Reply to SFS, StA, GDS, Maret, & Potomac--best choice for underachieving, high-IQ kid?

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Reply to "SFS, StA, GDS, Maret, & Potomac--best choice for underachieving, high-IQ kid?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT SEND AN UNDERACHIEVING KID WITH ADHD TO GDS.  First of all, as had been said, it's incredibly difficult to get into any of the schools you mentioned.
That said:
I have a very high IQ boy with MILD ADHD at GDS and I would not send him there if I had to do it over.

GDS is a pressure cooker. The kids are super smart. There is this image of laid-back kindness, which is true socially and with regard to athletics, but NOT NOT NOT in academics. The kids are very bright and self-motivated.  There are very few academic supports. There is very much a sink or swim, parents-stay-out-of-it approach.  The kids are acutely aware of who is achieving, and by HS they are super stressed out which college they will go to.  An underachieving kid will NOT thrive here.[/quote]
How about a motivated kid that has executive issues? He does well, gets good grades, is engaged and self advocates, but may have slow processing in some areas and gets extra time for it on tests?[/quote]

The homework, stress level and pressure increase each year. If he is slow it turns 3-4 hours of homework each day in to 4-8 hours of homework. Remember this is in addition to school and assignments over the weekends. It is not an enjoyable experience and can destroy confidence. [/quote]
My kid is strange in this area.  He’s quicker than the other kids doing class work, projects, etc, but on tests he’s sometimes slower.[/quote]

If it's ADHD that's not necessarily strange. Fundamentally, ADHD is a dopamine deficiency. Working fast can help create and perpetuate the dopamine needed to focus. More than this, many ADHD kids are also really, really freaking smart. It can be a seemingly odd combination to outsiders, but it's not terribly uncommon. A smart ADHD kid works fast b/c they're smart AND because slow work requires endogenous dopamine they lack. This is why ADHD is treated with stimulants, of course-they stimulate dopamine exogenously. Deadlines, competition, working quickly, and a host of others are strategies to produce dopamine. Used adaptively and with an understanding of their limitations--which is true of any strategy any person, ADHD or otherwise, would use--these strategies can be really helpful.  [/quote]
So would a kid you are describing with ADHD be a bad fit at the schools in the title?
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