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Gifted and talented

Talk to other parents about parenting a gifted child on this forum.

Original poster

How to tell if gifted or autistic?

14 replies

chocegg · 31/01/2013 18:48

How can we be sure which direction she is heading? My dd is 4 years old and at school. she will be having an assessment team in school and home to look at her for her behaviour (mainly meltdowns/boredom/being controlling...)
The school has mentioned she is different to the other children and that she is very bright and so gets bored a lot, also asks lots of deep questions like why do the planets stay up in the sky and what is earth made of...

How does it get spotted if she is gifted in anyway or am i just in denial?

OP posts:
greenpostit · 31/01/2013 18:52

She could be gifted and autistic as well. Try not to worry yourself either way because she will still be the same little person, regardless of any labels attached to her.

Original poster
chocegg · 31/01/2013 18:58

Will the assessment team differentiate though? Hate the thought of her being labelled as autistic when she is gifted instead? I worry about mis diagnosis, equally would not want her to be labelled as gifted when she is really autistic.

Just want her to get the right support :(

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ThreeBeeOneGee · 31/01/2013 19:02

They can be both you know! Grin
DS2 has a diagnosis of Asperger's and also has to have secondary teachers coming in to his primary school to teach him Maths and Science as he is working at least 2 years ahead of the brightest of his peers.

Original poster
chocegg · 31/01/2013 19:04

Oh i know they can :)
Just a bit down as dont know whats going on

OP posts:
ThreeBeeOneGee · 31/01/2013 19:05

In DS2's case, the giftedness was assessed by the school. It really started becoming an issue from Y3 onwards.

As far as the autism is concerned, the school raised concerns and advised us to go through the health service. First GP, then paediatrician, then a centre for children with neurodevelopmental issues.

ThreeBeeOneGee · 31/01/2013 19:08

In my experience, the professionals we dealt with were very capable of picking up on both the giftedness and the autistic traits. Hopefully your daughter will be assessed with the same skill so that she can have access to the support she needs.

LynetteScavo · 31/01/2013 19:09

Assessment teams know what they are looking for, it's highly unlikely she will be diagnosed as gifted, but not on the autistic spectrum if she is.

She may well be gifted and autistic.

Niceweather · 31/01/2013 21:05

books.google.co.uk/books/about/Misdiagnosis_And_Dual_Diagnoses_Of_Gifte.html?id=NQrtt-peg5AC&redir_esc=y

Try this book. In contrast to ThreeBeeOneGee, the professionals we dealt with were not capable of picking up anything until we paid to see one higher up the ladder.

Original poster
chocegg · 01/02/2013 19:55

Thanks, will take a look...

OP posts:
Original poster
chocegg · 01/02/2013 19:55

p.s was this with your dd or ds? If you want to pm me then please do so.

OP posts:
RooneyMara · 01/02/2013 19:59

Hiya, no idea if it's any use but I understand where you're comign from.

Fwiw I was labelled as gifted at school but never diagnosed with an ASD - which I am almost sure I have. It would have helped me massively if this had been recognised instead of them just saying 'she will do well if she can only overcome her little emotional problem'..etc etc

My life would have been very different with the right diagnosis.
I hope your dd gets the right help.

WarmAndFuzzy · 02/02/2013 22:34

DS1's giftedness was picked up as part of his asd diagnosis - the school was trying to show that there was a marked difference between what he was capable of and what he was achieving, so he took an IQ test and amazed us all!

He's doing just fine now with his dual diagnosis, allowances and help are made available for each part and he's much happier.

I looked at the book above (Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses) when we'd just been told he'd aced the IQ test, and I think I was hoping that that was it and they were wrong about the ASD. There's a table in the book about the difference between the two and several things didn't quite sound right so I wasn't surprised when he eventually got both diagnoses.

Although I would prefer he wasn't on the spectrum, because of the extra things he'll have to cope with, knowing that he is has actually helped, both in the help he gets and in the allowances we make because we understand more of what he has to cope with. He is academically where he should be now too, which has definitely improved his motivation and self esteem!

Shakey1500 · 10/02/2013 08:44

DS (5) has just been referred to CAHMS on account of his "quirks"/ability. Can anyone enlighten me as to what happens? As in, how long is the assessment and what will it entail?

Sunnymeg · 11/02/2013 09:01

Our assessment took six months from referral to diagnosis of Aspergers, but apparently my DS is as close to a textbook case as you can get. I think if there are any doubt it can be a lot longer and more specialists can be involved. We had three meetings with CAHMS and one with a speech therapist and two with a nutrionist.

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