Emotional disability and highly gifted, age 6...what next?
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Anonymous
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Has anyone had an HG kid in the ED program at MCPS?
DD with ADHD-combined and anxiety is in K in MCPS and has had a rough year behaviorally. We’re working through some medication options with child psychiatrist but haven’t quite found the right mix – we thought we had, but then it stopped working as well. Long story short, we decided in January to get private psychoeducational testing – besides confirming the ADHD and anxiety, it found hints of autism (but not enough for diagnosis) and a highly gifted IQ, which may explain her being potentially bored at school and thus getting into trouble, plus slow processing speeds. The school has tried a number of things to address the behaviors (pulling other girls' hair twice since October, pushing chairs, the occasional giant tantrum over sharing, outbursts in class, etc.), to little avail. She is basically fine at home. We saw similar stuff in preschool but not this bad. The first week in May, we’re meeting with her IEP team to hash out what to do for 1st grade. Placement in an ED program is one possibility. Also not sure if they’d consider putting her in the Asperger’s program even though she’s not diagnosed as such. But there’s concerns she would be bored and not engaged academically. Plus she sometimes sees other kids misbehaving and decides to do so herself. We can’t afford private. |
Anonymous
| p.s. She hasn't been diagnosed or labeled as having an ED, so the thread title is misleading, sorry about that |
Anonymous
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^ I should add that one of our kids was way ahead in some areas even for the HGC program and was always allowed by teachers to skip out on skills that were already mastered and do self-study or teacher-guided work.
Do you have a behavioral plan that includes lots of positive reinforcements? IMO, MCPS teachers focus on negative behavioral reinforcements that only make the situation worse. If ADHD is an issue, have you examined social pragmatic communication? Was there any testing for this in the psychological reports? This was a problem for our ADHD kid in ES. That DC did not understand the implicit rules of the classroom or implicit wishes of teacher (tone of voice, body language, not explicitly stated demands, etc.) and so was constantly getting in trouble because of misunderstandings between teacher and child. Our SLP did some therapy with DC to help DC understand what was "expected" and "not expected" in various situations. Look at the work of Michelle Garcia Winner on Socialthinking.com |
Anonymous
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OP,
ADHD and anxiety isn't the same thing as emotional disability, so thank your lucky stars: http://www.pen.k12.va.us/special_ed/disabilities/emotion_disability/index.shtml Tantrums and physical aggression are not signs of boredom, so just get that excuse right out of your head. These are regulatory and behavioral issues. Having a high IQ doesn't necessarily mean you're gifted. MCPS' Gifted and Talented/LD programs usually don't start until 2nd or 3rd in any case: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/enriched/gtld/ If they offer her a spot in a Model Aspergers Program--TAKE IT. Her profile is close enough. You can ask for a self-contained classroom program like at Carl Sandberg, or programs at the Frost or Lourie schools. Tour these programs and you'll be begging for the MAP. In the here and now, ask the school in writing RIGHT NOW to conduct an FBA--Functional Behavioral Assessment, so you can beef up her IEP and help get her an appropriate placement. I would also very much consider Ivymount's social skills group for girls ASAP. Her high IQ will go to waste if she can't get along with others. There's concurrent parent class, so it's expensive but so worth it. My kid has ADHD and the same behavioral principles apply. |
Anonymous
OP here - Thanks. We're in the process of doing an FBA/BIP...it is kind of a lot happening at once, you can probably tell from what I know and do not  . The private psych report says she is twice-exceptional. I'll need to look for references to pragmatic communication. The behavioral issues are due to self-regulation and inability to properly deal with anger, is the theory.
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Anonymous
I get it. There are so many damn acronyms for everything! The FBA/BIP is a good thing b/c they will try to spell out strategies for her to succeed. (I wasn't try to question whether or not she's 2E, but a lot of parents refer to their kids as "very smart" when really it's them compensating for what their kid isn't. IMO it's better to realistic--it's okay to be average or below average, we just do what we can with what we have.) I would definitely look in to a speech summer camp or social skills group if you can. Best of luck working this out. It may be a bumpy ride for a while. 
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Anonymous
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Many of the kids in the ED program have an ADHD and/or anxiety diagnosis and no other documented issues so your child would not be unusual if you were to choose that program. There are also some really smart kids in there also with gifted IQs.
The Asperger's program is also a good option. There are a number of "little professor" types. I think the program would be more helpful in the pragmatic communication realm. I have heard of parents pushing for their child to get in without having a diagnosis of ASD but don't know if they succeeded. |
Anonymous
Actually, the definition of giftedness is having an IQ over a certain threshold.
Agree 100% with the bolded, if it hasn't been done. |
Anonymous
OP, the curriculum used by the ED and Asperger's programs are identical to the one used in regular mainstream classrooms. Your child would have many of her classes in those mainstream classes anyway. Who is concerned she might be bored and not engaged academically? You or the school? We have a child with ADHD and anxiety who had a horrible time in K behaviorally and who has a sky high IQ. He would mostly get himself into trouble during the times when he had nothing to do. NO ONE ever brought up the idea of him being bored as the cause because that is just about the most lame excuse you could have. Yes, he was bored. Many, if not all, of his classmates were also bored. He had meltdowns. They did not or at least most of them did not. We focused all our therapies on emotional regulation and those meltdowns went away. I know it's comforting to think of your child as 2E and not just SN and that focusing on the highly gifted part must make you feel better as a mom but take it from someone who has been through this that you need to address her weaknesses right now if you want her to be in a regular school. The giftedness will not go away and you can enrich or after school or whatever you want to do for as long as she lives with you, but she has to get the pushing and pulling and giant tantrums under control now while she's still young. I do know there are some really profoundly gifted kids who really can't succeed in a normal classroom no matter what and you may have one of those kids but if you do you should really home school. |
Anonymous
| What is your DCs eligibility code right now? |
Anonymous
Qualifying for an ED school program isn't the same thing as having a diagnosis. That was my point. Young children can be diagnosed with ED, but at this point the school is looking for a setting that can deal with the behaviors. |
Anonymous
Is that the thing on the IEP form? Developmental delay. But that is from last May. |
Anonymous
Don't worry about the code. You may end up with OHI or Autism. MCPS will probably pressure you to change the code soon usually by age 7 but you can keep the code until age 9. The focus needs to be getting her on track behaviorally and then there will be more options. |
Anonymous
The school first has to make a real effort to do an FBA and implement a behavior plan. They can't just send her to an ED classroom. |
Anonymous
In theory. |