Is your child bright and intelligent, yet still struggles in school? Are you often amazed at your child’s creativity and talents, but can’t figure out why certain things aren’t getting through academically?
It’s not often understood that a person can be both gifted and learning disabled. We assume that a child who is gifted has no learning challenges, and a child with ADHD or a specific learning disability is “slow.” It’s hard to imagine that both conditions could exist at the same time. But they can. The classification is “Gifted and Talented/Learning Disabled” or “GT/LD.” These children require a whole lot of educational adjustments to meet their needs. They should be stimulated academically and provided with many outlets for their creativity and gifts. Yet they also need specialized instruction or accommodations to address their learning difficulties.
Here are fifteen characteristics of a GT/LD child. Some or all of these may be present. Does it sound like your son or daughter?
- Highly verbal and articulate, but has great difficulty with written language.
- Appears immature and uses crying, demonstrative anger, outbursts, or even withdrawal to express his very sensitive feelings.
- Extremely independent in some academic areas, but requires a lot of assistance and teacher feedback in other areas. Has obvious areas of strength and weakness.
- Seems challenged by basic skills because of cognitive processing difficulties. The child needs to learn specific strategies in order to grasp basic information.
- Has difficulty concentrating and loses focus easily, unless the subject is an area of interest. In that case, she can attend for long periods of time.
- Is afraid of failure and becomes frustrated, even refusing to do certain assignments if they’re in an area of weakness. Is very sensitive about his areas of disability. Is likely to be afraid of taking academic risks.
- May have strange ideas or thoughts. May come up with peculiar solutions to problems or wants to find answers in an unusual way.
- Questions why things in the classroom are being handled a certain way, or may disrespect the teacher by challenging or disputing the facts/information being presented. May be highly critical of the teacher or classmates.
- Excellent observation skills, but struggles with memory skills.
- Imaginative—may appear to be daydreaming or doodling while deep in thought.
- May tease others or use humor to compensate for her deficiencies. Feels threatened when she can’t measure up in certain subjects, so she ridicules others with stronger abilities, or makes fun of herself.
- Could be isolated or a “loner” who is rejected by peers. Her intellect and disability, in combination, confuse the other children, and they don’t relate well.
- May have a specific interest that he seems obsessed with, and it may be a topic unrelated to anything being taught in school.
- May have strong leadership skills and commands attention from other children. May be quick, witty, and streetwise, but the disability limits him.
- She has a wide range of interests and a lot of lofty goals and dreams, but is “stuck” and prevented from achieving them due to the disability.
As frustrating and confusing as the condition of being both gifted and learning disabled may be, at least the disability will get you some listening ears. Because of your child’s delays, IEP meetings and accommodations for your child are mandated by the federal government. A child who is only gifted–with no recognized disability–may be more difficult to obtain assistance for.
When your child’s IEP team convenes, make sure you are addressing all of his specific educational needs. It’s up to you to be sure that your child is in the best possible educational environment where he is able to be intellectually stimulated as well as receive help with his disability. You’ve got to know your child’s unique needs and have a clear idea of what arrangement is best for him. This may take time, and you may need to frequently reevaluate and call additional meetings when things aren’t going well, and then make adjustments. It’s likely to be a process of trial and error before you find the right educational “fit” for your special child. Homeschooling and private schools should be explored.
Kristyn Crow is the author of this blog. Visit her website by clicking here. Some links on this blog may have been generated by outside sources are not necessarily endorsed by Kristyn Crow.
Related Articles:
ADHD? Or is Your Child Actually Gifted?
Ten Signs that Your Child May be Gifted
50 People Who Achieved Greatness Despite Having a Learning Disability