Hi Adelia, I can be reached on 09 524 7727 and I am back at work; my
secretary Rosemary comes back to work on the 12th. I also work with 2 other
psychologists, Barbara Kalshoven and Lindi Hanssen. We all have a
particular interest and some years of experience assessing and working with
gifted children and their families and teachers. Would love to hear from
you. Lynn
Thank you all for your help. A couple of things have suddenly changed in our lives in the past week (we're about to shift house), but I will be in touch with somebody shortly.
We at Pro-Ed are a multi-disciplinary team of professionals. We have educational psychologist, occupational therapist, speech-language therapist and specialized teacher. We see a wide range of children from the gifted to the children to children with learning problems. We are able to provide both assessment and therapy/counseling etc. We try to provide a ‘One Stop Shop” where all your or your child’s needs can be met.
If you would like to know more about us have a look at our web site www.proed.co.nz.
Collette I know it can be difficult but I think you really need to get him away from his current teacher! There is something seriously wrong with her and her teaching methods if in this day and age all she can do is dump him. Having NOTHING but negative comments in his work portfolio is just bizarre teaching practice for this day and age.
I was diagnosed as gifted with ADD as a child. An ADD child without hyperactivity often begins to fall behind at age 7. I was brutally victimised and demeaned by my teacher at age 7 who told me every day that I was lazy.
Not saying that your son has ADD or that your teacher is victimising him delibrately like my teacher did BUT she sounds like she has a really negative attitude towards him , whereas his other teacher obviously saw him as very very special.
(When I was a child teachers were very polarised about me as well, loving me or hating me.)
Anyway putting aside stuff I have said about myself, just the idea that any teacher would leave any child with no positive comments in his work folio is against contemporary education practice.
Get him away from that witch!
Collette I know it can be difficult but I think you really need to get him away from his current teacher! There is something seriously wrong with her and her teaching methods if in this day and age all she can do is dump him. Having NOTHING but negative comments in his work portfolio is just bizarre teaching practice for this day and age.
I was diagnosed as gifted with ADD as a child. An ADD child without hyperactivity often begins to fall behind at age 7. I was brutally victimised and demeaned by my teacher at age 7 who told me every day that I was lazy.
Not saying that your son has ADD or that your teacher is victimising him delibrately like my teacher did BUT she sounds like she has a really negative attitude towards him , whereas his other teacher obviously saw him as very very special.
(When I was a child teachers were very polarised about me as well, loving me or hating me.)
Anyway putting aside stuff I have said about myself, just the idea that any teacher would leave any child with no positive comments in his work folio is against contemporary education practice.
Get him away from that witch!
Lisa, assessments are charged on an hourly basis. I assess many 5 year olds and the ADD aspect could be looked at. The assessment time varies according to what one needs to look at eg. any learning problems as well.
Hi I had my child diagnosed as gifted with ADD 8 months ago by a psycholgist but wa told there was no one who could help or any support network available here. I am based in Hamilton and just found this site and wondered if anyone could offer any info or advice, as It would be much appreciated. Thankyou Louise
Have a read at this link: http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/books/FADinfo.htm
They also run online support groups, that you can find through searching the homepage:
http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/
I know that there are plenty of people whose lives and childrens lives have been changed positively by following this path, some who are also on this list.
I would be interested in any comments on Macleans College, Howick, particularly how they may treat gifted boys with mild ADD. Our son will be Y9 next year and even though we are happy at the school he is at, and it goes through to Y10, it would be great if we could move him to our local.
I'm not sure how Macleans would handle your son. It is an excellent school, and there is a strong academic and sporting focus and strict discipline. My perception is that if you are a high achiever and also a conforming student, you are more likely to have your giftedness recognised there - although that is true of many schools.
Seemed a good time to say "Thank you Annette", for all the great info and support you provide people.
I would like to also take this opportunity to support my fellow Psychologists who highlight a child's on-going unhappiness at school as often a good reason to seek further advice.
This advice may or may not need to involve a full assessment, and many of us are happy to offer estimates for 'initial consultations'. Just "leaving it" often doesn't mean the problem goes away - it can sometimes make it more entrenched.
Lastly I would like to invite any Auckland RTLB's who would like on-site support in their work, particualry with those students with special abilities, those having unexplained difficulties, or behavioural troubles to pleae feel free to contact me.
Alison Kirby
All Poppies Ltd.
Email dartr@kwilink.co.nz
Phone 09 5221916
I could be wrong, but I have a vague memory that Aurelia had relocated to Christchurch... she is no longer listed on Lynn's website as a staff member at Indigo Assessment.
Hi
Does anyone have any experience of Specialist Education Services called in to a pre school center to assess a possibly gifted child who is having behavioural issues?
Do they do IQ testing?
That would be a question for them. They were called into our sons kindergarten and referred him to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service as they felt he had Aspergers.
We're now 7 years down the track with an exceptionally gifted boy who does have behavioural issues, but not Aspergers!
I'm not sure how much assistance SES were, but they were instrumental in setting us on the path to get assistance for our boy, and having a pre-school referral helped hugely when the school asked Group Special Education for assistance with him once he was at school.
A bit waffly I know, but I can't begin to condense 7 very full-on years concisely!
That would be a question for them. They were called into our sons kindergarten and referred him to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service as they felt he had Aspergers.
We're now 7 years down the track with an exceptionally gifted boy who does have behavioural issues, but not Aspergers!
I'm not sure how much assistance SES were, but they were instrumental in setting us on the path to get assistance for our boy, and having a pre-school referral helped hugely when the school asked Group Special Education for assistance with him once he was at school.
A bit waffly I know, but I can't begin to condense 7 very full-on years concisely!
I am interested in those who have talked about a diagnosis of Aspergers. My child was sent to Pediatric/Adolescent Mental health to get some help with some anxiety issues.
At one of her appointments my DH and I were taken to another room where we had a chat with the psychologist and at the end we were told our child was Aspergers, now don't get me wrong I have no issue with this diagnosis if it was correct, we felt cornered and disempowered.
We went home and talked to her grandparents, her auntie (a teacher), her current teacher and her previous preschool teacher and GP. Without fail everyone said that they felt this was a misdiagnosis. 12 months later this child was referred to One Day School and in the process of the assessment for this we discovered that she had a general intellectual ability in the top 1% and all the results of the test were in the top 10%.
If she had truly been Aspergers we would have been fine with that, but we felt that to allow the misdiagnosis to remain would have not been fair on both our child and also those wonderful people who truly are Aspergers.
I wonder whether the mental health units need some more information on giftedness and the quirks that come, because many of these quirks would well fit into the diagnosis criteria of Aspergers.
Finally, we found that eliminating some of the food additives etc helped the anxiety etc. I too have read and taken some of the info in board from the Fedup info.
Your message reads as if the discovery that your daughter is in the top 1% for general intellectual ability rules out the possibility that she has Aspergers. It is very common for the two to co-exist. (Not that I am suggesting that this means your daughter does have Aspergers but just to stop any confusion for people reading the thread) Hope she is loving One Day School. :-)
Lynne Berresford used to be based in Remuera but she is now on the North Shore and her phone number there is 444-6859. You can find more at the website for "Indigo" Just google Lynn Berresford & Indigo assessment.
My daughter was misdiagnosed as having "severe adhd" (hahaha as was her mother for that matter) - but that was back when that was the label in vogue - I had my grandson assessed very early to circumvent a repeat.
I am now working on a Diploma in Child & Adolescent Psychology, a Diploma in Psychology and if I can get my head around a stats paper, to become qualified to administer cognitive assessments - my aim is to make them more affordable to low income families and if possible source additional funding (possibly by setting up as a Charitable Trust)
To this day my daughters mental health records have not been properly amended to accurately reflect the facts of the matter - nor so much as a "sorry we made a mistake" (or a long long line of them).
I know we certainly have a handful of top notch psychologists who are well aware of "characteristic overlap" - and I am pretty sure there will be others like myself at a "lower level" as far as the formal qualifications are concerned who are acutely aware and either have already completed or are on the process of completing qualifications that will put them in good stead to provide support, understanding and advocacy - although locating them may prove difficult.
I will be restricting myself to those who are VS (or it is suspected they are) as I do not (and will never) regard myself to be qualified to provide appropriate and helpful support to those who are not.
In my experience, trying to find such people is rather like trying to find a needle in a haystack if one does not already know exactly what one is looking for - but they are around.
Hi,
I live in Whangarei too and am not aware of any Ed Psycs who have the requisite knowledge in giftedness. When my son was assessed over 2 years ago, we were referred to the Indigo Centre in Auckland. We went down for 2 consecutive Saturdays to get the testing done.
I understand that they can complete it over 2 sessions in one day but it depends on the age of your child. My son was 7 at the time and it was felt that doing it all in one day was too much.
Hi I am aware of a Psychologist by the name of Rose Barlow who worked with the Gifted Education Centre some time ago. I can recommend her as having a sound understanding of giftedness and related issues. Rose can be contacted on 021-1685014 and resides in Whangarei.
Hi, I have two questions along similar lines. One: who would you suggest as a psychologist to test for Aspergers in my two gifted sons (both been to One Day School)? The elder son was identified as "showing signs of Aspergers" when he was 6, also tested very high on the ODS tests, even on ones that Aspergers kids normally test low on - after 6 months with almost no additives, that is. We see some Aspie-type characteristics in the younger son, some the same as big brother, some different. I think they are both borderline, and they are both definitely gifted. We have been given the name of Warwick Smith by two separate people, but one tells us he tends to overdiagnose. For our boys, a yes or no answer might very well depend on the day, or the psychologist, or what they'd been eating the days before. A "yes" would no doubt open doors to extra help, but can anyone recommend anyone known for getting it right more often than not, or being particularly helpful with working with the individual quirks, whichever way the diagnosis goes?
Second Question: Has anyone dealt with "Sensational Kids" on the North Shore? I'd like to get in touch with them for help with eating for my two sons. Or does anyone have any other success stories for helping restrictive eaters to broaden out? Thanks so much, Lynette
Our daughter attended sessions with Kate Skinner of 'Sensational Kids' in Mairangi Bay last year. We'd noticed various 'quirks' which presented as Auditory and Tactile Defensiveness (though I note they could also be described as Dabrowski's OE's too).
I simply can't recommend Kate and her team highly enough. They're committed to positive outcomes, work diligently, have high personal ethics, are great communicators, are a dream to work with and - best of all - get results. My daughter loved her sessions with Kate (she loved Abby too).
I hope that helps. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
Hi Rochelle,
I would love to know the contact details of Sensational kids or anyone else that could help as cannot locate in White pages or on google. My 12 year daughter has major food aversions which are worsening and although she is well and very active I am now becoming concerned about the impact this could have on her general health. The main impact is socially as her food range is very limited.
I should probably start by saying that our work with Kate didn't involve any eating issues. That said, my faith in Kate - based on my experience - is that she could help in many areas.
The contact details for her are:
Phone 09 4796574
SENSATIONAL KIDS
3-388 East Coast Road
Mairangi Bay
North Shore
Auckland
0630
Thanks, Rochelle. I have contacted them with a couple of messages, and hope to meet them soon. And Kathy - maybe your daughter and my son will both learn to eat a few more things! Maybe even meet, who knows? Lynette
hi there i am wanting to know who i should see in auckland to have my 9 year old daughter tested she is having problems with reading and spelling and has been tested at school as being able to read to the age of a 7.5-8.5 year old she will be 10 in may. shes has been in reading recovery and rianbow reading classes each year but through out the year her reading ability does not change and she seems to be progressing slower than everyone esle she wasa premmie baby of 6 weeks but her other learing skills are fine she does very well in math and art and sport and loves music and drama, her reading sounds fine to me but i have no bench mark and worry that in year 5 now once she gets to senior school it will hold her back. her teacher thinks its her abilty to retain and understand the context of the story rather than pronouncing the words. She sounds out qwuite difificult words and gets them correct. but there testing saying shes below her age and she is in the lowest reading group in her class and never moves up if i can get some advise on who to see to have her tested to ensure there is no other problems thanks kathleen
Hullo there, I have been asked by my daughter to seek an educational psychologist for her to see. She is in her 11th year in college and she is also in the Special learning unit in the school. My daughter was in the special class need since she was in year5, in primary. Now, she's in college and still struggling to read let alone write. She's dreaming big and was asked by their teacher what she wanted to be. Straight with no doubt, she answered the teacher that she wanted to be an architect. next on her list is to be a fashion designer but She is so determine to be an architect. She drew a lot of maps (houses) on her exercise books. She loves designing houses and such. She spending a lot of her time drawing house's maps with her imagination. She is now doubting whether she'll achieve her goal because of the lack of understanding in her writing and reading. She talked to teacher about her doubts etc and she even suggested to her that may be she has dyslexia, because the symptoms of this disorder is sounded like her. She asked me to seek you out because she wanted so much to see what is wrong with her and to see if there are any other way to improve her reading and such. thanks, Tina
I have been wanting to have my child tested for some years now as I believe he is gifted in certain areas. He has a very difficult time at school and bores easily, teachers haven't understood him since he started school! I have been to three councellors who have all independently said they suspect giftedness (the school just think's he's naughty!). Are you still available and if so, where? Am I able to get discretionary funding from the school - are you aware of funding of any kind for this sort of thing? I have been told that it is in excess of $600 for testing??
You can get hold of Lynn at Indigo Assessment and Counselling on
09 444 6859
You would be best to talk to her directly to get pricing etc of assessments.
I have struggled for years with my 3rd child who is 15 now. He is bright, sensitive, emotional, obsessive, has frequent mood swings etc. he hates school, is bored, unmotivated in studying but still obtaining well above average results. I never got him tested for fear of him being labelled! I'm desperate for support and get professional help for my son as I think he is gifted but underachieving. We live in Wellington. Who can I get to counsel and assess my son so that he will achieve his potential?
