ADD/HD and Giftedness..What do we really know ?

[Nova]

I realize this article is outdated.
I posted it pertaining to it's data in reference to the ADD/HD and giftedness, more than the sole details of ADD/HD.
It would be more beneficial of anyone who is interested in this subect to google more specific information on this subject on their own :0) as I do not have a gifted child of my own...I'm just nudging those who do, in that direction.

http://www.familyeducation.com/artic...0.html?relinks




ADHD and Giftedness: What Do We Really Know?
Kaufmann, Kalbfleisch, and Castellanos



What Is ADHD and How Is It Diagnosed?

What do we know about Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and gifted kids? ADHD, especially in the gifted, has been in the spotlight of attention, concern, and passion. Three experts in the field conducted an exhaustive study and share their findings with us.

What is ADHD?
The core symptoms of ADHD are impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity.

What causes ADHD -- genetics or the environment?
Genetic factors as studies of the family, adoption, and twins have shown. However, environmental factors can also cause the ADHD syndrome: factors such as premature birth, head injury, fetal alcohol syndrome, lead toxicity, prenatal maternal smoking, rare endocrine abnormalities, and prenatal exposure to drugs like cocaine.

How is ADHD diagnosed?
There are four subtypes of ADHD, according to the DSM-IV:
Predominantly Hyperactive/Impulsive
Predominantly Inattentive
Combined
Not Otherwise Specified


Inattention:
Your child often --
1. Makes careless mistakes and doesn't pay attention to details
2. Has difficulty paying attention for long periods of time
3. Doesn't seem to listen to someone speaking directly to her
4. Fails to finish work or projects, and does not follow through
5. Has difficulty organizing herself around tasks and activities
6. Avoids or dislikes projects or games that require concentration
7. Loses necessary tools (pencils, toys, etc.) for projects or activities
8. Is easily distracted by things going on around her
9. Forgets daily activities

Hyperactivity-Impulsivity:
Your child often --
1. Fidgets or squirms
2. Leaves his seat or other places where he is expected to remain
3. Runs or climbs or feels restless in inappropriate situations
4. Finds it difficult to play or work quietly
5. Seems driven or always on the go
6. Can't stop talking
7. Blurts out answers before questions have been completed
8. Finds it difficult to wait his turn
9. Interrupts or intrudes on others

Who should diagnose my child?
Ideally, a team -- including a qualified clinician such as a pediatrician, family physician, psychiatrist, neurologist, or psychologist -- should make the diagnosis of ADHD, because only a specialist can tell the difference between ADHD and other physical and psychological problems that mimic ADHD.

For the majority of children, symptoms become clear-cut when they can be observed regularly and compared to other children over a long period of time. Having said this, remember that only specialists can exclude any other medical, psychological, or psychiatric conditions from the possibility of ADHD.

When the child is also gifted, a specialist in giftedness should also be included to provide information about the child's behavior in comparison to other children of similar abilities.

Gifted and ADHD

Are gifted kids labeled as having ADHD instead of being gifted?
It's actually possible that the two conditions may coexist. Recently, some researchers have expressed concern that children who are gifted are mislabeled as ADHD, and that this mislabeling has been getting out of hand. While there are cases of mistaken diagnosis, no empirical data in the medical, educational, or psychological literature confirms the extent of this concern.

Careful attempts to avoid over-diagnosis must be balanced against a child's need for evaluation and treatment. Again, giftedness and ADHD can coexist in the same child.

Can a gifted child who spends hours focused on a task still have ADHD?
Some parents and professionals assume that a child who can concentrate for a long time cannot have ADHD. This is incorrect. It's understandable that an observer might dismiss the possibility of ADHD, because from all appearances the child is so absorbed in a task that everything around her fades into oblivion.

While this state of rapt attention may be the sign of a creative mind, it may also be "hyperfocus," which is a similar condition that individuals with ADHD frequently experience. You can't tell children with and without ADHD from how they engage in high-interest activities -- such as videos, computer games, or reading for pleasure. The key is effort. How your child performs during projects that require effort -- but aren't necessarily high-interest -- can mark the difference.

So a child with ADHD can concentrate for long periods of time?
ADHD is not characterized by a child's inability to pay attention, but rather is marked by his inability to control his attention. A child with ADHD has great difficulty paying attention to tasks that are not immediately rewarding, that require effort.

While "hyperfocus" can be a positive sign of commitment to a task and a sign of motivation, it becomes a problem when a gifted child is asked to shift from one task to another. In other words, while this intense concentration can be positive for the child's thinking, it can also cause problems in her behavior.

How do gifted kids show ADHD?
ADHD may be less apparent in a gifted child than in a child who struggles more obviously. By virtue of their giftedness, the range of tasks that are perceived as "effortless" is broader for gifted children. And so, missing the symptoms of ADHD may be even more common in gifted kids than misdiagnosing them with ADHD. Some children are able to compensate for their ADHD -- and neither they nor their parents or teachers may be aware of it. Others are more seriously handicapped.

A gifted child's over-reliance on her strengths unintentionally obscures her disability. While emphasizing strengths may highlight a child's gifts and talents, it does not eliminate the reality of the condition. It can, in fact, lead to an even worse dilemma: She can doubt her abilities because of her struggle just to maintain them. If a child is allowed to acknowledge her difficulties as a disability, she may learn appropriate coping skills.

The single most relevant consideration in evaluating ADHD is the degree of impairment a child experiences as a result of his behaviors. A child whose behavior causes him to be impaired academically, socially, or in the development of a sense of self, should be examined from a clinical/medical perspective to exclude potentially treatable conditions, even if his behavior may be recognized as creativity or giftedness.

Should I put my gifted child on medication?
Every child who is impaired does not necessarily need medication. Non-medical interventions can be used at school and at home, and should be tried before more intrusive interventions.

Ten Recommendations

Where Do We Go from Here?
ADHD is not a defect that must be "cured." In fact, ADHD can not only inhibit, but can also enhance the realization of gifts and talents.

Educators of gifted children with ADHD face a difficult task of providing opportunities for students to apply their strengths while also improving upon their deficits. Although the same might be said of any sound educational program, this is more daunting for gifted children with ADHD because of the striking gaps in ability, behavior, and performance it can create.

Educators, parents, and children themselves can meet these challenges only through consistent attention, immeasurable creativity, and enduring patience.

Ten Recommendations
1. Be aware that ADHD and giftedness can coexist.
2. Explore many perspectives in your pursuit of information about ADHD.
3. Remember that the most important measure for diagnosing ADHD is the degree of impairment experienced by the child in two or more settings.
4. Use a multidisciplinary team to arrive at a diagnosis and to develop a comprehensive treatment plan.
5. Familiarize yourself with a variety of educational and behavioral strategies to determine which combinations might be effective for your child.
6. Be cautious about "quick-fix" promises -- whether behavioral, educational, or medical.
7. Be aware that the greatest difficulty for a child with ADHD lies in communicating what he's learned.
8. Determine whether shifting attention is a point of vulnerability for your child, when she is asked to change tasks.
9. Model and support the process of "knowing thyself." Remember that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. You can point out to your child how you yourself use your best skills and compensate for weaker areas. You can then help your child to do the same.
10. Advocate for and support research into ADHD within the gifted population. Contact the NRC/GT website if you know of identical twins (ages 5-16) of which only one has ADHD or ADD. Where do I go to find out more?
Find out more about ADHD and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act at www.chadd.org/legislative/govt.htm. Find out more about Special Education and the Law, and more about ADHD in FamilyEducation.com's ADHD information center. Source: "Attention Deficit Disorders and Gifted Students: What Do We Really Know?" by Felice Kaufmann, M. Layne Kalbfleisch, and F. Xavier Castellanos.

[barbyma]

As a mother of a highly-gifted ADHD child, thank you for the post. We are very lucky that his school is full of well-trained and experienced educators who were able to identify both in him. Without them, we may have overlooked his struggles with ADHD (he's not at all hyperactive), thinking he was either bored or unmotivated because of his capabilities.

Barb

[Scattered]

Interesting article -- fits my daughter well. Especially that part about having trouble shifting off an area of high interest (science in her case). Thanks for posting it.

Scattered

[princessvalium]

Good article-- I wish it had been around when I was a kid. It took decades to diagnose my ADHD because all the health care professionals I saw wrote off the diagnosis based on the fact that I was identified as gifted. Makes me wonder what I could have accomplished if people had been more on the ball...

[lilhurt38]

I can relate to this. I have trouble starting tasks that require a lot of effort and I tend to focus on the things that I am good at. For example, I tend to focus on music, which is an area that my brain is naturally gifted. I will spend hour teaching myself guitar by just listening to what sounds sound good together and memorizing them. But I can't bring myself to do my math homework because that is the area that i am not very strong in. The biggest problem that I have is that I will listen to a teacher's lecture and get an A on the test, but I have trouble sitting down and doing the homework that the teacher assigned. I have tried Adderol, Concerta, and Ritalin and I seem to get anxiety with all of them. They tend to work very well for the first month and then my body starts getting worn out by them. I also notice that when they are working the way they should be, my imagination goes crazy. I've had times where I feel like I'm losing my mind because my imagination has no boundaries. My doctor has switched me to Provigil, which I still have to fill. My father wants me to try to control my ADD without using medication, but I am having a really hard time doing this and my grades, which have been suffering due to the anxiety that I have been getting from the previous medications are starting to go down the drain. It is very frustrating because I know that I should be having a really easy time getting As in my classes, but because of my ADD I might have to repeat 11th grade.

[Princess-of-Chaos]

Hi,

I was asking myself whether stimulants might be able to affect the IQ...
So I just took an online IQ-test, and found out it was 15 points higher than ist used to be!
And I did not even find the right dosage of stimulants...
But, of cause, it was not an official test. And it was only the mathematical/logical part.
But in comparable tests in the internet I had two times the same IQ, and that was 1 year ago.
So actually it really might make a difference in some people whether they take medication or not.

[AddysonsMom23]

Good post. I just found out my IQ when I went to sign up for class. My school had gave me one and told me I was gifted. My college was shocked that I had a IQ of 156 but only did avg in hs. I belive it was the ADD. The school gave me one after a teacher said she belive I had add. It was dismissed when after my results were in...

[reh3]

Good post, excellent resource for parents. I'm 28, and was diagnosed with combined ADHD about 7 months ago. Ever since learning about adhd many things in my life now "click" and make sense.

In High School I was above average, but only squeeked out a 21 on my ACT. Carried a 2.49 undergrad GPA at a Teir 2 institution. Thought about a MBA program, took the GMAT and scored a miserable 30% percentile after months of studying.

After the death of a parent, I decided to go back to grad school for education. Was accepted on probationary status, but ultimately finished with a 3.875 GPA. At the same time, I had been taking Paxil CR for depression because of the family loss, and the medication seemed to help me through grad school. My doctor recommended I stop usage though when I reported that I could "feel" the difference of the medication everytime I took it. Felt like a boost of caffine without any side effects. Since being diagnosed with ADHD, I've been on strattera.

About 4 months ago, I decided to take one of those IQ tests from Tickle.com for the hell of it. Got a IQ score back of 131. Didn't think much of it, but decided to take the Mensa workout, as well as the Mensa Home test exam. Scored within the 95% on each of them, 134 and 135 if I recall correctly. Havent had a chance to take the qualifying exam yet...Unfortunately, I have had to work every Saturday they have had a test.

From all three instruments, one thing that I did extremely well on was mathmatical and spatial pattern recognition. Learning that I held strengths in those areas made a great deal of sense. I was an avid artist growing up, but lacked patience to complete my works; I detested math, but adored higher level computer aided statistical analysis.

Now that I'm more knowledgable about myself, I've been able to better create environments where I can do some artwork on the side for my own enjoyment. Also, I've been able to create a better work environment by rewarding myself with occasional "brain candy" to help keep me focused on my tasks.

Another resource that can be looked at for is the Theory of Multiple Intelligences; some information can be found at these links: http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/mi/front_mi.htm
http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyle...es%20Explained

[barbyma]

I don't believe medication improves IQ. I think it improves your ability to take the test.

I'd be willing to bet that untreated AD/HDers perform rather inconsistently on IQ tests. I've taken at least 15 of them over the years and the scores have ranged a great deal, from the low 130s to the mid 190s. I haven't taken one since Adderall, but I'll bet it's somewhere in the upper half of that range.

[Adamant1988]

Ditto. I was given a couple IQ tests for special classes (advanced classes my parents thought I should be in, but I dropped out of within a month because i couldn't keep up with the work). I scored inconsistantly but always above 130...

[Princess-of-Chaos]

Well, I do not think medication improves the IQ, or maybe, more correctly, that famous "g". But of cause, it might make you able to access your abilities... To me, it was really nice to have sort of a "number" that shows the medication is working. I like numbers... by the way: I took the "European" test, I think its standard deviation is a little lower than the "American", so it might be even more difference in the "American" version. I think in Europe they use the "Wechsler" and in America the "Stanford-Binet".

[barbyma]

Originally Posted by piaszw

I think in Europe they use the "Wechsler" and in America the "Stanford-Binet".

Actually, in America, we use a whole bunch of different ones. Most common are the WAIS, the Wechsler, and the Stanford-Binet. The Cattel (sp?) is also used, as is the WISC and others. Nobody can decide on which are the most culture-free.

There was a VERY good point made here -- the "g-factor" is a concept that psychologists continue to debate. There is not a clear, universal definition for Intelligence that is not circular. What is IQ? Basically it's what's measured by an IQ test. What's an IQ test? It's something that measures IQ.

For this reason, I thing the concept of "multiple intelligences" is cr*p. Not only do the tests for this measure preferences, not abilities. They came about as a way of "equalizing" people because having an average or lower IQ does not equate to a worthless person.

The problem, IMHO, isn't how we define IQ, it's how much value we place on it. Having a high IQ does not make one a super-being. I'm terribly flawed, and my IQ is in the 99th percentile. I know plenty of people in the "genius" range who are a**h***s.

Just my opinion.

[Bean Delphiki]

Originally Posted by barbyma

For this reason, I thing the concept of "multiple intelligences" is cr*p. Not only do the tests for this measure preferences, not abilities.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I hate what's been done with Gardner. He himself said that his theory should NEVER have resulted in "tests" of various "intelligences" but that's exactly what people have turned it into. They gave us "multiple intelligence" questionnaires in high school so they could tell us what we were "good" at. Erm, what?

It seemed like I was the only one who figured out that preference != ability. Someone with hypergraphia might write a great deal, but that doesn't mean all people with hypergraphia are fantastic writers.

Originally Posted by barbyma

They came about as a way of "equalizing" people because having an average or lower IQ does not equate to a worthless person.

But people tend to think it does; probably the biggest reason why Gardner is abused.

[Princess-of-Chaos]

I do not think the IQ should be used to compare people. I've always wondered why psychologists want to measure something that they cannot even define....
But when it is used as a diagnostic tool, e.g. to compare the outcomes of different subtests, or to get a rough idea about the intellectual abilities of someone, it might be useful.
My therapist told me once that she has had a patient who had an incredible high mathematical IQ, but simply did not know how to put his thoughts on paper. Here it was useful as one could see he should rather attend an accelerated program at school, although his marks had been bad...

Or, as in my example, to see one has improved under similar conditions and, of cause, without training
(although 15 is exactly borderline to be significant)

By the way, the standard deviation of the IQ-tests is that high...
If one has a "measured" IQ of 100, it is somewhere between 85 and 115, as the standard deviation is 15 in the Wechsler scale. (And, of cause, it might be even lower or higher, the probability is just not very high)
And normal tests do produce even bigger errors for scores over 130.

And, something important to note: if one went to an other country, one could gain or loose points, as the tests are standardised for example for the US or for Germany, and apparently there are differences up to 12 points....

So if someone says: hey, my IQ is 5 points higher than yours, he/she should immediately get a lower one in mathematical thinking

[cell]

This is a tricky subject. I do not work in the field and have not been trained in the field of psychology, and have not read extensively about IQ, g, or intelligence. But for what it's worth, here is some of my opinion, briefly.

I'm not entirely sure how intelligence is defined, and am pretty sure that there is no uniform definition. Assume the following:
Intelligence is a general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. In psychology, the study of intelligence is related to the study of personality but is not the same as creativity, personality, character, or wisdom. As defined in the context of a trait by Wikipedia

According to the definition above, intelligence involves the ability to solve problems. Solving problems and HOW we solve problems is something that can change with age and training, among other things - likely an engineer and a journalist will approach solving the same problem from different perspectives and methodology.

According to the definition above, intelligence involves the ability to learn. Many/most/all(?) IQ tests include portions that test vocabulary and pattern recognition. Both of these (and other skills) can be improved with education or even just taking an IQ test once, simply from experience.

I think most people on this forum would agree that the testing environment is crucial. The same person will perform differently on the same exam in a cold, drafty room with lots of noise while sitting on a hard chair with a desk that's too low, versus while sitting on a padded, ergonomic chair at a desk that is the ideal height, in a room with ideal temperature and lighting.

From what I understand, the IQ is a measure of one's "intelligence" based on a gaussian distribution where the average of the population tested is normalized to a score of 100. That being the case, in addition to the brief points made above, it seems only fair if the person being tested is only measured against others with at least the same education level, area of training, age, culture, and an IQ testing environment that is equally comfortable for all participants.

Personally, I have a difficult time putting stock into IQ tests. I know plenty of people that have the ability to perform well on written exams, but are dumb as a board otherwise.