Verbally gifted child not doing well in school. BTDT??? - Page 2

[beanma]

He could have N(V)LD. My dd1 (5th grade) has a tentative diagnosis of NLD. I'm not sure it really matches up for her because she has some anxiety issues that I think may have clouded the testing she had done (almost 2 yrs ago now). However, I did see some markers that fit when I researched it. Check out http://www.nldontheweb.org/ if you haven't already. We had a private eval also and my experience with public school this year is mostly good, but I did get the impression that they basically thought if she wasn't causing a big ruckus she wasn't a big problem. There are many other kids with bigger issues than she has, but, of course, I want her to do as well as she is able to do. We're headed for a small charter school next year and I think that may allow her a little more flexibility. She struggled in math this year which is consistent with NLD, but she didn't have a great math teacher (many of the other parents didn't like the teacher either). She did exceptionally well in science, though, and also excels in reading. She has some minor struggles with writing (that ol' blank piece of paper staring at her) and basically did fine in everything else. She struggles with organization (consistent with NLD and not my strong suit either) and is easily overwhelmed by homework assignments (and cleaning her room, too). 

best of luck!

[chaimom]

Originally Posted by mauricemcfadden 


His school told us that they don't believe that he is smart, telling us that "all parents think their first born is smart".  Yes, they did have his IQ scores (he was tested just prior to turning 7), they said that they just don't believe in IQ testing.  They school was not giving him any accomadations, and wasn't going to.  They did not think that there was an issue at all.  He withdrew him from the school and hs'd him for the remainder of the year.

OMG!! I'm so glad you withdrew him from school! Is this a public school? If so, I would talk to the district's special education department about next steps-- they should understand the issue and be able to understand his IQ scores. If you don't get help with them I would hire an advocate to help you navigate the school system and federal law for children with learning disabilities. BTW, a child can still be gifted and have a learning disability.

[est15]

I can't offer any help, but I'm in a similar situation. I just had my 6yo tested as well. I suspected he was bright, but his development has been very uneven. When he was younger I was convinced that he will have some sort of learning disability, but by the time he reached Kindergarten he was far ahead of his classmates. Well K was not a good year for him either. The teacher says he's bright, but wouldn't give him any additional or more difficult work, because he couldn't finish the things other kids were doing. He was refusing to color and to draw and kind of just sat there. He was unhappy and teacher was frustrated. He couldn't concentrate enough to finish multiple step assignments and complained that school is hard. The teacher aslo said he doesn't understand or can't follow oral instructins. To top it off, he is very sensitive to things happening around him and has SPD (sensory seeking).

It was not a good year for him and I decided to get him tested before he enters first grade to find out if there are any problems and what is going on with him. His WISC-IV came back as following: very superior in verbal comprehension, high average in perceptual reasoning and working memory and only 13th%'ile (!!!???) in processing speed. In addition I was told that his visual memory is in 16th %'ile and auditory memory in the 95th%'ile. So huge gaps here as well. It seems every time he had to do something visual that was not about words or reading, he didn't perform very high. I'm not sure what to think about this. He doesn't have vision problems. He doesn't care for books or pictures, never played with puzzles or blocks either, hates math. We also had Woodcock-Johnson III achievement test done. He's different reading skills are between GE 4.8-6.0, writing skills 2.1-3.3, math 1.8-2.6, he is entering 1st grade in the fall. He really is not interested in learning at all and that makes me worried. Yet he has all these skills that kind of come out of nowhere and just stick. What to do with him, I don't know!

[LMinillinois]

You have just described my son. His verbal is in the 99% and nonverbal avg. My son had an IEP because of the huge gap between verbal and nonverbal. His IQ composite is just within gifted level, but he has slow processing speed. My son is gifted/LD. He struggled throughout his educational career with time management and organization. Although his WISC and other tests scores showed that my son was exceptionally bright, his school work did not show this. Mom, you have a long hard road ahead of you. My son’s back pack is still a mess and he is now in college. He struggles to write down assignments consistently and has even missed a final exam because he got the date wrong. How can someone be so bright and not so bright at the same time? These are conundrum kids, and they need to learn what works for them. High school and college will be challenging, but not impossible. Look into schools with great LD programs. Check out his processing speed. This may be what is causing him to struggle. What happens is kids are faced with larger tasks, too many tasks, or learning new material quickly, and their brain cannot process all that material in a timely fashion, so it starts backing up until the student is overwhelmed and shuts down. I was told my son will always have to study twice as long as his peers. Some subjects, he doesn’t have to study for. They are simple and effortless, while others are painful and it takes hours and hours for the concept to be learned. It is like the light is on or off.  My advice is find a school with a great Special Ed department, break down projects to smaller chunks, keep a ridged schedule, write in an assignment notebook, get a note-taker, listen to books on tape—even if he is a strong reader. Colleges with great support programs are Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Achieve program and University of Arizona Salt Program. I hope this helps.

[straighthaircurly]

My gifted son had very erratic testing results the first couple years of school. If he didn't know the tester, his scores were lower than expected. He also struggled and continues to struggle with fine motor. Keep up with the OT as it does help, for as long as he qualifies.

Your instincts are your best guide. If you think something isn't adding up, then seek some outside assessments. In my experience, parent and teacher intervention early is the best bet for future success. If he falls behind, the struggle will just get greater. Good luck.