<p>My son has an IQ of 132 and has mostly been bored. He has documented ADHD, but did poorly on medications and refused to take them. He tests very high on standardized testing and has taken the ACT. He will be taking the SAT in a few weeks. Today I got the shock of my life when I received his cumm. GPA from the counselor. It seems it is a 1.98. Is there any chance of him getting any scholarships from anywhere besides those through FAFSA?(grants) He is so smart, but really has a problem with homework. Because I went through a difficult divorce did not help the situation. I could not afford High School Fees and therefore did not receive any report cards until today....schools here won't release report cards unless they have been paid. I had four years of fees to pay X four kids. I have very little money and don't know what to do about the college situation.
Someone please advise whether there is hope or not.
Thanks</p>
<p>without really knowing any of the details, here are my immediate thoughts...does your son have any special services support? is he classified? who tested his IQ? is there any professional who will help you two and guide you? there are many schools that offer programs for LDs. having said that, i don't know if your son would qualify, not knowing the answers to my above questions. also, being bright and doing poorly will be a turn off to most schools, as it shows his lack of effort. IF this is because of such a disruptive condition, then he should have been properly medicated all these years. there are so many ADHD meds out there now, that in the hands of the right practitioner, your son should improve. and, no, i can't imagine he'll be eligible for merit-based aid.</p>
<p>As a professor at a community college I suggest community college for two years and then transfer to a good four year school. If he does well in community college there is a lot of merit money available.</p>
<p>It may be that medication is the only way for him to perform well enough to do well in college, or in life for that matter. Would definitely suggest you try again; perhaps a different medication. Strattera is very different from the Ritalin-type drugs. You may need a good perdiatric neurologist to find the correct medication.</p>
<p>I am speaking both as a professional who has worked with thousands of young men who fit the exact profile you describe and the mother of a very bright son with ADD. I can't imagine how he would have done without medication, but with it, he graduated from high school with a 97 average. He had been medicated since fifth grade.</p>
<p>I have a similar situation. When my son was in 8th grade, he scored a 29 on the ACT. His grades in school were B's, C's and sometimes even a D. We had him tested and found out he had a verbal I.Q. of 140 but a performance I.Q of 100. He was diagnosed with inattentive ADD and we have been working with med.'s and dosages ever since. He is doing somewhat better now (he is in the 10th grade) but only has a 3.5 gpa. He always aces his final exams but gets lower grades because of missing homework. He plans on taking the ACT again this spring, but I'm wondering what kind of merit money he will be eligble for with such a low gpa.<br>
Also, he is taking one AP class right now(the only AP class he can take as a sophmore) but is mostly bored in everything else.
Will college understand that we were still trying to find the right medication and dosages when he was in high school and getting some of those low grades.
Thanks</p>
<p>schoolmom and anewhadden~ i, too am a professional, and in my clinical experience the issue of ADD/ADHD is a common one. as i asked before , are/is your son classified? i ask, as this is the way he can get a "special" look by the college admissions people, as well as get him an untimed standardized test, and be eligible for the many LD programs offered at colleges. the very definition of an LD necessitates an "at least average IQ", so i'm not surprised by the bright sons here in question. however, since we know ADD/ADHD is a neurological/familial disorder involving an UNDERACTIVE prefrontal lobe, meds are usually essential. and these psychotropic meds are best prescribed and monitored by a psychiatrist who has experience with kids. a family pediatrician is not the best.
the best time to diagnose and medicate, of course, is when the kids are young,ie, K,1st grade, or so, as there is little secondary involvement confusing the picture and diagnosis. with on-going school problems, many of these very bright kids have hits on their self-esteem, depression, substance abuse, etc. so obviously it gets a LOT more complicated. in my practice, Strattera has had only marginal benefit, with the best results from Adderal,Ritalin. but this is up to the kid and physician.
schoolmom~ by the way, what's wrong with a 3.5???</p>
<p>We used a pediatric neurologist. We tried adderal but ended up with concerta which has been successfully used by S for eight years.</p>
<p>The difference between the verbal and performance IQ's is normal. The 100 is normal, and you have a verbal kid. Most of our kids would have this kind of discrepancy.</p>
<p>We had my son tested by a psychologist who works with our sons pediatrician. No, I don't think he was classified LD so he doesn't receive any special help from the school. However, time on test has never been a problem for him as that is what he does best at. His biggest hurdle has been keeping track of all the daily assignments and getting them turned in. He is presently on Concerta and that seems to be working pretty well although he hates taking it because he doesn't like how it makes him feel . Also, he said he hates having to concentrate on things that are so completely boring to begin with.
The 3.5 gpa is on a 4.3 scale. It has just gotten to that level so it is a big improvement. Unfortunately, that is not high enough for a gifted and talented program he missed out on and may not be high enough to get him into a top university in our state that he would like to attend when he graduates.</p>
<p>A 40 point split between verbal and nonverbal scores is definitely NOT normal! A small discrepancy, yes, but there is huge statistical difference between these two, which should be exlored more. It is likely indicative of some learning disabilities, which can exist along side the ADD.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Allmusic: Don't want to debate, especially since you probably know way more about this than I do, and are most likely correct. I just want to explain my comments. One of my dearest friends is a school psychologist who does all the testing for a school district. When my S had similar scores she explained that this was one of the most misunderstood indicators that yields many false LD diagnoses. She said the performance and verbal IQ's are independent measures, and the child she tested with the highest performance IQ has a verbal IQ of under 100. 100 is normal for the performance IQ, and her schooling, Ann Arbor, taught that as long as the child has a normal performance IQ it is not significant how great the discrepency gets. She said the vast majority of bright, verbal kids follow this pattern, although most don't know this because they've never been tested. Her POV is that it's a red herring. My remarks are grounded in numerous conversations with her. Doesn't mean she's right, but I thought I'd explain where my ideas came from.</p>
<p>mythmom--
your friend actually has been given incorrect information. The vast number of bright verbal kids do not follow this pattern. Check the research :) I'm not commenting on the discrepancy as a way to dx a learning disability--but most typical or bright kids do not have this verbal/performance split.</p>
<p>Okay, so I am really confused now. I want to help my son to get the education he deserves and to be successful in life but I don't know what I should do. Does anyone know the name of a specialist or someone who might be able to help? We live near the Detroit area. I hate to go through more testing but feel that medication hasn't exactly solved all of the problems.</p>
<p>The U of M in Ann Arbor has a superb Dept. of Education as well as Psychology Dept. I think I would call the Educational Psychology department or the Psychology Dept. and see if they have a clinic that does psycho-educational testing for high school students. Try for a clinic that would let you see a licensed professional, as opposed to less experienced graduate student, to do the testing. Also, see if they have recommended, licensed graduates who practice in your town, so you don't have to travel so far. (You want a Ph.D. or an Ed.D. with a Michigan license who specializes in this sort of testing.) Meet with the professional first and think of the questions you would like this testing to answer. Be very clear about what you would like to get out of it. Do you want specific recommendations? Do you want the psychologist to meet with your son to explain the outcome in a way that might help him make sense of his experiences in school? Do you want the psychologist to actively collaborate with your son's school, to recommend college programs that might be appropriate, to provide information to colleges to which he is going to apply? Is there anything in particular that your son would like to have explained? Be sure that the psychologist communicates with you clearly in a way you understand fully before you go ahead. (I can tell you from our experience that having senstive testing for our kid, having the findings explained to him in detail in a thoughtful way that helped him think about what his strengths were and how to find a way to cope with areas in which he faced the most dramatic challenges, and the psychologist making specific, clear recommendations to the school made a ton of difference to him; I hope very much that the right person will be able to make a big difference for your son too.)</p>
<p>Mythmom, Your friend gave you incorrect information. The point with the splits between scores (and now there are four subsections on the WISC-IV, so there can be significant splits among any of these) is that they can be so statistically significant as to render an overall IQ score useless and meaningless. So, the difference between scores is of huge concern. </p>
<p>Back in the days of the WISC-III, there was too much emphasis paid to splits between the two scores, Verbal and Performance (which have been changed and renamed on the newer test) and too many children were being diagnosed with right hemisphere dysfunction (mostly NLD), without looking at the other important components of the diagnosis. The newer WISC tries to do away with that problem by having more subsections, but learning discrepancies are still based on statistical differences and standard deviations (along with corroborating evidence from testing in other areas).</p>
<p>Schoolmom, I agree with the advice of starting at the UMich. I would recommend you look to have a comprehensive evaluation, including neuropsych, educational and speed and language testing. From this information, professionals will be able to determine if your son has a learning disorder of any kind that is compromising his school success. A good set of clinicians should have someone willing to attend a team meeting at school with you, as well as help you develop a comprehensive treatment plan.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Thank you Allmusic. Since this was explained to me many years ago I assume my friend was correct for then, but I haven't updated my information.
My S hasn't been tested for a long time.</p>
<p>he's probably not going to get into any schools that give significant fafsa grants with a 1.98. And if he can't do hw in highschool, he certainly won't be able to do it in college. I'm not blaming him, at all. But until something gets fixed in his situation, he wouldn't even be able to succeed in college. </p>
<p>My suggestion is to goto a cc for a year or two and then transfer to a top teir school of which he is certainly intrinsically capable of attending. He may not even get into a state school with a 1.98, unfortunately. </p>
<p>Also, if he's only tried one medication, try another. Some people do well on one kind of medication and poorly on another.</p>