How to meet the needs of a child who is gifted and has a learning disability

Understanding a child with learning disabilities is key for both parents and teachers. Jerome Schultz, Phd, a clinical neuropsychologist specializing in special education and assessment of children with learning disabilities discusses how adults give these children the support they need.
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How to meet the needs of a child who is gifted and has a learning disability

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You know some parents are concerned about children who have learning disabilities who have ADHD but who are also gifted and talented. Kids who have incredible intellectual gifts and talents or may have special skills in art or music. And the learning disability or the ADHD can sometimes get in the way. It can certainly be an asset to be hyperactive and impulsive if you're also gifted, because it means you quickly do things that are creative and smart and talented. If you're trying to sit in a public school classroom and be that way, sometimes that's a mismatch. parents who have kids who are both gifted and talented and have either one or both of these conditions - ADHD or LD - need to really make sure that the kids' teachers understand the nature of both the giftedness and the learning disability, because they live in the same child. And if you address one without the other, a child may not live up to his or her potential. And that's really the problem. Teachers need to understand that these kids have intellectual gifts and talents. And they may have things that get in the way of the expression of those gifts and talents.

Understanding a child with learning disabilities is key for both parents and teachers. Jerome Schultz, Phd, a clinical neuropsychologist specializing in special education and assessment of children with learning disabilities discusses how adults give these children the support they need.

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Jerome Schultz, PhD

Clinical Neuropsychologist

Dr. Jerome (Jerry) Schultz is a former middle school special education teacher. He is currently in private practice as a clinical neuropsychologist and is on the faculty of Harvard Medical School in the Department of Psychiatry.  For over three decades, he has specialized in the neuropsychological assessment and treatment of children with learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other special needs. He was on the faculty of Lesley University in Cambridge MA for almost 30 years, and served there as the Founding Director of a diagnostic clinic called the Learning Lab. Before returning to private practice, Dr. Schultz served as the Co-Director of the Center for Child and Adolescent Development at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Teaching Hospital.

Dr. Schultz received both his undergraduate and Master’s degree from The Ohio State University and holds a Ph.D. from Boston College. He has completed postdoctoral fellowships in both clinical psychology and pediatric neuropsychology. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of a journal called Academic Psychiatry, and is on the Professional Advisory Boards of a website called Inside ADHD.com, and the Learning Disabilities Association of America.

In addition to his clinical and educational work, Dr. Schultz serves as an international consultant on issues related to the neuropsychology and appropriate education of children and young adults with ADHD & LD and other special needs. In his current role as neuropsychological consultant to several large school districts in the Boston area, he is on the ground, in schools and working with kids and their teachers several days each week.

Dr. Schultz created an award-winning video called “Einstein and Me” about living successfully with a learning disability, and has written extensively about children with learning, behavioral and emotional challenges. He has a special education and psychology blog on the Huffington Post. His book, called Nowhere to Hide: Why Kids with ADHD and LD Hate School and What We Can Do About It, (Jossey-Bass/Wiley) which examines the role of stress in learning, has received international acclaim.

 

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Transcription: 
You know some parents are concerned about children who have learning disabilities who have ADHD but who are also gifted and talented. Kids who have incredible intellectual gifts and talents or may have special skills in art or music. And the learning disability or the ADHD can sometimes get in the way. It can certainly be an asset to be hyperactive and impulsive if you're also gifted, because it means you quickly do things that are creative and smart and talented. If you're trying to sit in a public school classroom and be that way, sometimes that's a mismatch. parents who have kids who are both gifted and talented and have either one or both of these conditions - ADHD or LD - need to really make sure that the kids' teachers understand the nature of both the giftedness and the learning disability, because they live in the same child. And if you address one without the other, a child may not live up to his or her potential. And that's really the problem. Teachers need to understand that these kids have intellectual gifts and talents. And they may have things that get in the way of the expression of those gifts and talents.