Can our daughter be both gifted and learning disabled at the same time?

My daughter is in a Gifted and Talented program in our school corporation and is in the fourth grade. Since starting the program last year, we (along with her teachers) have noted a difficulty in spelling. She excels in everything, except reading aloud, retaining what she reads and spelling. Her state tests came back and confirmed she belongs in the gifted program. All her scores were well above average, especially Math. Her spelling score was in the 39th percentile, still in the average range but on the low end. It has also been noted, whenever she works on her own in class, she is not able to sit still (she rocks or shifts back and forth) and has even been seen to flex her hands so bad she is not able to type on a computer, hold a pencil or even write.

Whenever we look over our daughter’s work, we have to ask her for clarification on several of her words because her words are not spelled anywhere close phonetically. Her teacher suggested that an evaluation be done to determine what kind of learning disability our daughter has. This teacher has been working with the gifted program for over ten years so we feel very confident in her opinion of the situation. We were told testing would not be granted because she does not have the scores or classroom grades to support her difficulties.

How is it that our daughter can read through her entire state tests, score well above average, do well in all her subjects and not be able to spell or restate what she just read? Is this a simple case of needing to learn phonics or could there be a disability that needs diagnosed? Your help and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Meredith