Misdiagnosis in gifted children; a conversation with Dr. Paul Beljan

Source:
www.spreaker.c...
In this episode I am talking to Dr. Paul Beljan. Dr. Beljan is an expert on gifted intelligence, neuropsychology, trauma, learning disorders and executive functioning deficit intervention. He is also the co-author of the book 'Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults'
Gifted children are often being misdiagnosed with behavioral and emotional disorders such as ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Many receive unneeded medication and inappropriate counseling as a result. In this podcast we talk about the reasons behind these misdiagnoses and we discuss the most common ones.
We also talk about the impact of the environment and the need to take this into account during the diagnosis proces. In addition to this, we discuss trauma and how trauma related behavior makes it even more difficult to properly diagnose these gifted children.
For more information about Dr. Paul Beljan, please visit www.paulbeljan....

[@RichardORegan]

Hi, listening to you speak about your situation with your gifted child is exactly what we are going through with our son. The school here in Ireland do not understand our son how is teaching himself coding, college physics, biology and chemistry while also showing a real need just to learn complex concepts. There answer to us is he need to complete the curriculum and don’t offer him anything that is not on the curriculum. The only thing we are offered is that they will do social stories with him, which he hates and destroys his self esteem.
Thank you for bringing this to us it is really appreciated.

[@heatherwallace3397]

We have an autism diagnosis finally at 10. If we had the supports we needed for whatever issues we were having, then I don’t care what the label is. I just want to be taken seriously and have resources. You say “my child has giftedness” and no one understands why things are so hard. You say “my child has autism “ and they think you’re a superhero. (And he does have many many traits of autism so that could be an accurate diagnosis)

[@heatherwallace3397]

There’s something missing between the time it’s developmental and the hen it’s diagnosable. You’re on your own. It’s all the parents fault. “You’re doing something wrong and that’s why your child is having meltdowns” etc. basically the same issue as a learning disability not being able to be diagnosed until a certain age.