Did anyone else watch the child genius thing and think asd

[TheArsenicCupCake]

With a couple of those children ?

Or am I seeing it where it isn't ?

Missed it this time so don't know which children you are referring to - but I had that thought myself last time I watched it and so did a friend of mine who works with people with autism.

Thought it in particular of the family with three gifted children who were on it in the very first programme (they refused to participate on the second). I suspect both parents were on the spectrum and their children too.

Will have to watch it online now. Thanks for reminding me.

Yes I did have that thought, two seemed asperger type characters.

Mostly I felt sorry for the two boys who were being drilled through a holiday . Children need to experience childhood and have friendships, missing in lots of the families .

I'm not against nurturing gifts such as art or music etc but excessive academic tutoring is vile.

Oh those brothers.. Poor lads .. Let's just say I do think that encouragement and support is a good thing.. But that's a bit out of my comfort zone!
I guess they are just used to it.. Roll on some hormones and things may change I guess .

I wanted to slap the father of those two boys. My evil twin is secretly hoping one of them goes off the rails a bit before he completes his PhD [hgrin]

Gifted children often do seem to have a lot in common with those on the ASD spectrum and I think that in some cases there is a fine line and even an overlap. DS1 is quite firmly on that overlap and I do tutor him at home, but very informally.

watched a little of it, but recorded the rest to watch later. What I saw I thought ASD. I dont understand why you would IQ test a child in nappies!! DD1 is on G&T at school and i do know her IQ but didnt ask for it to be done, certainly wont be pushing her to do anything other than be kid :)

My second son is mathematically gifted not due to any coaching on my part because he has been pretty much neglected because of the demands of the two with autism .
Had a real barney at school once because his maths teacher gave him "The curious incident of a dog....." and an information sheet on Aspergers because she felt he fit the criteria. She knew nothing of his siblings autism because they don't attend local schools.
She got it so wrong she saw his ability and just assumed. I had a furious debate with her and she knew nothing of the social difficulties of which my son has none she just saw that he was about five years ahead of his peers and had a photographic memory.
I think she illustrated how little some teachers really know about ASD and how our low confidence in them is sometimes justified.

chess boy. writer and music boy.

asdx2 I'm sure the teacher meant well though but why are we always banging our heads against the wall?

Dante who featured heavily in the last one seemed very ASD. Music boy has parents who teach at Oxford so could be a mix of factors there.

I think the teacher was not gifted herself in the tact department. Second maybe she had just done some training on Autism? The first time I studied it (as part of an OU psychology course) we were warned that we would go home and see the traits in our own children (I did but then realised my son was only 2 so behaving like a 2 year old was normal).

But do also remember there are parents out there who are denying their kids are on the spectrum, so it is a very thin thread to walk. If she was a younger teacher I would also make an allowance for age, I think most people improve with life experience.

I had the great experience of working with Paravicini a few years ago. His tutor believes that in some cases ASD gives you the ability to tune out everything else, and focus in on the thing that interests you. In Derek's case, that has been playing the piano for hours upon hours a day, since toddlerhood. Anybody who put that amount of work in would have an amazing "talent." But if you are NT, you don't have the same ability to tune everything else out. If he didn't have ASD, he wouldn't have the same ability.

It's very interesting.

I have another friend with ASD who is great at strings of numbers, birth dates, car number plates etc. He knows all the registrations of the cars my family has ever had, and can tell the date we got them on, plus dates and days of birth for everyone he knows. Not as glamorous as piano playing though, so he is left to fester. But it is a savant ability - he has SLD.

ASDx2, as a SN teacher, I used to go out to Mainstream schools in an advisory capacity. I was Not Allowed to utter the words "ASD" unless there was already a DX in place. All teachers should know that - teachers are not diagnosticians.

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Paravicini
working link I hope - Derek Paravicini]]

I think she just felt that there had to be a reason that he was so able, it couldn't be that he was just able. She wasn't young she was my age and had a son a year younger who she said was gifted but in no way comparable to ds. I think that was her reasoning, her son was gifted and because ds was way beyond that then there had to be something else.
I actually, once I calmed down, felt sorry for her because I tore her to shreds because she had handed ds the info in front of the class he did maths with (three years older)He was already known as Dexter boy genius and I didn't think he needed any more labels from his peers.She had a masterclass in autism that day as well as in tact and sensitivity and she was quite grateful that I chose not to take it to the head
She did become ds's greatest supporter though eventually and put his name forward for exceptional funding from Cambridge and I always got the appointment I wanted at parents' evening with no waiting about either.

I thought chess boy seemed more spectrummy in this film than the last one.
We always felt that Dd1 was on the fine line between gifted and ASD, she has an IQ in the 99th percentile, has a photgraphic memory but was never dxed with anyhting. Her ToM is v. poor and so are her social skills. Who knows we probably never will.
Dd3 is also probably on the spectrum, Funny I was only thinking the other day whether we should get her IQ done. [hsmile].
Really felt for the two boys whose whole life has been mapped out for them, wondered how often they are given the opportunity to make choices for themselves.

Ineed2 it's interesting what you say about dd1 because my second ds is very quirky.He loves to learn and so is always studying something just because he has a thirst for knowledge not because he needs to study as part of his career.He is a geek, it's obvious when people talk to him that he is extremely intelligent because he can contribute to any discussion with a high level of knowledge. BUT his social skills and his ToM are highly developed, people are drawn to him, he adapts to fit in with the crowd he is with so is a very able manager of a team of colleagues 6 or 7 years older than him at work but goes out with his mates that he made in primary and turns it off and is just like the rest of the rowdy good time boys.
I never suspected autism or anything wrong even though his development wasn't "typical"

Its sometimes a fine line between gifted and Aspergy type behaviour. I guess its only appropriate to seek a dx if the behaviour is having a negative effect on daily functioning.
Those that are also able to develop good enough social skills and coping strategies, go on to great things, those that struggle more in the social & emotional side perhaps are not able to utilise those strengths in the same way.
A huge generalisation I know but I must admit I sat there saying is he? Isn't he?

Or maybe their intellect and vocabulary is so years ahead of their age they just need time to grow in to their ability and as adults they won't seem so "quirky" and may just be seen as highly intelligent adults.

As for the two brothers, whilst I wouldn't be comfortable with that work load on a child (and I'm too lazy) at least they seemed vey socially able and happy! They were (i think?) the only ones that had been left in ms state education, so maybe the balance of school & extra support made them more rounded.
The chess boy had been home ed & seemed quite isolated, not sure if that was his choice or his parents, but maybe thats partly why he seemed less socially able???

Anon.. Totally agree..
My ds's ( I'm leaving dd out here as she is very happily an average all rounder.. Thank the stars!).
Are both on the geeky and gifted side.. Ds1 has no issues socially or emotionally, but at 15 already has gcse statistics and mathematics... he is a lazy ragbag who sits about happily knowing that he will just get the grades he needs for med school..

Ds2 is gifted in sciences, mathematics and IT.. He loves history.. But just the factual side rather than any debate side... The difference is his quirks were totally effecting his social interaction and happiness.. he has a dx of asd.

Both boys have been given exactly the same input ( as well as dd).. From us.. The same social oppertunities etc etc both are recognised as gifted in their areas, One is clearly not asd... The other is..

It's very strange!

:)

can anyone link to the iplayer version for me?
or tell methe name of the programme?
am interested to watch
thanks

It's here

many thanks!

sat and watched it, felt very sad for some of the kids. Chess boy was offered place at private school but parents said they wanted to keep him at home and work on chess "because you can get GCSEs at any age".
those 2 brothers who have their lifes mapped out for them til they are in their 20s!!

painter boy seems to be very grounded and enjoy his talents :)

William seems very sweet and hope he does well with a school that can support his talents

he reminds me of DD1 at that age :)

The word they use for genius type skills is "Savant"

I had a laugh at William being a backseat driver especially today when Dd3 told me I had gone across on a yellow light and was going to get caught for speeding. LOL.[hgrin].

William was so very like my ds - and I have just been to see the GP to seek a referral for AS assessment. He's definitely another on the cusp of gifted/ASD.