Gifted and LD

I have worked with several gifted/LD kids and they are quite a challenge. The behavior you described and the comments of the child are so consistent with others I have worked with that it made me chuckle. It’s not a laughing matter. The best thing going is that you have parent support. I haven’t been so lucky - they made as many excuses as the child did for not performing on deadlines or completing their work. Set up a structured home/school communication on a daily basis (make the kid do most of the writing). If everyone does their job - this will make the child the responsible party. Also, most gifted kids don’t want anything to do with LD services - the ones I have worked with felt like they were above those “other” kids. What did work was having the student report to the LD teacher when they were behind. I’m guessing this kiddo qualified for LD services in written language but the written language achievement score was probably in the average range. Interesting issue when sped spends so much effort with kids in the low to borderline achievement range. Good luck -

Rita, you state that “There is great resistence to getting the child classified in order to receive services, which I believe would be of benefit” Who is resistant? Is it the school or the family? Even though he has moved up to the high school level, do you have any opportunity to check with his 8th grade teachers to se what statrgies they utilized? I also wonder what LD do you beleive he has. Can you begin to make some accomodations? In NJ, prior to a teacher making a referral to the CST, teachers are to ask for a Pupil Assistance Meeting, very often referred to as a PAC meeting. As this meeting a team develops some interventions to try over a specific period of time. I find that these meetings can be very helpful becaus they offer the teache immediate support. It is also an excellent opportunity for you to document your concerns and the interventions you have attempted. I have found information on teaching students with “non-verbal learning disabilties” to be very helpful for strategies. There are a number of websites that offer great information. I am so glad that you are not just brushing this kid off. Good for you!

Mostly it is the child who is resisting — Samantha nailed it. I’m not sure what the exact LD is, but I suspect a language processing disorder. He has a tough time with papers. They’re not badly written enough to raise any flags, but the sentence structure, organization, and ideas are usually extremely simple — far more simple than one would expect from a kid who’s never missed a vocabulary word on a test and otherwise hits straight A’s.

Somebody gave me a great handout for “Daily Planning” and “Exit Cards” that I’m going to start to use with him and see if that helps.

What services would you think he would benefit from? Those services would be the tips you’re looking for I think. There’s usually no shortcuts. The ” I left it in my locker” translates into I can’t get all this work done. Is he were able to say “I can’t read books this hard” would there be something to be done for him?

You don’t say what his LD is exactly but he should be listening to his books on tape if they are too hard for him to read. He can dictate his thoughts to a willing scribe if his fine motor skills or his writing skills are impaired.

As the parents are wonderful, would you send them or e-mail them his assignments so they can help him to stay on track? Would they help him to access his books on tape? Would they read outloud to him if it would come down to that?

One thing is for sure… he is lucky to have a teacher like you who is concerned and so willing to try and help. Something that I did with students who were shall we say ‘reluctant’ to do hw was I took away an excuse by providing his parents with a set of books to be kept at home. He was less reluctant to complete hw when the supplies were right at hand. Of course some would say that we are making things to easy, but as a parent I learned early on choose your battles…. I don’t care how he got the book, i just care that he used it ad completed the assignment.

Good suggestions, Sara. I do email his mom quite a bit with assignments, but that’s not always enough. I think he would benefit from having a SPED person work with him on getting major assignments started and organized. I have asked him to come see me so we can talk about essays and I can tape verbal brainstorming, but he won’t take me up on it.

I would not take “I can’t read books that hard” from him. He very clearly belongs in college prep English. I think if he could verbally discuss what he is reading (more than we do in class), that would be very helpful. Since he doesn’t have an IEP, I can’t guarantee him a placement in a CWC for next year (I teach all the sophomore level CWC’s and they’re already over-enrolled), and I think that would go a long way because my SPED partner does do that sort of thing with our LD students during their resource hour. I guess those are the two services I’d want written for him were he my kid.

I would check to see if anyone really has taught the child to write. Remember, in this era of whole language, the belief concerning writing is not to teach grammar, correct paragraph and essay writing (structure), and of course spelling. You may be surprised that his main problem is that he doesn’t know how to really write creatively. We started a schoolwide five-paragraph writing blitz in all classes in 11th grade even in advanced English classes because of this. I had many students (regular ed included) in September (inclusion academic class) that wrote paragraphs with no punctuation or capitalization and they were all over the place with structure. We basically had to start with a sentence and build up to an essay.

If he was getting A’s and doing his assignments well previously, is there a chance he could be depressed? Many kids suffer SAD syndrom this time of year. My son has shown signs of depression every January to March, and things start to improve in April. Ask his parent if they see a pattern in his behavior. Depression can take the form of lack of involvement in school work, with friends and activities.

Annie,

I’ve noticed an annual swing in my son.

Can anything be done for SAD? I’ll contact his doctor is there is.

Barb

The psychologist that I talked to suggested light therapy (I have seen machines advertised), a trip down south (very expensive and the effects don’t last long), going outside without sunglasses (not sure I agree with that, glare from snow can cause eye damage) and medication if the child is extremely depressed. Her argument for medication was that if the child (teen) is at risk for drug or alchol abuse, prescription meds is a better alternative. Also, children that suffer from routine depression can have a lifelong problem with depression if you don’t find an intervention that works.
I am always surprised that there is so little discussion on the board about depression amoung the young LD population. My son can’t be the only one who suffers. I guess people just don’t won’t to talk about it.

I have a friend whose LD son developed SAD. I think he was eventually put on antidepressants which helped.

Beth

I’m not discounting depression, my own child was diagnosed with dysthymia (chronic, mild depression) and probably still meets the criteria though she no longer uses medication for it. But.. many of us who work on a 9-10 month school calendar notice annual “swings”— Sept-Dec. are exciting, just starting out the new school year and then the holidays carry us through Dec. Then January comes around with colder weather, fewer outdoor recesses, harder classwork, high-stakes testing hanging over our heads…..and just general burnout from working so hard. By April we’re planning fun Spring activities like field day and festivals, we get back outside for PE and recess, and it’s easier to see the light at the end of the tunnel. (Except maybe this year, when snow cancellations resulted in an extra 30 minutes now added to each day, and the year extended by 2 days… oh well)

Samantha,

Try to be more like Rita. She has established a good rapport with her student’s folks but you like to place blame from yourself to the student and the parent. Rita is looking for a solution but you have your excuse for failure already.

Obviously parent feel Rita is worth dealing with. Contrary to what you think most parents want the best for their kids.

Rita, I think your student is overwhelmed. He has other classes and he has just given up because he thinks the situation is futile. Failure will devastate a child and make him quit.

Samantha is not able to make the mental leap to see that. It takes effective communication and decent interpersonal skills to get to the bottom of these situations. If you can take the pressure off this kid and accomodate him even if you have to break some stupid rules.

I think the best way to know what being LD is like is to think back to how you function when you first wake up in the morning. It is kind of like this for an LD kid all the time. It is much more complex but this is a whisper of it.

The things that other kids take forgranted are a chore for LDers. There is an educational definition of LD and then there is the reality of LD. What you have been told is the educational definition. What you probably don’t know is the reality of it. I am not putting you down for not knowing just realize that the party line is only part of the story.

I have a gifted/LD 4th grader - which I know is a long way from your HS situation, but I think some of the same accoms. would work.

My daughter also has receptive/expressive language disorder, and yes, honestly, b/c of her LD she achieves at the low-mid average range. Yet, she is still considered LD because of her gifted IQ. She is also dysgraphic (though with private OT her handwriting is beautiful - if she is given ample time) Copying from the board is a slow and labourious and frustrating as well. She also has VPD and APD, so we have pretty much all the LD bases covered.

She attends gifted classes and uses MUCH technology. Due to the dysgraphia she uses a DANA for organization and keyboarding. Draftbuilder and Inspiration are used on a laptop in the gifted classroom.

Extended time on assignments is a must. She also uses textbooks on tape to listen to at night before bed - to help study for tests. A scribe would certainly help this student as well.

She makes A’s and B’s in general ed and her gifted teacher (1 day a week pullout currently in elem school) says she “knows her limitations and works to compensate/overcome them”.

She has received MUCH private remediation. Unfortunately, spelled “continue” “cun tin you” the other day so obviously the LD is still there. (Made me shudder).

Gifted/LD children can become frustrated very easily. As my evaluator told me when my daughter ended 1st grade (when first evaluated), “Her comprehension is Little Women and her ready ability is below Pal the Pony. THAT’S why she’s so frustrated.”

My daughter still loves to learn and receives accommodations on the FCAT.
She has a good self esteem, despite knowing she is LD. She knows she has to work harder than everyone else to achieve the same (or less).

The student you wrote about needs an IEP and some “discreet” accommodations.

THANK YOU for noticing this student’s struggles and being willing to do whatever to help him overcome them. Gifted children are LD too - they are just oftentimes better able to compensate and “fake it”. Gifted/LD students are some of the students most likely to “fall through the cracks”.

Only a knowledgeable teacher would recognize the real problem and not consider this child “not trying hard enough”. May your tribe increase!