Media Kit Viewer - Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults


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Book Reviews
NAGC Magazine, The National Association for Gifted Children, UK


"This book is extremely useful for any parent of a gifted child who may show characteristics of medical conditions such as autism, ADHD, ODD, or OCD. It looks at each condition in detail, with an expert author contributing chapters on their specialism, highlighting how being gifted affects obtaining correct diagnoses of a child as well as avoiding any misdiagnoses, with a real focus on the characteristics of giftedness and how they are manifested in the personality, behavior, and emotions of the child or adult.

"A particularly useful aspect of Webb's book is that an acknowledgment is made that when a gifted child or adult has these conditions they need a different approach to someone who has that medical condition because the giftedness is adding an extra complexity and need. This is further explored by considering inappropriate treatments of the condition, and also how this affects a child or adult who has been misdiagnosed. This invaluable book is ideal for anyone with a gifted child who is displaying traits of conditions such as ADHD, autism, learning difficulties, ODD, or OCD. It discusses the conditions in turn, and how being gifted can have an impact both on obtaining correct diagnoses, and preventing misdiagnoses. A particularly useful focus in this book is the fact that Webb acknowledges that these conditions, when present in gifted children or adults, require a different approach than standard because new dimensions are added by the giftedness component.

"An excellent, in-depth, academic book with informative chapters written by experts in their fields, which would give any parent or professional working with gifted children confidence and competence to better understand and cope with these amazing children."

G. Frank Lawlis, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., Supervising Psychologist for American Mensa and a member of the MRJ editorial board


"I appreciated every word of this book and heavily endorse it for professionals. This may be the greatest gift you can give yourself and your child... to understand your child in his or her development and utilizing his or her gifts."

G. Frank Lawlis, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., Supervising Psychologist for American Mensa, Member of the Mensa Research Journal editorial Board


"I would agree with Drs. Nicholas Cummings and Fernette Eide, endorsers, that this book should be required reading of every parent of a gifted child, every teacher, and every psychologist or psychiatrist in the nation. As a professional, I appreciated every word of this book and heavily endorse it for professionals. However, it is more personal when it comes to the potentially disastrous possibilities that can happen with a misdiagnosis of your gifted child. As a parent this may be the greatest gift you can give yourself and your child..."

Jack G. Wiggins, Ph. D., Former President, American Psychological Association


"These authors have brought to light a widespread and serious problem—-the wasting of lives from the misdiagnosis of gifted children and adults and the inappropriate treatment that often follows."

Linda C. Neumann, Editor, Twice-Exceptional Newsletter


"Those who raise, teach, and treat twice-exceptional children will find this book packed with valuable information."

Lorel Shea, BellaOnline's Gifted Education Editor


"I have read just about every 'gifted' book out there in an attempt to understand my asynchronous and profoundly gifted children. I purchased this book assuming that it would just be the same old stuff rehashed. Wow! I am so delighted to be wrong. The authors have really done a fantastic job of describing the widespread mislabeling of gifted kids. I am particularly thrilled to see the chapter on learning disorders and twice exceptional kids.

"The authors make it clear that they believe children can be both gifted and learning disabled. Their purpose in writing the book is to make parents and teachers aware of how giftedness can mask a problem, cause an inaccurate label to be applied, or exacerbate a condition. This book contains helpful descriptions of gifted children with and without a secondary diagnosis. Chapter four, for instance, outlines the DSM criteria for a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. It goes on to compare the Asperger's symptoms with similar behaviors which may be present in a gifted child who does not have the disorder. It is easy to see how overlapping issues can be confusing. A gifted child who is somewhat introverted and has passionate interests may be inaccurately labeled with AS, while a gifted child with AS also has many other ongoing and distinctive traits.

"If you think your child is gifted but 'doesn't test well', if performance and verbal ability scores on IQ tests are far apart, or if your gut tells you that your child is underachieving, you really need to read this book. It will assist in making sense of any labels that have been applied to your child, and allow you to better understand how giftedness affects the individual. 'Misdiagnosis' is the result of a team of six highly respected professionals who bring to the table many years of collective wisdom."

Nicholas A. Cummings, Ph.D., Sc.D., President, The Cummings Foundation for Behavioral Health; Distinguished Professor, University of Nevada, Reno; Former President, American Psychological Association


"I am delighted to see this book published, so much so that I would be willing to say just about any good thing you want me to say. Congratulations on this timely book. My advice to parents would be, 'read this book before your child is misdiagnosed and mistreated."