Expert: Catherine Ridenour - 2/14/2006

Question
Boy, age 7, born with eye condition that hinders social skills (nystagmus), also has been professionally tested and is highly gifted across the board in all subjects. Excells in anything he applies himself to; piano, robotics, reading, math, basketball, biking, etc. He skipped 1st grade and is at top of his second grade class. He tends to speak to adults or highly intelligent children.  Social Skills are lacking, mainly he wants to talk about his own interests and has not much use for small talk. He wants to solve the world's energy problem, wants to be an inventor and scientist.  Often bullied at school and stands out as a loner.  Very interested in how things work and is an overachieving lego robotics builder, designer, etc.  He is very creative, has tons of his own ideas and inventions.  The school thought he had asperger's in Pre-K.  He was tested in Kindergarten reading at a 5th grade level and cognitive abilities at a 10 year old.  Do you know much about the misdiagnosis of gifted and the similarities of symptoms?  Any tell tale signs?

Answer
Hi Michelle,

It sounds to me like you have an extremely bright son who is simply so much more advanced, intellectually, than his peers he has little in common with them.

His visual difficulties (I had to read up on nystagmus to know what it is) make him seem strange to the other children.  I know they may shy away from him because of this.  Fortunately, as they all get older, this should get better as the other students come to understand he can't help the condition.

I cannot tell you that he does NOT have Asperger's from the information given.  But, I can tell you that if he does, his intellect will go far to help him cope with it.  I dare say many of our most gifted inventors have probably been "Aspies": Einstein, Edison, and probably Bill Gates among them.

One of the signs that you don't mention, so it probably is not a problem, is that the child simply can't seem to complete his/her school work.  It gets started and then ends up on the floor along with everything else.  They lose things, forget things, damage things. Also, he seems to have a broad range of interests while those with Asperger's tend to have one or two intense areas of obessesion that they simply can't move outside of.  His unwillingness to talk about anything but his own interests MIGHT be a symptom, but it may just be that he finds small talk boring.

Your job, as his parent, is to help him keep as well rounded as possible. Encourage him to engage in as much social interaction as he is able (the basketball is a good thing), even if it is with somewhat older students.  As a gifted child, his IEP should offer him some interaction witn intellectual peers even if he has to move out his regular classroom, for instance to take math at his level.

The misdiagnosis usually occurs when a child who is very bright but struggling is labeled as bi-polar, ADHD, or some other mental "illness" label when an Autistic Spectrum Disorder is the real problem.  This is what happened with our daughter.

Only time will tell for sure. In his case, there is really no rush to diagnose.  If problems arise, do get a thorough evaluation from an expert.

Best wishes,
Catherine