ARE A LOT OF YOUR KIDS 'GIFTED'?

[bubbasmom]

That's all, just wondering? My son is and I saw another parent describe their child that way - just trying to see if that is a factor. My son's IQ is in the mid 130's.

[lismom]

.

[fuelforall]

Pandas kids come in all shapes and sizes. My son has a learning disability, no focus, if it doesn't come easy, he won't do it.

So the answer is no.

[coco]

fuelforall,

 

Do you believe that your child's learning disability is a result of the Pandas, or in addition to the Pandas. My kid is the same as yours.

[fuelforall]

Coco

Truth be told, it's hard to say because he has had Pandas like symptoms for some time.

It's a tricky business.

He has a genetic disorder, and other kids with the disorder have some of these symptoms, but some do not.

All I can do is try to work with reducing PANDAS symptoms. One week after IVIG and still no luck. But he did do something shocking last night- he read before going to sleep. That was unheard of for many months.

 

Michael

[ajcire]

Yes, my ds is considered gifted. He was only tested because I needed him to be as part of a speech eval when I wanted him to get speech only for articulation. We already knew this before the testing obviously just from knowing and observing him but it was confirmed with a number. So much of him we have just written off as quirky due to his being so bright but now I do wonder how much of his quirky is really due to pandas.

[peagreen]

I think there is a certain profile of kids who seem to be gifted and also have immune issues and quirky behavior, like OCD. In the 6.5 years since my son's diagnosis, I just keep running into cases like these. Some have allergic immune issue, and others have autoimmune, or both. I think these kids are also the ones who are at risk for vaccine reactions that can result in developmental disorders. I know of two kids who were totally typical 4 year olds, except for super high IQ and slightly OCD behaviors. Both these kids regressed into severe autism following the MMR shot at 4 years old!

 

My DS is also one of these gifted/immune compromised kids. I declined the MMR vax because I was already worried about his immune system at age 1. I'm so glad he didn't get it because I'm convinced he would have crashed.

 

I read somewhere that because of the pathologies that are going on with these kids, certain parts of the brain are not functioning properly. The brain compensates by over-developing in other areas. For example, my son's frontal lobe (executive function) doesn't work well which is why he has symptoms of ADHD. Perhaps in compensation, his cognitive functions took over.

[bronxmom2]

I also believe a disproportionate number of PANDAS kids are gifted.

 

I wonder if it has anything to do with sensitivity of the blood brain barrier.

 

Peagreen's theory of overcompensation is also interesting.

 

My son's IQ (measured twice, at age 4 and 7) is upper 140s...even factoring the much lower scores on processing speed and working memory.

 

However he is so unfocused and hyper that he can't go to school.

[peglem]

From the Mouse Model paper here: http://www.sarnet.org/doc/PANDAS_Mol_Psychiatry_2009.pdf

 

Male GABHS donor mice have superior spatial and

reversal learning and memory performance

By day 3 of acquisition/training in the hole-board

task, working memory ratios and task errors of male

PBS donors became relatively stable across the four

daily trials. Male GABHS donors, in contrast, had

greater working memory ratios and fewer task errors

during the first two trials on day 3 of acquisition/

training relative to their performance on the latter two

trials on that day. Working memory of male GABHS

donors was also enhanced during the acquisition

phase relative to male PBS donors (n = 10–13; Mann–

Whitney U, P = 0.006; Figure 5a). The number of

acquisition phase task errors tended to be lower in

GABHS donor mice (n = 10–13; Mann–Whitney U,

P = 0.075; Figure 5b, Supplementary Figure 2). More

impulsive responding was observed in GABHS donor

mice, however, with reduced IRT intervals (n = 11–13;

Mann–Whitney U, P = 0.008; Figure 5c).

At the reversal task (reversal of the starting position

relative to the baited hole in a single probe trial on the

fifth day of hole-board spatial learning and memory

testing), GABHS donor mice showed superior ability

to locate the baited hole despite the change in spatial

context. Working and reference memory ratios were

higher in GABHS donor mice relative to control donor

mice (n = 12; working memory ratio, probe trial:

Mann–Whitney U, P = 0.023; Figure 5d; reference

memory ratio, probe trial: Mann–Whitney U,

P = 0.033; Figure 5e). The time required to locate the

baited hole also tended to be lower in GABHS donor

mice relative to PBS donors at the reversal trial

(n = 12; Mann–Whitney U, P = 0.052; Figure 5f).

and page 11 of the same paper:

PANDAS children have normal intelligence. GABHS

donor mice have superior task acquisition and

improved capacity for context-independent performance

in the spatial task reversal trial. Indeed,

success in task acquisition may capitalize on repetitive

tendencies. Persistent rehearsal of the hole-board

task through repetition may have enhanced opportunities

for GABHS donors to incorporate the spatial

context during task acquisition, allowing them to

locate successfully the baited hole in the reversal

trial.

 

So, PANDAS seems to have given these mice some above average spacial reasoning capacities. Isn't that interesting?

[ajcire]

It is fascinating.... silly question...if we got rid of the pandas in my ds, would his intelligence be affected? That would frustrate him so being right now he thinks he knows everything

[thereishope]

I don't think my son is gifted, but I have a feeling each PANDAS child as they get older will really exceed at something. They'll have a knack for an area of interest.Like for my son, he's 6 years old and in kindergarten. He's not necessarily behind, but doesn't have a real interest in learning letters, reading, etc. However,I can see he has an amazing memory. He can also look at something and dissect it with his mind. He enjoys learning things in school as oppose to singing songs and doing kindergarten like activities. As he gets older, I am interested to see what we learn about our little boy and what he can accomplish.

 

As for any disorders. My son has a speech disorder. Not related to PANDAS.

[peglem]

As for any disorders. My son has a speech disorder. Not related to PANDAS.

 

Vickie, not to be nosey- but how do you know its not related to PANDAS

[ajcire]

I don't think my son is gifted, but I have a feeling each PANDAS child as they get older will really exceed at something. They'll have a knack for an area of interest.Like for my son, he's 6 years old and in kindergarten. He's not necessarily behind, but doesn't have a real interest in learning letters, reading, etc. However,I can see he has an amazing memory. He can also look at something and dissect it with his mind. He enjoys learning things in school as oppose to singing songs and doing kindergarten like activities. As he gets older, I am interested to see what we learn about our little boy and what he can accomplish.

 

As for any disorders. My son has a speech disorder. Not related to PANDAS.

 

My son's teacher last year (first grade) told me she is convinced he has a photogenic memory. I don't believe he has that but his memory is crazy good when it comes to weird details that most people don't pay attention to. He would make a great witness to a crime.

[EAMom]

As for any disorders. My son has a speech disorder. Not related to PANDAS.

 

Vickie, not to be nosey- but how do you know its not related to PANDAS

 

Our PANDAS dd is also in speech therapy. For a while, I had assumed this was not pandas related but then I read something about the basal ganglia/speech articulation, so now I'm not so sure.

[thereishope]

Well, he's always had a speech disorder. So does my older (non PANDAS) son, but not as bad. It existed long before he had strep, long before behavior changes. He also makes good progress in speech therapy. He did have a big slow down in progress when his PANDAS symptoms were present. So I do think there's a connection there.

 

They catagorize it as a severe phonological disorder. .

 

 

As for any disorders. My son has a speech disorder. Not related to PANDAS.

 

Vickie, not to be nosey- but how do you know its not related to PANDAS