My 13 Year Old Son Is What Is a "Gifted" Student, Also Learning Disabled

Hi Celia -

Sometimes, especially for the gifted children that seem to have lack of focus it is because of the way that they think -- it is difficult for them to parse out the details, and in following it makes it difficult to organize themselves and their work.

My son is 10 and he was diagnosed at 3 as high functioning autistic, although he is a pretty typical kid. One of his biggest challenges is organizing himself and his work which makes it difficult to write, plan math problems, etc.

Our school district has been OK with helping us with this, but nt sensational. One thing I have found helpful is a form of OT (Occupational Therapy) that will work with him to better develop these planning skills. The other thing that may be true for your son is that they are visual learners -- so it is important for them to see the plan.

Since these are issues that effect your sons ability to excel in school, you have every right to request an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and see if after an evaluation if they will provide these OT services.

If, they wont provide an evaluation or you are not happy with theirs, get an independent evaluation from an educational psychologist or a facility that works with children with learning disabilities can direct you to the right professional in your area.

If, after an independent evaluation, they conclusively find there is some issue, then they are required to provide services.

Hope that helps a little.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

J.

I saw your wish for a Montessori school for High Schoolers. Have you looked into Charter Schools? A friend of mine is putting her daughter in a Charter School that meets twice a week and sends home weekly packets of work to get done. Then you could work with him independently. Another thing to consider is hiring a private aid to help your son during school at certain times of the day. There are companies that can provide an aid for you at a high cost, or you could find one on your own. The school should work with you on allowing the aid in during the day. -They are just probably not wanting to spend money on extra services themselves. (Unfortunate, but common today.) I work with children on the Autism Spectrum; mainly of elementary school age. As a last resort, you could always request an advocate from the Regional Center in your area and they can help you fight for services.

Send a writen request to the school, and a carbon copy to the Special Ed. department at the district office. By law they have 10 days to respond to you to set up an assessment plan. THey then have 60 days to test him, set up a meeting and provide you with the results and what options are available. If they fail to do any of that, they are out of compliance, and you can sue them. Don't be afraid to mention this is they give you any problems. Most districts are very afraid of legal action, and will go out of their way to avoid it.

Also, be sure that they give you a copy of the Parents Rights booklet at the assessment meeting, and read it. It tells you all their procedures and what options are available to you.

Also, be aware that if you don't like their results, you can request an appeal. Be sure that if you do, you request that the department or district seupervisor attend the appeal.

As a last resort, you can hire a special education advocate or lawyer. There are a few out there, and they are very good, if somewhat intense.

Hope that helps!

C., Sorry about all your issues and having so many kids does not help. I too have a developmentally delayed son,who was born 3 months premmie at 2 lbs. They said he would never walk or talk, he was adhd and behind in everything he did. We went through the Santa Monica Malibu school district programs and seem to get everything we requested for extra help, special ed classes.
We see a developmental pediatrician, Dr. Audrey Greisbach, in WLA., She was instrumental in helping us on the right path to helping our son succeed in life.

It has been a long road, 21 years, but my son is at a brand new program at UCLA called Pathways for high functioning sp ed students. He is completing a 2 year certification program in June. We are so proud of him. He proved all the doctors wrong. I do not believe Dr. Greisbach is taking on any new patients, but you can call her and ask for suggestions, referrals. ###-###-####
Dr. Greisbach can steer you in the right direction for a doctor to help you. Your son may need medication.
My son needed it because he had brain bleeds at birth and it destroyed part of his frontal lobes.
He has been on the medicine since he was 6, and it greatly improves both of our lives.
Good luck and please let me know if you need any more information. ###-###-#### ____@____.com

there s help out there. i have worked wit special needs and LD children. i too have a gifted child. go online to the specific LD- in your case, dysgraphia. ask your pediatrician to recommend any doctors that specialize in this area, or maybe your doctor is knowledgable in the area. also request that the school prepare an IEP or SST for your son, if they haven't already. information for both are on the web-specify the state. let me know if you need more ifo.

Hi C.,
Maybe some Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy could help. Check with your medical insurance and see what they cover. I live in Los Angeles County. My son is 5 years old. He has a diagnosis of Autism (very high functioning)... but I can see that he is also very bright. (he's been reading since he was 3) Basic printing is a struggle for him. he avoids it at all costs. This is a total drag since he's starting Kindergarten in less than a month. I heard there is a program called Handwriting Without Tears-- which physical therapists can teach. Not sure where you are or if this is an option.
--I.

Hi Ceclia,

Check out the books by Dr. Mel Levine, and his website (http://www.allkindsofminds.org/).

He's done a lot of work with kids like your son and his site has all sorts of learning aids, discussions and chats, "ask an expert" etc. that can help you out. If you have the resources, you can go for an evaluation and development of a personalized education program at his clinics in either NC or NY.

Good Luck! I struggled for years to try to understand our brilliant but "lazy" son's problems. I never was able to get help through the school or anywhere else. Dr. Levine's books described my son to the T, however, and I cried after I read "The Myth of Lazyness" and realized how much we were hurting our son by just telling him he could get much better grades if he'd just applied himself. He finally developed some coping mechanisms for himself and got some help developing better organizational and study skills through a local Huntington Education Center. He's in his freshman year at college now and sounds like he's doing OK, although his grades weren't great after Fall quarter. I know he can do the work -- got 4's and 5's on all of his AP exams, scored over 1900 on the SAT without studying, and runs his own computer consulting business in his spare time. Somewhere, he still has a disconnect in producing written materials.

What area do you live in??

My only advice is "the squeeky wheel gets the oil". Keep going to the school. Bug them until they can help you or direct you on where to get help. My friend had a similar problem with her son when he was younger. I guess the state will pay you and for all the help your child needs before they turn 5. In her case they kept trying to put her off until he reached his 5th birtday to avoid paying. She bugged and bugged and bugged. Finally, she got all his testing and the state paid for him to go to this $12,000 a year school. After 1 year there, it was AMAZING the progress that was made.

So again, just keep on squeeking!

Your concerns are very genuine and if you don't get assetive with your son's education, nobody else will, specially the school. I suggest talking to the special education department within your school district. Your son has rights which include a proper education. If not, try a special needs/education attorney; that will definitely get their attention!!

Hi C.,

I have to agree with Jaimi...an IEP is probably your best bet, and in California the schools are REQUIRED to help you with the IEP. The IEP can be conducted up to high school level and will need to be re-tested every 1 - 2 years depending on the outcome of the IEP. Some school districts do make it difficult for the parents to obtain an IEP, but your persistance will pay off for your son.
My son had his first IEP when he was 13. He is now 17 and will be graduating this year with great grades. He really excells in school now because they go at his pace. There is also much more one on one teacher student time for the kids too.
Don't give up, your son is worth it!

Wishing nothing but the best for you and your entire family,

S.

Have you contacted your local regional center?
http://www.inlandrc.org/
AFter fighting with teachers and finally telling off one speech therapist, my son does not have ADD, i finally got him diagnosed with Aspergers. Life is so much easier when you have an answer. My son is 13, does not recieve any special services from the school, not because I didn't want him with a label, there were times I would take the label gladly for any sort of help, but the school can't or won't supply it, so I've got all his help from books. Try the regional center, and go from there. It helps to have an offical diagnosis, and it requires the school to provide assistance. Regional Center only takes the severe kids, but their diagnosis will force the school district to help you. If all else fails do what I did and tell them your lawyer told you the school had to help within 60 days or you would sue. I finally got a response within 30 days, and I never contacted a lawyer. :)