I think my son is gifted, but won't sit still long enough to answer questions and doesn't want to be bothered

Question

with any questions. He was recently tested by the speech teacher at school and scored very poorly. But tested by the school psychologoist and scored very high. School psychologoist now wants to do an IQ test. Any ideas on how I can get him to sit still and do some work?

I only know the test that the speech teacher gave him. I was not given much information on the test from the school psychologist.

I only question him being gifted because of some of the things I have noticed. For example, on a reading test, his answer was "its on the first page, look it up". He was correct and showed me where the answer was. His memory is incredible. Almost word for word. I have noticed that things that really interest him, he knows much more than what is expected of him. If its not of interest, he gets the attitude that he doesn't want to be bothered.

Answer 1

Hi,

I'm a speech-language pathologist and I work at a school. I would be interested to know what tests your son was given and what his scores were. If his IQ score is 22 points or more higher than the scores on his speech and language tests, your son should qualify for speech-language therapy in school. This may be his problem. Maybe he is having difficulty understanding what is expected of him in class...or the short attention span precludes him from being able to answer any questions.

It is possible that your son has AD/HD. I'm not a medical doctor and I've never met your son so I can't make that diagnosis, but I work with children all day long who have AD/HD and not sitting still is a major symptom of that! Ask the school for an evaluation -- they will do tests and have you, his teacher, and others fill out questionnaires about his behavior and attention -- or seek a private evaluation on your own, if you can. (Private evaluations tend to happen a little more quickly than those in the schools.)

Answer 2

As a retired mental health practitioner with 20+ years experience, and a father of two, now ages 21 and 22, I can tell you that your primary issue here is to get your son disciplined. Just because he scored high on a test by a psychologist does NOT give any reason to assume he is "gifted" in any way except good physical health. Part of the measuring in IQ tests is whether they're disciplined of mind and body enough to sit down and take the test, and from the sounds of it, your son is not. The psychologist may or may not tell you this, but I am since I have no investment in testing your son. I know, for example, that my father would have scored MUCH higher on an IQ test if he had been disciplined enough to attend to the rigors of the test, but, as smart as I know he was, he could not and did not focus on the test, and therefore scored above average, but not near as good as he could have if he had the self discipline, so, I can assure you that you have NO reason to ASSUME your son is "gifted". He is clearly undisciplined, and until you get him in that direction, the only mental issue here will be your "flights-of-fancy", and you can ask your psychologist how big a factor that can be in whether YOU are diagnosable. I know I may sound harsh and cruel, but I've seen over the years this same parental "wishful thinking" and "flights-of-fancy" that has little or no basis, and yet the destructive power that has on you and your child is ENORMOUS over the long haul, and I can tell you that one thing such parents DON'T want is their child to grossely fail their child in educating them. So, do yourself and your child a favor and focus on his self-discipline. If you don't, you've failed him MISERABLY!! And I know that's neither your intent or desire. So, I can say to you after having raised two of my own, the hard work is yet to begin. Have a good time. God Bless you. P.S.: NEVER go the route of the ADD or ADHD diagnoses as suggested by respondents above. THAT is the sorriest excuse for allowing bad parenting and undisciplined children and drug abuse that I have EVER seen, and I've worked in all those areas in my 20+ years career. God Help you if you do go that direction. God Bless you.

Answer 3

It depends on how old your son is. If he's still in the impressionable age I would tell him if does say a page everyday he gets to put say 25 cents in the jar. (I wouldn't go higher then 1.00, depending on age) When he's all done with the work, empty out the jar and see how much he has. Tell him you'll make a special trip out to the store and he can pick out his favorite candy, etc. Be creative and good luck :)

Answer 4

He's probably bored and could just be the type who needs to move around to think.

Let him have more power over the decisions, like how he does things, and you'll see an improvement.

Answer 5

YES, I did a self study that if you use either use Play-Dough, or a pen that he can spin around in one hand, if make one part of the brain is focused on trying to spin the pen or mush the Play-Dough, that he will act less ADD/ADHDish. It helped me handel my ADD and pass my exams last year! go to http://www.pentrix.com/ for more info. Trust me it REALLY works!

Answer 6

he could have ADD, however, gifted kids are infact often misdiagnosed w/ it. Their boadrum is ofteen confused w/ ADD

Answer 7

give him activities.. make it fun! =P