Deirdre V Lovecky - Different Minds

Different Minds

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Different Minds

Gifted Children with AD/HD, Asperger Syndrome, and Other Learning Deficits

Deirdre V. Lovecky

Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia

First published in the United Kingdom in 2004

by Jessica Kingsley Publishers

73 Collier Street

London N1 9BE, UK

and

400 Market Street, Suite 400

Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

www.jkp.com

Copyright Deirdre V. Lovecky 2004

The right of Deirdre V. Lovecky to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owners written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher.

Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Lovecky, Deirdre V., 1945

Different minds : gifted children with AD/HD, Asperger syndrome, and other learning deficits / Deirdre V. Lovecky. 1st American pbk. ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 1-85302-964-5

1. Gifted childrenMental health. 2. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. 3. Aspergers syndrome. I. Title.

RJ507.G55L68 2004

618.928589dc22

2003026799

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 85302 964 6

eISBN 978 1 84642 035 1

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledgments

It is always hard to acknowledge everyone who helped in the making of a book, especially when the book has been long in the writing. I would first, and foremost, thank all those parents who allowed me to know their lives with their children, and who graciously allowed me to use little pieces of who they are in the anecdotes. Without you, there would not be a book.

I would like to thank my professional colleagues who encouraged the writing of this book, especially Linda Silverman and Julia Osborn. Both contributed much of their long experience with gifted children and learning differences to help me formulate my initial ideas. I would also thank Ellen Winner for helping me to understand how Theory of Mind might function in gifted children.

John Ratey and Tony Attwood helped me in formulating some ideas about giftedness and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) and Asperger Syndrome (AS), especially on what causes AD/HD and AS, and on the topic of creativity. I value both their friendship and their thoughtful replies immensely.

My readers deserve special thanks. Julia Osborn read the first draft of this book and offered many helpful comments about point of view. She also gave me her professional opinion about the strengths and weaknesses of the newest Wechsler and Stanford-Binet IQ tests. Ruth Breindel and Mary Codd read the whole book in the final draft and helped with organization and wording, never my strong points. Both of them, along with Joan Hornsby and Stephanie Machell, have given friendship and support throughout.

I could not have written this book without the help of the special Librarians at Rhode Island College Adams Library and Province Public Library Fox Point Branch who helped me get references as well as learn to access and utilize online services.

I certainly want to thank Jessica Kingsley and her staff for their help in putting this book together, and for their patience as I rewrote it, and then changed it again.

Finally, of course, I thank Honey, my dog, for her sweet help with my patients, her excellent guarding of the house, and her wonderful companionship.

In memory of the Reverend Thomas E. Ahlburn who allowed me to share part of his wondrous journey. I will never forget.

May all beings be happy. Or something like that.

Introduction

The idea for writing this book arose from the frustration of parents discussing their gifted childrens attention problems. Being parents of gifted children, and usually gifted themselves, these parents had an insatiable curiosity about giftedness, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), Asperger Syndrome (AS), Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD), and all the other parenting and educational issues they brought to discuss. What they wanted was a book that would give them information about their childs problems, and also would have helpful suggestions about what to do, far beyond what I was able to tell them in a report or feedback session. There were no such books.

Why dont you write a book? they would ask. So eventually, I decided I would, because there is a need for a book that discusses not only the disorders, but also the issue of giftedness and how being gifted amplifies problems or ameliorates them.

The central themes of this book

Giftedness

This book focuses on gifted children with a particular emphasis on the special needs and strengths of those with attention deficits. This is a book about giftedness because a person cannot be viewed separate from his or her giftedness. Giftedness isnt a part of a person, like hair color, but all of a person, more like personality. Thus, in each chapter, differing aspects of giftedness are explored, and certain themes followed. This is not a book specifically about parenting gifted children, or teaching or counseling them. Though each chapter has some suggestions for parenting, teaching, and/or counseling, this book hopes to show a bigger picture: how being gifted brings to each person special strengths and weaknesses.

This book is not just about AD/HD. There are many wonderful books about parenting, teaching, and counseling children with AD/HD. In fact, what this book hopes to show is that one cannot separate giftedness from AD/HD either. They are both part and parcel of a person, and being both gifted and AD/HD brings a special share of blessings and curses.

This book is not just about AS either. There are many books that are more comprehensive. There are also books that focus specifically on one important aspect of AS such as social skill issues in school, or dealing with parenting issues. In this book, the focus is on both the giftedness and the AS symptoms because they are so intertwined.