“Good Morning, Mrs. Jankowski.”

“Good Morning, Mrs. Briggs. Nice to see you. So, how is Jackie doing?”

“Well…academically, she’s doing fine. No problems. But, there is something that I am concerned about.”

“Really, what is it?”

“Well, I think that Jackie may have ADHD, I’ve asked the counselor to evaluate her.”

“I’m sorry but I don’t understand. What is it that leads you to believe that she has problems paying attention? I don’t see any of that at home.”

“Well, she has a lot of trouble staying in her seat and she is very talkative. I’ve seated Jackie next to my student teacher and she wants to talk with the student teacher all the time. I know that she tries to cooperate. The other day I found Jackie with her reading book opened on her desk to the correct page, but underneath her desk she was reading another book (an American Girl chapter book). She really needs help paying attention. I think you should consider medication.”

This was my introduction to the intersecting worlds of ADHD and giftedness, although I was not aware of it at the time. It was my first parent teacher conference for my first (and only) child. I have no frame of reference. I was an experienced educator, special educator even, but the growth of the diagnosis “de jour”, ADHD, had been growing rapidly in the interim between the time l left teaching to go into the “mom” business and the time my daughter found her way to first grade.

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