Worried about my bright boy.

[cornwall1973]

Ds is 5 and in year 1. PFB so nothing to compare to.
He was identified in reception as being G and T and is still educationally ahead of his peers. Reading gold books word perfect and ahead in numeracy too.
However, he is not doing so great emotionally. Is popular but not really a joiner. Doesn't want to do extra curricular stuff , freaked out by Halloween and is generally immature.
Also gets really upset when clothes get wet so has some sensory issues too.
I have also noticed that he latches on to a particular thing and than ignores things he previously loved. Currently Moshi Monsters.
Any experience of these traits.
Should I post in another section?
Thank you

He sounds perfectly normal to me. DS1 is similar - same age, and popular, but not really 'one of the lads' because he's not into the rough and tumble of the playground as the other boys are. He's not interested in after-school activities either - he goes to swimming lessons because we make him, when I can face the fight of getting him there, and an art class he quite enjoys with his little brother, but that's it. I really don't think that at 5 friendships mean all that much - home is still very much the centre of his life. How many friends do you still have from when you were 5? I'm sure he'll find his way if he has the space to do so.

That sounds reasonably normal to me (although in fairness my DD1 is not necessarily a benchmark for what's "average" or "normal" ). My personal opinion is that brightness goes with a tendency towards heightened sensitivities (sensory, emotional, etc) and many G&T kids seem to have asynchronous development, i.e. their emotional maturity lags behind their academic ability.

What specifically are you worried about? That he seems different from other kids? Social skills? Or do you worry he might have some sort of a developmental problem (such as Aspergers?)

Have a look at the NAGC website too here for more advice & information. They have lots of helpful information sheets too.

My DS1 was the same at that age. His school wanted to move him up a year but I said no as he wasn't emotionally or socially mature enough to cope. It's just a personality thing I think, just go with the flow, accept, and help him in any way you can in these areas. He will find his own way in his own time, my DS has. He's now nearly eight and he's much more emotionally and socially mature for his age than he was and has a couple of good friends he goes to have tea with etc (and they come here too). He still has moments when he can't cope with a situation and it really throws me now as I used to be able to deal with it but have lost the knack! I'm sure he'll be fine :)

Part of it could be down to the fact that 5 year olds are still generally pretty immature, it's just that when they're bright it seems more out of kilter for what you'd expect from them because they are more 'grown up' in other ways. It is also quite well documented that a lot of bright kids have other sensitivities. My son, (now 8,) is quite sensitive to pain & had a problem with noise in the dinner hall when he started school. The 'latching on' is also really common, ds was obsessed with match attack cards during the world cup, could tell you the scores of each card when we gave him the name of the player. Just wish he'd get obsessed with something a bit more useful like chess or shakespear, oh well... So in conclusion, your ds sounds fine to me.

Have you tried much out of school with interests? He could join Beavers when he is 6yrs.

Actually exoticfruits may be on to so ething both mine love Beavers/cubs & dd was allowed to join 3 months before she was 6 so could've worth a look. Might even be nice to suggest it to another mum from school.

Agg autocorrect driving me bonkers something & could be!

My DS is a beaver and he has loved it from the start. I didn't think he'd take to it as some of the beavers are a bit rowdy but he loves the badges, the trips and the various activities. Worth a go!

Oh my god the latching on thing really rings true with me. My DS1 is OBSESSED with those blumin' match attax. He knows all the numbers, the teams, names etc. One of his favourite hobbies is taking them out of the binder, sorting them, and putting them back. He even knows which cards his best friend has and hasn't got.