Gifted and adhd - would a private school be best?

Question

My son is nearly 8 and is on the gifted and talented register, he has not been diagnosed with adhd but does show similar traits. He has attention problems and can disrupt the class by calling out etc!!! ( he says it is when he is bored ). The class has 30 pupils of mixed abilities and 2 class ages ...would it be best to send him to a private school with a class of under 10 pupils where he gets more attention and can excel in the subjects he loves? Any response greatly recieved and if anyone has had the same experience and has sent their child to private I would love to hear from you!!!

Answer 1

you don't have to send him to a private school. get him diagnosed before you do anything. if he needs more attention ask the teacher at the school hes at now. i have ADHD and I am smart and I attend a public school!!

Answer 2

Hi, I have a friend whose little girl was gifted but also had a special need (wasn't ADHD but can't remember what, sorry!), and when she went to look around the private school where her other children had gone, the teacher said to her "I understand she has some special needs, we only take children that are willing to be taught, is she willing to be taught?" My friend decided not to send her child there. You may find that although private schools will be good for the gifted aspect of your son, they may not be so good for his ADHD. As other people have mentioned, a public school but with some after school tuition may be the best option. It may be worth him swapping schools though because classes with 2 age groups in aren't great at the best of times, is there another school near you that has just one year group age in each class that you could swap him to? As other posters have said, the interaction with a general cross-section of children will probably benefit him in the long run because rightly or wrongly, at some point he will need to learn strategies to fit in with general society. Have a look on the ofsted site (www.ofsted.gov.uk) for reports on schools near you, will mention if good with children who have additional needs. Hope you get somethign sorted.

Answer 3

My son who is 8yrs old went to a private school up until 1st grade in the USA. Now he is in his 2nd year of public school. We have always thought he may suffer with ADHD and just before xmas he was diagnosed with it and put on medication. He also has a learning disability with reading and writing. He is extreemly inteligent though.  In the private school we would have had to pay extra for exra help after being tested for a learning diability at a public school.

At the public scjhool we pay nothing and have so much more feed back. Our son is much happier that he is now at a school that cares and where he is mixing with all walks of life.

up shot being I would not send my children back to private.

Answer 4

My daughter has autism and is on her schools gifted and talented program. It has made a huge difference to her. She used to sit in class and distract everyone else because she found the work far to easy. I have discussed this with the school and she is on the gifted and talented program and a lot of extension work. She will take all her exams a couple of years earlier than everyone else. I think if you sent your son to a private school you would only transfer the problem somewhere else. Go into your sons school and speak to his teacher and the SENCO and tell them how you feel. Schools are usually very happy to have talented pupils and will help them as much as possible because it reflects well on the school.

Answer 5

Its probably best to send him to a school with small class sizes so that the teacher can focus on him. his abilites and weaknesses more there are public schools with small class sizes if you can not afford private schooling.

theres also tutors that can help after school hours and stuff like that

Answer 6

I don't think it's ADHD, I have two kids with autism and ADHD together and a husband with ADHD. I think your son is bored, he's telling you he disrupts the class when he is bored and he needs to be stimulated. Yes I wouldn't hesitate to get him into a private school if you can afford it. I went to both private and state and found private very tough because academically I can be very lazy and it was very intense, but in state I could drift along. Your child spells trouble through boredom when he is older, don't let that talent go to waste!!

Answer 7

I have adhd and i think mixing with other students is a good thing because he has to live with other people the rest of his life...there is medication he could take that would help the blurting out in class and things like that to.

Answer 8

I work at school as a support staff, sometimes we have kids with disability- If they still accept him in mainstream, i think it's okay as long as he's learning something, i remember a friend of mine said, her autistic son is better in a mainstream school, than a special school, because sometimes there are even worse pupils there, that might just deteriorate his disability..ask a health visitor to assess him, then ask their advice. they know better..