BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Autism Spectrum Disorders ASD & "gifted"?

I was just wondering if anyone on here has a child that is both on the Autism spectrum & "gifted." I ask because of my son, who is about to turn 4 years old, diagnosed w/ PDD-NOS. His birthday falls just after the cut-off date for school, which means that when he starts kindergarten he'll be almost 6 yrs. old. He always scores extremely high on cognitive tests, and just this afternnon he went for a speech & language eval-- his vocabulary score came out as that of a nine year old!! I'd like him to start kindergarten when he's about to turn 5 (next year) instead of the year after that. I wonder if having him tested for giftedness would help. But, beyong that, also just curious to know if any other parents have a child or children that have Autism (in the broadest sense) and are also "gifted" (again, in the broadest sense). I find many tools online, in books, etc. for Autistic kids assume their cognitive skills are below average.

thanks,
Gitana

My son has Asperger's & is gifted. At the time he was diagnosed, his psychiatrist said Apserger's was high functioning autism, but I've had several people on here tall me they are two different things, so I guess that's changed.

As far as test scores go, Michael could have easily skipped a grade, but because of the Asperger's it was his social skills that were sorely lacking, so we didn't want to move him up, when he could barely relate with the kids that were his own age. They just let him do the gifted work. And luckily in our county in GA, math is on a computer systme where the children can work at their own pace, so he just kind of blew through.

I posted a book review -

A Different Kind of Boy: A Father�s Memoir About Raising a Gifted Child with Autism

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art27416.asp

It is a change of pace from so many books on the market by the Moms.

Also I found this at Autism Coach -

Intriguing connections between giftedness and autism, music and language:

http://autismcoach.com/gifted_with_learning_disabilitie.htm

Both my sons have hi IQs & have some savant skills, which is why they can't get services & educational placement has been a nitemare over the years! It's like they r socially/emotionally retarded & intellectually advanced....

My son just turned four, and while it's too early for us to assume he is really "gifted", it is already apparent to us that he is a VERY quick learner based on the huge number of things we've been able to teach him in the past few months, which is when he really started to verbalize some and we also started more intensive therapy with him. He's learned about half the "academic" skills that they teach in kindergarten already. That being said, the cutoff in our state is such that he will turn 6 a few weeks after he starts kindergarten (not for 2 more years), and I am really glad. Because I know that while he may seem prepared in terms of "knowing" things, he will struggle socially, and probably also have difficulty adapting to the whole structure (or lack thereof!) of regular school. He is in preschool now, but that is very routine-oriented....they always have snack at a certain time, go outside at a certain time, etc. Regular school is a whole different ballgame with all sorts of transitions for him to adjust to and I think that will be difficult.

I would definitely try to work with your school system to make sure he is given access to work that will be challenging enough to him, so he doesn't get bored, but also remember there is so much more to starting kindergarten than just the academic side. You know your child best, and know what his specific autistic "tendencies" or whatever you want to call it are....I do know that the handful of young children with autism that I have met don't do well with transitions and that was one of their main struggles once they entered a regular classroom.

~Niki

my younger son just turned 15 & my older one is about to turn 21...ah, I miss the days of pre-k, LOL! One thing I'd have to say to people w/ young kids in the autistic spectrum...don't try to "cure" them, but rather work w/ what they have & who they are...all the years I had bad advice given to me, when I could have just been "enjoying" my kids for who they were, rather than anguishing over who they were not...

I appreciate all the responses to my question. My son doesn't have any social problems. In fact, he absolutely *loves* school! Last year he went to a pre-K that only met twice a week, but this year I got him in one that meets 4 times a week. His teacher says he's doing really well, actually better than some of the other kids who are "new" this year. Apparently he has no problem sticking up for himself to the older kids <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> LOL! I can only imagine!

I've been thinking about this a lot, especially since some have even advised me to hold him back a year. I personally think that for him holding him back would be the absolute worst thing I could do! The way I look at it is like this: he has issues. He will always have issues. It's not a matter of "maturity." These things are not going to go away in a year's time. So, what benefit is there is holding him back? And, furthermore, I think it's best to put with with the kids that he's on the same "level" with. Right now, that to me looks like going to kindergarten a year early. Who knows what will happen. I already talked with his psychologist about this, and she said to talk to the school district. So, I suppose that's the next step.

Again, thanks to all for your thoughts. Isn't it interesting how unique each of our kids are?

take care,
Gitana