Both the testing psychologist and the OT, although the OT says she doesn't know whether DS's problem with boring work is due to GT or "attentional issues." Psych's report was inconclusive, although DS's pediatrician said not ADD b/c only possible symptoms in school setting, and teacher contradicted herself on the forms she filled out. FYI, I have seen the hyperfocus thing on ADHD websites.

I find the blurriness between AD(H)D and GT interesting. I've read, in separate places, that brain maturation - frontal lobe, IIRC - occurs later in both cases. IIRC, which I may not, cortical thickness reached it's maximum at 11ish for GT and ADHD and more like 9.5 for normal.

OK - had to go locate some references for that, here's a recent Science News article on ADHD and frontal cortex maturation and this article about brain maturation in a high IQ sample. I haven't reread these, or looked at the original reports, enough to answer some of the obvious questions about test methodology - such as how many of the kids in the high IQ group had ADHD and whether that was controlled for in the study.

Thing is, I read these various snippets of news over time and I tend to wonder, is the underlying mechanism the same, or are there different reasons? And, what does this say about either case?

Interesting, kcab, as the testing psych. did say that often the ADHD/ADD symptoms can disappear on their own around age 11. I'll have to take a look at the articles later.

Two of my kids have been diagnosed with attention issues. Through learning about them, I have come to the realization that I have probably suffered from undiagnosed ADD all my life. At some point, I would like to try medication for myself. There are some non-medical interventions that can offset the problems, but they are not completely effective. Exercise helps, as well as very overt visual reminders. I have trouble with organizational challenges, forgetting things (like this week I forgot to take son to his play rehearsal) and following through. I am great at creative thinking and eager to join and get things rolling with new groups, but I have trouble sustaining that interest, no matter how much I want to. Things slip out of my head. I left my poor mother's helper sitting on the porch for an hour one day because I forgot she was coming! I had a palm pilot to assist me with keeping a calendar and to-do list, but I kept forgetting to replace the batteries and losign all my data.

People with ADD absolutely have the ability to focus. It just isn't something we can easily control. I used to be so embarrassed that my kids could not sit still or be quiet in church. They stayed in the baby room long after they should have been out of it, because they were so impulsive and wiggly.

William Sears writes about the ability of kids with ADHD to hyperfocus.

He says that it is not so much that ADHD children cannot focus, as that they focus inappropriately. He calls it selective attention, because they select out what is important to them, and often hyperfocus on that to the exclusion of other things. According to Dr. Sears, this is one of the four main qualities that define ADHD.

All kids do this sometimes, but kids with ADHD do it to the extreme.

I know that this all seems to fly in the face of what we hear about ADHD, but like giftedness, there are a lot of misconceptions about ADHD.

OK, that makes sense. I would swear that my husband should have been diagnosed with ADD as a child, and the symptoms continue. Drawers, doors left hanging open; tool boxes & tools left on top of places & lost; etc. One thing that drives me crazy, and fits this description, "selective attention, because they select out what is important to them, and often hyperfocus on that to the exclusion of other things" -- he picks up the mail, goes through it until something catches his eye, and forgets to check the rest of the mail.

A couple things:

1) Lorel, you can buy back-up modules for PDAs - at least, I have one for my Visor. Just sits plugged into the back, I do a back-up of data if anything new is added. However, it's a moot point as I find my PDA is effectively superceded by my cell phone.

2) There was a poll of Nature readers recently which found that 20% used ADHD medications (primarily ritalin, IIRC) for cognitive performance enhancement. I'm not sure quite what I think of this; I do find it troubling.

3) High idea flow is not the same thing as an attention deficit.

4) The ability to focus on what is important and block out extraneous information is a valuable skill. OR ... inappropriate as defined by ? (I suspect that calling it hyperfocus must depend on the degree to which this occurs, but I also suspect that it is inappropriately applied by some.)

Sometimes I am reminded of the story of the elephant and the seven blind men, or whatever variant of that old folk tale you prefer.

But I see what you are saying Eema. I hadn't read what Sears sais about ADD/ADHD. Very interesting to ponder.

Sears actually does say that "selective attention" can be both an advantage and disadavantage. He says that it allows a child to get into things in a deeper and more creative way - but that it makes it nearly impossible for them to do things that are not of personal interest. He uses homework as a key example.

Just so you all know, I don't have this all memorized - I am looking at Sears' "The ADD Book" as I am typing.

He also sees hyperfocus as an advantage in some sports, and points out that a disproportionate number of ADHD boys who play hockey are goalies. Goalies can let their mind wander, but as soon as the puck crosses the blue line they move into hyperfocus mode. I find this fascinating since DS10 is a goalie, and I had never read this part of the book before.

The way that ADHD was best described to me was that most people process information and in that split second between thought and action most of us complete 4 processes which a person with ADHD is not able to do either in part or in whole. There is a split nano second between thought start to action. It is during this time when those with ADHD are different.

1. Minds movie theatre: a quick movie in our mind where we see it played out before actually doing it. We run scenarios in our head in a split second with the focus of how it will play out. The person with ADHD processes too quickly and misses that movie to varied degrees 2. Minds eye.. same concept, only a photograph of how the action will look 3. mind's ear/ voice ... again same concept only running the verbal scenario in our mind before saying it. How will the other person hear it? 4. Can't think of the last one, but you get the idea. It might be feeling.. how will the other person feel when i do this action? I have thought that you could expound on that analogy to include other parts of the thought process.

What an ADHD child needs to learn how to do and what medication can temporarily help them with is slowing down that process, until a slower process is learned. The medication can help to temporily slow it down until either there is maturity/ learned behavior, etc. I envision that a gifted child has a sped up process as well, but the processes are whole, ,meaning the scenarios are run through in entirety.. just faster and maybe more of them, hence an imaginative flair to the process.

This analogy really helped me in understanding my son and was a big ah ahh moment with coming to accept his ADHD. The person who told me this is my son's psychiatrist (who gives him meds- no therapy ). He also explained that there really is not a behavior component to ADHD at this level, although the ADHD can be compounded by behavioral issues/ other medical conditions, ie OCD. What needs to happen is that, in order to adapt, the child needs to change the incomplete process to a whole one. Being congniscent of this is a big first step. Behavior needs to change to an optimum processing point.
Interesting on the brain maturation.. and is in line with this analogy. I agree that there is a blurring. Because of that, it is doubly difficult to accurately diagnose the ADHD.