Product Description

Our brightest, most creative children and adults are often being misdiagnosed with behavioral and emotional disorders such as ADHD, Oppositional-Defiant Disorder, Bipolar, OCD, or Asperger's. Many receive unneeded medication and inappropriate counseling as a result.

Physicians, psychologist, and counselors are unaware of characteristics of gifted children and adults that mimic pathological diagnoses. Six nationally prominent health care professionals describe ways parents and professionals can distinguish between gifted behaviors and pathological behaviors.

Features include a Foreword by Ronald E. Fox, Psy.D., Ph.D., Past President of the American Psychological Association, and:

• Written for parents and professionals • Characteristics of gifted children and adults • Diagnoses most commonly given to gifted children and adults • Traits of diagnoses incorrectly given to gifted children and adults • Guidelines to avoid mislabeling gifted children • Parent-child relationship problems • Issues for gifted adults • Advice for selecting a counselor or health care professional

"Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults" has been endorsed by three past presidents of the American Psychological Association, two neurologists, and two family practice physicians.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #240651 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 265 pages

The National Psychologist, January/February 2005
"the kind of diagnostic thinking that represents the best ethical and professional functioning in our field...required reading"

Outlook Magazine, Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented
"a book that parents of gifted children, educators, psychologists and physicians need to read."

Pep Talk, Spring, 2005
"The authors start by saying this book describes a modern tragedy. Nothing could be more accurate."

Customer Reviews

Concerns
I can see why a lot of parents are ready to embrace this book. It is very difficult to accept that your child is not perfect, especially when you can see how bright he or she is.

The problem with Asperger's, in particular, is that it is a wholly observation-based diagnosis at this point. If you have a child that exhibits signs of Asperger's but then you say "Yes, but gifted kids exhibit these signs, too, so my child must be gifted instead," you are picking one arbitrary label over another and possibly denying your child the help that he or she needs.

Many kids with Asperger's have superior functioning in the part of the brain that specializes in logic (usually producing excellence in science, rote memory, mathematics, or music); I would bet anything that the "gifted" children to which this book refers--the ones being confused with kids with Asperger's--are not often gifted in learning languages or gifted at reading comprehension and literary analysis. I would bet they are not amazing creative writers or athletes.

Asperger's is an autism-scale disorder; Tony Atwood explained it to me like this. Let's say that there are 100 elements of Asperger's, and a person must have 50 to be categorized as having the disorder. Not everyone will have the same 50, and some will have only 50 while others will have 60 or 70 or even 90.

Every parent wants to believe their children are exceptional and a label like ADHD or Asperger's contraindicates that for some people. My children have ADHD and Asperger's. And they ARE gifted and exceptional.

I just implore parents who are reading this book not to substitute their opinion based on this book for an expert evaluation. Some of the signs of Asperger's can be subtle; one of my children is an obvious case, for example--didn't make eye contact, has halting speech, flaps his hands, takes everything literally; the other you might have to be around for a week or two to pick up on it, but it is there.

Treatment for ADHD has helped my more obviously affected son tremendously, and if I had read this book before learning more about his diagnoses, I could have been tempted to dismiss his behaviors as evidence of his giftedness.

A Must Read For Those Whose Children Are 'Different'
I just finished reading this book and I am AMAZED that so much of this information applies to my 6 year old son. I had been told that he has Aspberger's by one expert. Now, after being given this book to read by a different expert, I know that he doesn't. It might just be that he is gifted. We have not had him tested as yet, but reading this has taken a huge burden off of my shoulders and has given us a chance to understand why our son is angry and 'different'.

I hope that every parent of a child who has been or is about to be 'labeled' with ADHD or ODD or OCD or Aspberger's reads this book.

I am not a trained psychologist. I consider myself to be somewhat intelligent and I had no problem understanding this book. Give it a shot, even if you feel intimidated by the alphabet soup of doctors and experts on the cover.

Excellent, talented, professional child/adolescent experts
Looking at the behaviors of a very gifted child, you can see evidence of symptoms that are consistent with other diagnoses. Over the years, my own son has been told by school personnel that he has ADD, ADHD, is developmentally delayed, is suffering from depression, has Asperger's, etc. Many of these armchair psychologists were wrong. Some professionals have suggested a few diagnoses, some of which make sense and others which are not appropriate. This is the book that will help you evaluate any such diagnosis. It lists very clearly the symptoms, mannerisms, behaviors that are attributable to giftedness against those attributable to other diagnoses, allowing you to discuss the pros & cons with the experts to sort out what may be accurate and what may not be appropriate in evaluating a particular child. I particularly appreciated Ed Amend's section on Asperger's.