Gifted Children with Challenges

[LadyJ9]

So on my son's psychiatric evaluation I did get one piece of advice I thought was great. I was advised that with my son being gifted (higher intelect than most children his age) that we should seek out a therapist that customarily works with gifted children. The reasoning was due to the way they think.

Has anyone else been given this advice or dealt with gifted children that have challenges? Have you dealt with traditional therapists vs ones that primarily work with gifted children? I'm curious what others would think about this...

 

[compassion]

My son is gi fted ADD. I tried to really focus on the gifted aspect, make sure he was very stimulated etc. WOrked pretty well till about age 19. He is turning 23 very soon. Still trying to focus on the gifted portion while having to lower expectations a lot.

 

[DammitJanet]

Never dealt with therapy and this but my oldest was considered academically gifted but learning disabled. That confused a few Learning Disability (LD) teachers over the years. We had one set when he started middle school that said there was no way a Learning Disability (LD) student could be gifted. She was ignorant. His IEP followed him from elementary school and that was what was on it. Didnt much matter though, he didnt stay in that school long because of extreme bullying. Back then bullying wasnt taken very seriously.

 

[SuZir]

My difficult child excels in figuring out which picture with symbols comes next in series. In other words he scored very high in Cattell-test and thus is considered to have great reasoning ability and be very intelligent. And yes, his ability to learn (when he wants to) and come up with new ideas and also ability to understand very complex concepts is high.

For cultural reasons however 'gifted' is not word much used around here, neither is there any separation for 'gifted' students or any other services available to address that topic. So I have no experiences in working through that angle. That could be a decent idea though. I do know my kid has rather peculiar outlook to things and way of thinking and part of that likely is about his high ability in reasoning tests.

Usually working through strengths rather than only working with weaknesses works better.

 

[DDD]

easy child/difficult child was identified as ADHD in first grade and identified as gifted in third grade. Each subsequent year he had two periods with a certified gifted teacher and a classroom of peers, of course. The teachers were open to spontaneous creative thought and impulsive "blurting" was not a punishable offense. Sigh. on the other hand the combo did not sit well with the regular teachers who often saw him as "disruptive". (Truth be told I do not have the patience to be a teacher and I am quite sure I would have thought of him as disruptive, also!)

For us the combo was a bit like a see-saw. We were thankful that his IQ and creativity qualified as gifted since we assumed it would lead to a productive future. on the other hand he was a gifted student, a very gifted baseball player, a gifted basketball player, a tall handsome polite kid who followed the rules of etiquette with-o a pause BUT he was impulsive, he was attracted to excitement, he ended up as a teen alcoholic and drug user. Even today I wonder if it wouldn't have been easier to cope with the problems if he had never been identified as gifted. It's complicated. DDD

 

[IT1967]

Both my kids are gifted and have "challenges". I really trust and like our therapist, although I'm fairly certain she works with-kids of all levels. I don't even know if I could find one geared only toward "gifted". But if there's one out there near you, I'd certainly look into it. I was considered "gifted" myself, and to be honest, sometimes I wish I wasn't! It's a different perspective on life, and I'm sure that some of my kids' challenges stem from their giftedness if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for what I have and that my children are so intelligent, but you "see" things that many others miss. Sometimes, I just wish I'd miss it too! I hope that doesn't come off sounding bad or braggy or whatever. It's not meant to. ITA with-DDD. It is complicated.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

I think you are seeing a trend here -- many, many of our difficult children are gifted in a variety of academic areas. The challenge is two-fold; not to bore them which leads to frustration (applies to non-difficult child gifted children as well) which, with a difficult child, can lead all kinds of places we don't want to go and to make sure the Special Education depts/teachers understand some of the unique characteristics of our difficult children. Maintaining a personal relationship with the school and your difficult child's teachers is number one in my book.

Sharon

 

[Castle Queen]

My son is considered "gifted" but it was never suggested to us to find a therapist specializing in such. Not sure that option exists in our neck of the woods. I would be curious how the treatment would differ.
What I have found is his gifted-ness can be somewhat of a curse because it has prevented us from getting a IEP for years. Not to mention being in the special gifted classes seems to only emphasize the behavioral differences between him and his gifted (but not behaviorally challenged) classmates.