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Gifted son, looking for advice and ideas

shagg

shagg

Wading Through Bull****
DP Veteran
Joined
Jun 28, 2013
Messages
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Location
Rhode Island
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Independent
Let me start with a brief summary. My son will be 6 in july, and much like his old man, he's an odd one. Socially he's not the most apt, he has some behavior issues that lead to some testing when he started pre-school . He tends to over react emotionally to negative things. The cheese was missing from the tip of his pizza slice once, and he was genuinely upset and in tears over it. He has improved a lot there over the last year, but at first he was tested for spectrum disorders and given an IQ test. He was diagnosed with an unspecified anxiety disorder. Negative for spectrum disorders. IQ 121, which is roughly above average but not really approaching genius levels or anything. He's also borderline obsessed with letters.

The boy taught himself to read before preschool with youtube and educational tv. After a while english wasn't enough for him. One day we thought he was just drawing shapes and squiggles and it turned out to be the russian alphabet. It became his new favorite thing and he had it memorized and knew the sounds they made in short order. This was at 4 years old. Then he started picking up greek. Then he had greek down, sounds included. He picked up some russian words from some books we got him. Started learning arabic letters. Georgian, french, spanish, korean, Hebrew, italian, german. He doesn't know them all perfectly, but most of what he watches on YouTube is "teach yourself x language" videos. And he does retain a lot of it.

So what is a parent to do? We want to encourage him, support him, and give this interest of his a chance to develop into a serious advantage in his adult life. But it seems there isn't much out there in the way of children oriented language programs. There's very little out there especially for his favorites, russian, arabic, georgian, greek, and korean. I seek the advice of the hive mind on how to best encourage and develope my 5 year olds linguistic interests.
 
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Definitely try to encourage him in learning languages. I dont know where you live but I suggest you look for Korean/Greek/Russian etc groups near you. There should be some and they should be able to help
 
shagg said:
Let me start with a brief summary. My son will be 6 in july, and much like his old man, he's an odd one. Socially he's not the most apt, he has some behavior issues that lead to some testing when he started pre-school . He tends to over react emotionally to negative things. The cheese was missing from the tip of his pizza slice once, and he was genuinely upset and in tears over it. He has improved a lot there over the last year, but at first he was tested for spectrum disorders and given an IQ test. He was diagnosed with an unspecified anxiety disorder. Negative for spectrum disorders. IQ 121, which is roughly above average but not really approaching genius levels or anything. He's also borderline obsessed with letters.

The boy taught himself to read before preschool with youtube and educational tv. After a while english wasn't enough for him. One day we thought he was just drawing shapes and squiggles and it turned out to be the russian alphabet. It became his new favorite thing and he had it memorized and knew the sounds they made in short order. This was at 4 years old. Then he started picking up greek. Then he had greek down, sounds included. He picked up some russian words from some books we got him. Started learning arabic letters. Georgian, french, spanish, korean, Hebrew, italian, german. He doesn't know them all perfectly, but most of what he watches on YouTube is "teach yourself x language" videos. And he does retain a lot of it.

So what is a parent to do? We want to encourage him, support him, and give this interest of his a chance to develop into a serious advantage in his adult life. But it seems there isn't much out there in the way of children oriented language programs. There's very little out there especially for his favorites, russian, arabic, georgian, greek, and korean. I seek the advice of the hive mind on how to best encourage and develope my 5 year olds linguistic interests.
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Try language CD/DVDs for home schoolers. Home schooler's specialty is to learn from textbooks and study materials and then when difficulties arise to discuss those issues with their parents/peers/advisors. Language DVDs are available. They should work because it sounds like the lad can ferret out info when available. That's a powerful and good habit.
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shagg said:
Let me start with a brief summary. My son will be 6 in july, and much like his old man, he's an odd one. Socially he's not the most apt, he has some behavior issues that lead to some testing when he started pre-school . He tends to over react emotionally to negative things. The cheese was missing from the tip of his pizza slice once, and he was genuinely upset and in tears over it. He has improved a lot there over the last year, but at first he was tested for spectrum disorders and given an IQ test. He was diagnosed with an unspecified anxiety disorder. Negative for spectrum disorders. IQ 121, which is roughly above average but not really approaching genius levels or anything. He's also borderline obsessed with letters.

The boy taught himself to read before preschool with youtube and educational tv. After a while english wasn't enough for him. One day we thought he was just drawing shapes and squiggles and it turned out to be the russian alphabet. It became his new favorite thing and he had it memorized and knew the sounds they made in short order. This was at 4 years old. Then he started picking up greek. Then he had greek down, sounds included. He picked up some russian words from some books we got him. Started learning arabic letters. Georgian, french, spanish, korean, Hebrew, italian, german. He doesn't know them all perfectly, but most of what he watches on YouTube is "teach yourself x language" videos. And he does retain a lot of it.

So what is a parent to do? We want to encourage him, support him, and give this interest of his a chance to develop into a serious advantage in his adult life. But it seems there isn't much out there in the way of children oriented language programs. There's very little out there especially for his favorites, russian, arabic, georgian, greek, and korean. I seek the advice of the hive mind on how to best encourage and develope my 5 year olds linguistic interests.
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Have him checked for autism. Its hard as hell to diagnose in some but that's what comes to mind with what you have described so far. Smart as hell in certain areas but socially challenged could describe a lot of autism cases that I've seen/read about. Disclaimer note: I am NOT a psychologist. Don't just take me at my word for it...talk to certified doctors/psychologists.

As for his language skills. I'd definitely encourage it like you have.
 
shagg said:
Let me start with a brief summary. My son will be 6 in july, and much like his old man, he's an odd one. Socially he's not the most apt, he has some behavior issues that lead to some testing when he started pre-school . He tends to over react emotionally to negative things. The cheese was missing from the tip of his pizza slice once, and he was genuinely upset and in tears over it. He has improved a lot there over the last year, but at first he was tested for spectrum disorders and given an IQ test. He was diagnosed with an unspecified anxiety disorder. Negative for spectrum disorders. IQ 121, which is roughly above average but not really approaching genius levels or anything. He's also borderline obsessed with letters.

The boy taught himself to read before preschool with youtube and educational tv. After a while english wasn't enough for him. One day we thought he was just drawing shapes and squiggles and it turned out to be the russian alphabet. It became his new favorite thing and he had it memorized and knew the sounds they made in short order. This was at 4 years old. Then he started picking up greek. Then he had greek down, sounds included. He picked up some russian words from some books we got him. Started learning arabic letters. Georgian, french, spanish, korean, Hebrew, italian, german. He doesn't know them all perfectly, but most of what he watches on YouTube is "teach yourself x language" videos. And he does retain a lot of it.

So what is a parent to do? We want to encourage him, support him, and give this interest of his a chance to develop into a serious advantage in his adult life. But it seems there isn't much out there in the way of children oriented language programs. There's very little out there especially for his favorites, russian, arabic, georgian, greek, and korean. I seek the advice of the hive mind on how to best encourage and develope my 5 year olds linguistic interests.
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Start here:
48 Essential Links for the Parents of Gifted Children | OEDB.org

I also recommend you utilize this age while you have it and develop entertaining gameplay to expand beyond linguistic challenges.
 
Have you tried Duolingo? It focuses more on being able to match pictures with words, and other fun things like that. It is far from a boring class where you just drill certain sounds over and over. It is also free. https://www.duolingo.com/
 
shagg said:
Let me start with a brief summary. My son will be 6 in july, and much like his old man, he's an odd one. Socially he's not the most apt, he has some behavior issues that lead to some testing when he started pre-school . He tends to over react emotionally to negative things. The cheese was missing from the tip of his pizza slice once, and he was genuinely upset and in tears over it. He has improved a lot there over the last year, but at first he was tested for spectrum disorders and given an IQ test. He was diagnosed with an unspecified anxiety disorder. Negative for spectrum disorders. IQ 121, which is roughly above average but not really approaching genius levels or anything. He's also borderline obsessed with letters.

The boy taught himself to read before preschool with youtube and educational tv. After a while english wasn't enough for him. One day we thought he was just drawing shapes and squiggles and it turned out to be the russian alphabet. It became his new favorite thing and he had it memorized and knew the sounds they made in short order. This was at 4 years old. Then he started picking up greek. Then he had greek down, sounds included. He picked up some russian words from some books we got him. Started learning arabic letters. Georgian, french, spanish, korean, Hebrew, italian, german. He doesn't know them all perfectly, but most of what he watches on YouTube is "teach yourself x language" videos. And he does retain a lot of it.

So what is a parent to do? We want to encourage him, support him, and give this interest of his a chance to develop into a serious advantage in his adult life. But it seems there isn't much out there in the way of children oriented language programs. There's very little out there especially for his favorites, russian, arabic, georgian, greek, and korean. I seek the advice of the hive mind on how to best encourage and develope my 5 year olds linguistic interests.
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I would contact Mensa. They may be able to direct you to some resources.

In a sense you need a child counselor to help you cope, as well as to determine where your child is "going" should he move past language assuming he's not showing savant characteristics. . Your insurance probably covers special needs counseling. I'm not a professional, BTW, but I did sleep in a Holiday Inn last week. ;)
 
Kal'Stang said:
Have him checked for autism. Its hard as hell to diagnose in some but that's what comes to mind with what you have described so far. Smart as hell in certain areas but socially challenged could describe a lot of autism cases that I've seen/read about. Disclaimer note: I am NOT a psychologist. Don't just take me at my word for it...talk to certified doctors/psychologists.

As for his language skills. I'd definitely encourage it like you have.
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That's the first thing I thought, too. Some people who are on the spectrum specialize in other areas like math and language. It's like one area compensates for another area that may be lacking, like emotional control.

Not comparing your son in any way, Shagg, but Rainman was a real person. One of my psych professors worked in the hospital he was in before he died. He was an absolute genius when it came to math and memory retention, but his social skills weren't "up to par."
 
Also - just thought of this. Check your local colleges and see if he can audit classes. He can sit through, take the tests, do the homework and everything else that the class does, but he won't get credit for it. Some colleges even allow you to audit for free.

Or maybe get a tutor, if there are any around.
 
If one is sufficiently exposed to a foreign language during developmental years, one will be able to speak the language without an accent as an adult. If not, one will always speak a foreign language with an accent, even after decades of fluency. This time is an opportunity.
 
shagg said:
Let me start with a brief summary. My son will be 6 in july, and much like his old man, he's an odd one. Socially he's not the most apt, he has some behavior issues that lead to some testing when he started pre-school . He tends to over react emotionally to negative things. The cheese was missing from the tip of his pizza slice once, and he was genuinely upset and in tears over it. He has improved a lot there over the last year, but at first he was tested for spectrum disorders and given an IQ test. He was diagnosed with an unspecified anxiety disorder. Negative for spectrum disorders. IQ 121, which is roughly above average but not really approaching genius levels or anything. He's also borderline obsessed with letters.

The boy taught himself to read before preschool with youtube and educational tv. After a while english wasn't enough for him. One day we thought he was just drawing shapes and squiggles and it turned out to be the russian alphabet. It became his new favorite thing and he had it memorized and knew the sounds they made in short order. This was at 4 years old. Then he started picking up greek. Then he had greek down, sounds included. He picked up some russian words from some books we got him. Started learning arabic letters. Georgian, french, spanish, korean, Hebrew, italian, german. He doesn't know them all perfectly, but most of what he watches on YouTube is "teach yourself x language" videos. And he does retain a lot of it.

So what is a parent to do? We want to encourage him, support him, and give this interest of his a chance to develop into a serious advantage in his adult life. But it seems there isn't much out there in the way of children oriented language programs. There's very little out there especially for his favorites, russian, arabic, georgian, greek, and korean. I seek the advice of the hive mind on how to best encourage and develope my 5 year olds linguistic interests.
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Some good advice given above. If I were you I would be looking in the area in which I lived for some private schools with a good rep, no way I would be leaving him in a public school.

I would also have his IQ tested again as it seems too low for his current achievements unless he is on the spectrum.
 
Kal'Stang said:
Have him checked for autism. Its hard as hell to diagnose in some but that's what comes to mind with what you have described so far. Smart as hell in certain areas but socially challenged could describe a lot of autism cases that I've seen/read about. Disclaimer note: I am NOT a psychologist. Don't just take me at my word for it...talk to certified doctors/psychologists.

As for his language skills. I'd definitely encourage it like you have.
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Yeah, he threw a few red flags in preschool, ours was run by the public school system, so they had him tested for spectrum disorders: autism, asbergers, and adhd/add. He had some of the things you look for but was the opposite on other things (the boy loves his hugs and melts right into you). They found that he did not have any spectrum disorders. The progress on his social issues over the last year and a half reinforce that.
 
shagg said:
Yeah, he threw a few red flags in preschool, ours was run by the public school system, so they had him tested for spectrum disorders: autism, asbergers, and adhd/add. He had some of the things you look for but was the opposite on other things (the boy loves his hugs and melts right into you). They found that he did not have any spectrum disorders. The progress on his social issues over the last year and a half reinforce that.
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My nephew is autistic. He loves his hugs also. Hopefully they are correct though and aren't missing anything.
 
Tell him, "We speak English in this here 'Merica, boy!"





:D
 
Why would anyone ask such advise rom people they don't know? If you are concerned don't ask Dear Abby, get real help.
 
Kal'Stang said:
Have him checked for autism. Its hard as hell to diagnose in some but that's what comes to mind with what you have described so far. Smart as hell in certain areas but socially challenged could describe a lot of autism cases that I've seen/read about. Disclaimer note: I am NOT a psychologist. Don't just take me at my word for it...talk to certified doctors/psychologists.

As for his language skills. I'd definitely encourage it like you have.
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I agree with this. What I love is that you, and the OP have recognized his obvious talents and encouraged them. That is really a huge thing.
 
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