giftedness.
So, why can't he do his school work? He just sits there and draws a blank. His teacher and the special ed teacher say they have a condition in mind that they have seen before, and they think he has, but they don't know if it's their place to tell me what it is. My son has a lot of nervous type physical movements which concern the teachers, and they say this condition would explain why he does that. If an adult asks my son what school he goes to, in a social situation, my son can't remember. He also does silly things when getting ready for school, like putting his uniform over his pyjamas, instead of taking his pyjamas off.
How can you be gifted, but struggle at things that other people find easy? Anyone know what might be going on?
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Re: gifted but not coping in year one.
Hi, my son used to do this and still does to some extent. Is he a visual spatial learner? Look at Silverman's writing on this if you have not heard of it. My son used to 'phase out' of school totally as he was so bored. It's a problem as it's hard to phase back in later! My son used to watch movies in his head... So disorganised and forgetful.... yes, he puts clean undies on OVER his old undies... LOL! I have heard of other gifted kids who are extremely vague like this.
Have you talked about this with the ed psych who did his testing?
I wonder if the teachers are thinking of ADHD but I don't think you need to postulate that.
I think your son can remember but he is not paying attention. AN alternative possibility - is he highly anxious do you think?
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Re: gifted but not coping in year one.
They said he may have constitutional anxiety, which is when rather than being worried about certain things, you are anxious all the time. At first they were thinking ADHD, but then said it was gifteness and constitutional anxiety. His teacher says they are missing something, as she has seen other children with his traits including constant fidgetty movements. I don't know what "disorder" she's referring to. We have been referred to a phsychologist who specialises in giftedness and anxiety. Only thing is, we won't see him for six weeks, and by then the school year will be over, and we'll be on to a new teacher next year.
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Re: gifted but not coping in year one.
It's great that you are seeing an ed psych. But really, I have heard of heaps of kids with the phasing out thing..... in my (layman's) terms it's because they are distracted by their active minds. I hope you are able to let us know what the ed psych thinks, and that your son's needs are able to be met next year. Maybe you could have a meeting with next year's teacher after you have seen the psych.... Good luck!
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Re: gifted but not coping in year one. (eom)
Re: gifted but not coping in year one.
Please know teacher's are not qualified to diagnose anything! Some teacher's have a tendency to want to diagnose and 'blame' the child rather than focussing on the individual learner. Teacher's need to reflect on their practices and the learning environment they provide for children... when this happens we will have much happier children!
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Re: gifted but not coping in year one.
Hi, just wanted to update you. This year (grade 2) my son is doing much better. He has a new teacher who is giving my son positive feedback for his efforts, and also this teacher is much more organised. She runs a tight ship. On top of that the work is more interesting in grade two, which helps a LOT. I just got back from my son's assembly and he received a teachers award for neat writing and completing tasks. Yay! As for the whole psych thing, I'm sure my son doesn't have a psychiatric disorder, but he does have sensory processing issues that an OT has helped with. He has a disc o sit cushion which he can move a little on all the time to get his fidgets out at school. And at home, he chews chewing gum while doing his homework. Sounds kind of silly, and maybe it's just a placebo effect, but it's really seems to work.
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Re: gifted but not coping in year one.
Hi, just wanted to update you. This year (grade 2) my son is doing much better. He has a new teacher who is giving my son positive feedback for his efforts, and also this teacher is much more organised. She runs a tight ship. On top of that the work is more interesting in grade two, which helps a LOT. I just got back from my son's assembly and he received a teachers award for neat writing and completing tasks. Yay! As for the whole psych thing, I'm sure my son doesn't have a psychiatric disorder, but he does have sensory processing issues that an OT has helped with. He has a disc o sit cushion which he can move a little on all the time to get his fidgets out at school. And at home, he chews chewing gum while doing his homework. Sounds kind of silly, and maybe it's just a placebo effect, but it's really seems to work.
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