What Could Cause a Straight A, High IQ Child to Work Slowly and Be Messy?

Is she getting distracted? She could be ADHD-I ( inattentive type) .
I have an ADHD-c (combined type) that is also a strait A student and gifted. BUT she as a hard time finishing her work.
And that time gets longer as the other students get finished and they start to talk and move around.
Her printing is Awful as well.

ETA: you may not want a label but generally a label helps teachers , etc to be able to help her the right way. My daughter's ADHD "label" has helped her teachers find the best way to help her.

Aspergers...if it is, you have to learn to think like her. That will make it so much easier. I was lucky enough to have gone through the same things in school as my daughter does. High IQ, but we always finished first, but were very socially inept. Worth a shot.

When I taught 2nd grade I had a student who was very quiet and very smart. However when you looked at his work, it was atrocious. During lessons, I would ask him a question and he would be completely zoned out. He wouldn't have a clue what I had just said moments before. He would sit at his desk and stare at the wall instead of doing his work. I conferenced with his parents repeatedly. He was falling behind. They decided to have him tested and the dr found he was a classic case of add. He was not hyper. They put him on the lowest dose of meds to see if it helped. I believe that also made some changes in his diet. I was shocked. He became more involved in class discussions. His work improved tremendously and his handwriting no longer looked like chicken scratch. I actually have copies of before and after examples of his work in my file on ADD.
I truly believe that WAY too many kids are diagnosed with add and adhd. But I also believe that there are kids who slip through without help and end up frustrated, fall behind academically, and develop a low self esteem. I DO believe more parents should try addressing diet and possible sleep issues before using meds. But for some meds are needed.
I am NOT saying your daughter has ADD but I would find a professional to test her. Be careful who you choose to test her. Here's a good article.
http://www.adhdchildparenting.com/adhd-specialist.php

I would check into ADD. My oldest son had the WORST handwriting out there. His locker/ desk/ room are extremely unorginized. He was the same with the open ended questions. He never got his homework done, but would get an A on every test. He could be reading a book and the teacher believe he wasn't paying attention and would ask him a question and he would get it correct. He would be doing 2 things at once (listening to the teacher talk and reading a book/ doodling etc). Math was his down fall where he had to pay attention to understand what was going on. He was also mildly depressed due to the bullying he dealt with for years. When they asked me about getting him tested I thought they were nuts!! But I did have him tested to prove them wrong, and well I was the one proven wrong. As my ped explained to us there is a very wide spectrum of ADD, not just the one most of us hear about. The meds he is on ( very low dose) helped him out so much! It even helped with the depression. Now he thanks me for putting him on the pills that he can tell the difference when he is not on them. I can't tell when he forgets ( he is 15 and takes them himself with his morning routine) because he isn't in a structured situation at home like school.

It may be worth checking into.

My oldest has horrible handwriting no matter how hard he tries. He sees an ot for it and his other poor fine motor skills. If being slow and having poor writing has always been an issue you might want to see an ot and have her motor skills and muscle tone checked. My oldest has iep that allows him to do written work on the computer it's made. Huge difference in homework time.

I hope the specialist you speak of is a therapist who works with children. It sounds from your post that your daughter needs some extra love right now, not someone testing her IQ.

4th graders go through so much as it is, and on top of it, your child has been bullied and rejected over and over. It is time everyone really give this girl some extra love and let her work at her own pace. I think whomever said she will go back to "normal" once she feels safe is right. Be patient and show her she is safe and smart. I bet she gets there before you know it. Also, I would be sure that any evaluations and therapists are not seen as a punishment or negative in any way. Is there a way to make it fun? If so, I would try that route!

Good luck to you - you will get there.

First of all, just want to say that this isn't your fault. I don't agree with the person who says you are putting too much pressure on her.

There are a variety of things that can cause a child to be slow with their work, even when they are very bright. Some children have sensory processing/ integration problems, some are ADD, some have problems with their eyes- changing focus from the board to their paper for example- there are eye exercises for that. Some have anxious personalities. There are several avenues to look into.

I agree with Rachel K. that an occupational therapist may help. My son was also very slow with his work- especially if there was a lot of writing- turned out his hand was getting tired, and the occupational therapist gave us some good suggestions for strengthening his hands.

My son is also bright, but slightly has some sensory issues that cause him to be distracted by even little noises. You could look into the sensory processing disorder checklist to see if she has any sensory issues that are slowing her down. I found it very helpful to print it, with the ones that pertained to him checked off, and brought it to the 1st appt. with the occupational therapist.

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-proces...

He would also get overwhelmed by how much he had to do- even though the work wasn't too hard for him, and he didn't really have an unreasonable amount to do. He would assume the work would take a lot longer than it would, and would keep stopping and looking ahead to how much he had left to do- which slowed him down a lot. What helped some was to cover the bottom half of the paper with a piece of blank white paper so he wouldn't keep getting distracted by how many he had left to do, and could focus on the one he was working on. I also had to keep reminding him that if he kept going, it would get done. I also (without him knowing) timed how long it took him to do a paper. When he was done, I would say, "See that only took you 5 minutes :) because you didn't keep stopping. You can do the same with the next paper, and your homework will be done in no time". I didn't tell him I was timing him because he gets nervous when he's timed.

My son would also be really slow when he had to copy something from a book to his paper- like a math problem, for example. He would keep losing the spot in the book where the math problem was, and lost time looking for where he left off. We started having him stick a post-it note under the problem he was working on, and that helped a lot.
We also found the testing we had done with the educational psychologist helpful.

Hope this helps =o)
Feel free to PM me if I can answer any other questions for you.
Best wishes!!
-L.

Added- the tired hand muscles caused his work to be messy too.

I would suggest two separate, but related routes here...

1. A comprehensive psychoeducational evaluation through the school. They will test her from "top to bottom" to see if there is something going on that is impacting her ability to produce work in a timely manner. It's possible that she is a slow processor and may need some classroom accommodations to either shorter her work or extend her time.
2. Private 1:1 counseling outside of school. What you describe sounds like a child who may be experiencing the onset of depression.

Go both routes and see what comes of it. Make sure to keep communication going between, home, school and the counselor. Everyone needs to be working together to get your little girl back on track!

UPDATE TO YOUR ADDED INFO:
Having your child "labled" might be the best thing for her. She could get help at school with that "label". Perhaps she is needing additional help at school and isn't getting it. For the record, I have a child with autism and getting him the diagnosis/label was the absolute best thing for him because it opened doors for services he would not have received otherwise.

I agree with Krista. I think there may be 2 issues going on here. She may have some sort of learning issue (ADHD or ADD can make kids work slowly if they get distracted and handwriting can be super messy) and/or some sort of sensory processing issue. I would suggest a full testing by a professional (a developmental pediatrician or someone maybe the school can recommend in your area).

The bullying seems to have really affected her. Has she had some counseling to talk that out? I think that may be helpful as well.

Good luck! I have a feeling she'll move faster once she feels more confident also. Right now, she probably isn't super confident and that is how it is coming out.

I agree with Scarlett that you do need a therapist who works with kids and who is experienced at handling kids who have been bullied. If you're referring just to the school counselor, I think school counselors are great, but it sounds like your daughter could use some individual, outside counseling or therapy for a while to get past the bullying and school change issues. I hpe that's what you're getting for her.

You say she's in a new school; I'm not sure if that's just because it was time in your school system for her to move on with her whole grade or if you moved her due to the bullying but I'll assume the latter since you say "she was bullied in public school" so maybe she's iin a private one now.

Just be certain she has time to adjust, without so much academic, hurry-up-and-get-it-done pressure, to the new school. She may be less thrilled with the change than you would expect her to be. "You're going to a new school where you won't see the bullies" may seem great to the adults but even though she was bullied at the old school, it was a familiar place if not a happy one. Adults don't always understand it, but kids truly will sometimes prefer the familiar but unhappy to the new and totally unknown. She may seem "beaten down" and be keeping a low profile because she fears new bullying, no matter how good you tell her the new school will be for her. A good therapist will understand this and help her work through it.

Have you talked all this through with her new 4th grade teacher? Does the teacher realize that she has had these issues and is in counseling and has issues with open-ended questions etc.? Have you talked with the teacher -- first, just you and your husband, without your daughter there -- about strategies the teacher can offer both to help you help your child at home and to work with your child differently in class, so the classwork gets done and not sent home as much? If the new 4th grade teacher isn't williing to listen, understand, and work with you, you should talk to the school counselor and the principal. Ask for a meeting that includes the teacher, school counselor and principal all together in one room with you if the teacher won't help. Don't let them put you off or just say "Oh, the counselor deals with that." You may end up needing some academic adjustments like an individual educational plan (or whatever it's termed in your district) for your child.

Also, I'm concerned that there's so much emphasis in the post on what your child is expected to do in "the class at church." Do you mean a weekly Sunday school class? If so, why so much pressure there? If she's being told to do writing or worksheets and it's stressing her out there, I'd tell the teacher what's going on and to frankly lay off. If it's something more than a weekly Sunday school, once-a-week Christian education class -- why is your child doing that if she's already under pressure with regular schoolwork?

Your child should find church a haven where she can be herself and not feel any of the pressures that she feels Monday through Friday in school; if she's getting the same "You need to finish your work" at church as well, church just becomes a source of more pressure for her, not a place she will learn, just another place she feels rushed and pressed. There are more creative ways for a Sunday school teacher to teach than by pressuring an already fragile kid.

The fact that the church teacher "complained two weeks in a row" as you write -- that's a red flag to me that the teacher may not be able to deal with your child right now. I would talk privately to that teacher, explain that your child is both very slow and meticulous AND under a great deal of pressure with a school change and getting over bullying, and let the teacher know that whatever method she's using does not work for your child and adds to the stress your girl's already under. If the teacher can't find another way to teach your daughter, consider pulling her from that class maybe for the fall. If her church friends are in the class and your daughter really wants to be there, see if you can volunteer in the class or otherwise intervene so church is a pleasure and joy and comfort to your child -- not a repeat of school pressure. I'm active in our church and can't bear to hear about a teacher complaining about a kid not doing some kind of "schoolwork" fast enough. There's no exam at the end, and the teacher isn't going to be judged on whether your child completes some assigment -- is she?

Sounds like she has a lot of pressure put on her from teachers and you.

People are so quick to lable children as little Einstein's, ADD, ADHD, etc.... let her be a child.

Maybe she needs a counselor who can work with her to get past her past issues and deal with the pressure she is getting from all the adults in her life.

I agree with the idea of a psychoeducational evaluation, but I would do it privately if I could afford it. I'm not big on public or private schools having that much information on my child. But if there's no other way sometimes the benefits can outweigh the negatives.

One of my kids has a handwriting disorder, so he's learning to type.

She may also have a processing disorder going on within her brain (which is why her responses seem slower). That's where you need the testing to pinpoint the issues.

Kids with learning disorders are often bullied. So much of what goes on at school is non-verbal communication, and if you have a processing issue it can make it harder to read other kids' social "cues."

It is also entirely possible to have a very high IQ and have a learning disorder - it's what's known as "twice gifted." I have one of those students and he's a great joy to work with. We pulled him out of school to homeschool him, and he really blossomed. He has worked very hard with a specialist tutor for his reading, and he now reads at the high school level. He's still brilliant with math and science (always was). And his processing has gotten so much better, and faster. He has numerous friends and does quite well socially now.

This is a fantastic web site you may want to check out: http://www.ldonline.org .

I would also explore possible biomedical causes to her issues. I love this book: "Healing the New Childhood Epidemics . . . " by Kenneth Bock, M.D., and Cameron Stauth. Your library may have it.

Our karate kid is now - at 14 - a black belt. For years I questioned whether he would ever make it. But he did, and he did it so very well. He is one of the strongest, most inspiring people I have ever known.

You can do it. Hang in there. Help her M..

minus the school issues, since my DD has always been homeschooled, you just described my daughter. She's going to public school for the first time, 3rd grade, a week from today! I'm terrified. She is the slowest most studious little worker. She wants her work to be perfect. She can write a whole sentence and if the second letter in the second word looks funny, she has to erase the whole thing otherwise the spacing is off. She gets stuck on something and she will sit for an hour to figure it out. She doesn't grasp the move on and go back to it idea, or heaven forbid, just skip one and get it wrong. She is however a year above grade level in reading, writing and math, and still tests above the target range on standardized tests. not bragging but I think that's part of her perfectionist personality.

I have found that setting a timer, so she has a direct visual that this is the time limit, will keep her moving along, but it's also brought her to tears if she didn't finish. So I have yet to figure out a real answer either.

I once read a profectionist is a procrastinator. It said that if they can not do it perfectly they will either not do it or do it half a$$. I wonder if she isn't able to get her stuff done b/c she isn't succeeding with friends and the school environment?

I wish you luck!

In addition to all the educational testing, please try to have either the school or a private pediatric occupational therapist (OT) test her motor skills. She may be very bright but have a fine motor (or even a gross motor) problem causing her to be very slow and sloppy. If she gets very frustrated by this, it could even mistakenly LOOK like she has Asperger's or ADD. There are many physical problems that can cause this, from hypotonia, to developmental coordination disorders, to sensory processing disorders. Perhaps a developmental pediatrician (a specialist) would be a good first step. That Dr. can have all the areas tested so you will know what you are dealing with. Labels can be helpful if they point you in the right direction for treatment.

On a side note, I agree that it is unreasonable for a church teacher, particularly a substitute to get riled up, however, it is another opinion that matches the others. A child who is unreasonably slow in the classroom can/will delay the rest of the class from progressing and can really contribute to the bullying you have seen. Bringing home all that unfinished work must be frustrating and tiring for her too. It sure would make me grumpy to do school work all day at school and then have to keep going all evening at home. I really hope she gets some help so you can break the cycle and help her enjoy school.

If she is getting straight A's, why does she need to change what she's doing?
I've known many people who just do things SLOWLY. It's really frustrating to watch, but if it works for them, it's not my business.

I don't know why the substitute teacher at church cares how long it's taking your daughter. I think she should mellow out.

I like T.F.'s comment about pressure from adults.

I think you shouldn't comment on it, and let your daughter do her work at the pace she's comfortable with.

Sounds like she is a perfectionist. and maybe she has weak hand muscles?? Is she one of the youngest in her grade? an OT could work with her on her handwriting. Take time to play games with her that require fine motor skills, Operation, Perfection, etc and arts and crafts. DO NOT let her spend hours on her homework, (HOW depressing!!) discuss it with the teacher and come up with a plan. 45-50 minutes and what ever is not done is NOT done. This will probably bother her more than it bothers her teacher. Stick with this for a few weeks, let her see you will not change and she may start to hurry up. Read the article How not to talk to Kids and see if that helps.