Posted by Karen F. Gibbs

In Reply to: EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE DISORDER… posted by MadelineParadis

Hi,

I have two children. My daughter is 12 and was identified
as gifted from at the age of 4. My son is 10 and has been identified as
gifted with learning disabilities. I think this is different than what you
may be implying below (gifted AS a learning disability). Please correct me
if I am wrong.

My son has been diagnosed with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) for which
he takes a mild-antidepressant medication, and ELD (Expressive Language
Disorder) for which he receives special ed. services from our school
district. Cognitive test scores taken at the ages of 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10
have consistently identified him as "gifted" in some areas and delayed in
other areas (particularly those requiring expressive language skills). The
gifted scores exceed those of my daughter at the same age level and show up
in both Math and Verbal categories, as do the extremely low scores.
Additional testing determined that he does not learn through verbal
instruction (he zones out - tested at 1% percentile) but has high visual and
kinestic learning capability (he learns more through teaching himself at home
by reading or computer, and he has difficulty expressing main concepts from
what he reads (he focuses on interesting details). His difficulties manifest
themselves as "behavior problems" in the classroom. These behaviors had
resulted in a previous misdiagnosis of ODB (Obstinant Defiant Disorder) which
required different treatment and approaches and has since been corrected.

I guess the most difficult aspect of this (and the reason that prompted my
response to the below) is how hard it is too get others to accept, much less
understand, that a child can be both gifted and LD. If my son is bored with
how a subject is being presented in school, or misses the point being made
about a topic (much harder now as he gets into higher grades - 5th), he
disconnects from the activity and either recedes into daydreaming or
clowning. He very well may understand the material but doesn't seem
interested in or able to share what he understands.

I would be very surprised if there are folks in education applying labels
indiscriminately just to give people an "edge" since, in my personal
experience, there is no small amount of testing and professional analysis
involved in having a child identified in the first place. And I wouldn't, as
a parent, accept labeling lightly; I think it is necessary to identify what
each child needs specifically and address these in the IEP with the school.

Anyone else have similar experiences?
Karen

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