Frequently, bright children have been referred to psychologists or pediatricians because they exhibited certain behaviors (e.g., restlessness, inattention, impulsivity, high activity level, day-dreaming) commonly associated with a diagnosis of ADHD.
Because of the similarities outlined above, 2e children who are both gifted and have ADHD can be especially difficult to detect. While many experts agree that these children do exist, there is currently no formal criteria to identify giftedness in children who are ADHD or to identify ADHD in children who are gifted.
Gifted individuals with a diagnosis like a learning or developmental disorder are considered “twice exceptional” (2e). ADHD is an example of an exceptionality you can have while also being gifted. So yes, you can be gifted and have ADHD.
Although gifted children generally do well, they may show behaviors that mimic ADHD. For example, they may appear hyperactive because they ask many questions and are so excited about learning. Or, they may fail to participate in age-expected activities because of their over-focus on an area of interest.
High-functioning ADHD doesn't just mean you can manage to live an average life. Some people with high-functioning ADHD do that and more — they go on to be highly successful.
But ADHDers can achieve good grades or be considered “highly gifted”, which is often referred to as being 'twice-exceptional' or '2E'. But it's important to note that a high IQ score doesn't lessen the impact that ADHD can have on your life.
How Can ADHD Affect Kids at School? ADHD can affect a student's ability to focus, pay attention, listen, or put effort into schoolwork. ADHD also can make a student fidgety, restless, talk too much, or disrupt the class. Kids with ADHD might also have learning disabilities that cause them to have problems in school.
Second, high ability can mask ADHD, and attention deficits and impulsivity tend to depress the test scores as well as the high academic performance that many schools rely on to identify giftedness.
In general, children with ADHD are right-brained learners. They prefer to learn visually — by watching or doing a task in an activity-based, hands-on format, not by listening to lectures, practicing drills, or memorizing. There are many ways to implement visual learning outside the classroom.
The diagnosis of ADHD is often missed or misdiagnosed in people with intellectual disability.
Math, as a general rule, requires close attention to detail. Consider, for example, minor details like negative signs. If you have ADHD, you may know perfectly well how to add and subtract negative numbers.
Gifted traits and ADHD can look similar, so it's important for parents to be aware that both misdiagnosis and dual diagnosis are possible in gifted children. Does My Gifted Child Have ADHD? Some gifted children suffer from ADHD, a neurodevelop- mental disorder that impairs a child's functioning.
Highly intelligent children and adults with ADHD have been shown to rely on more efficient parts of the brain to make up for the weaker executive functioning associated with ADHD. So, people with high IQs tend to perform better in school and in life despite their ADHD.
Physical or kinesthetic: With this style of learning (which is extremely common for children with ADHD and other learning disabilities), the child prefers using their hands, body and sense of touch to learn. Verbal or linguistic: This style of learning involves the use of words, in both writing and speech.
Napping, Breaks, and Memory
Taking a break helps all kids learn more, especially those with ADHD. Studies show that students remember more when they take breaks between study sessions instead of studying straight through for an extended period.
Study Skills
Take frequent breaks. Keep up with work and do not wait until the last minute to study. Allow extra time for writing assignments to includes editing & rewriting. Use tutors when necessary.
Are ADHD Superpowers Real? There's been a lot of focus on the harmful symptoms of ADHD. Although there's less research on ADHD superpowers, people with ADHD report that they are more energetic, creative, courageous, and resilient than people without the condition.
Traumatic stress, apart from other factors like premature birth, environmental toxins, and genetics, is associated with risk for ADHD. The connection is likely rooted in toxic stress – the result of prolonged activation of the body's stress management system.
Studies have shown that 50% of kids who are gifted have ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Struggles with reading, writing, and math are common among students with ADHD. Use these strategies and tools to help your child overcome these and other learning challenges in core school subjects.
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder can make learning difficult, but it can also be very helpful in life. Many children with ADHD are inattentive, and unfocused, but they are also very creative, and capable of thinking outside-of-the-box which leads to ingenious ideas.
A person with ADHD will also become better at self-regulating over time, but will typically remain delayed compared to other people of the same age. For example, a 16-year-old with ADHD will have more self-control than he did when he was 5, but probably won't have as much self-control as the next 16-year-old.
ADHD is often also associated with lower intelligence quotient (IQ; e.g., Crosbie and Schachar, 2001). For instance, Frazier et al. (2004) reported in their meta-analysis that in comparison to individuals without ADHD, individuals with ADHD score an average of 9 points lower on most commercial IQ tests.
Many children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) struggle with school. Recently, children have faced a variety of changes in the way that they attend school. Some might be attending virtual classes; others might attend school in-person with many new rules.
Children and adults with ADHD were found to have lower ability in recognizing emotions from mimics and sounds, have more aggressive behavior, lower frustration tolerance and impaired self-control.