http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED505127.pdf

Here is a great article for you to read.  Some children are gifted and misdiagnosed as ADHD, but it is also possible to have ADHD & be gifted.  I was in gifted & talented classes all growing up but didn’t realize until my son was diagnosed ADHD that I have all those symptoms also.  I was just smart and hide it somewhat better than others & since I wasn’t a behavior problem, and people weren’t as aware, I was never diagnosed.  My son on the other hand was diagnosed ADHD at six and it wasn’t until 9 when I took him for testing at Vanderbilt that we realized he not only has ADHD, but he is also gifted and has PDD-NOS which is on the autism spectrum.  Believe it or not, it’s possible.  It’s called twice exceptional.  Or in my son’s case I guess he’s exceptional times three!

Hi Astroboy,  I am subscribed to Attention Research Update, a free e-mail newsletter that helps parents, professionals, and educators stay informed about important new research on ADHD treatments and related ADHD issues. It is always interesting.  http://www.helpforadd.com/

You may find the answer to your question at your nearest teaching hospital.  Contact their child psychiatric department and see what they recommend.

I have read a couple of books that might help:
Misdiagnosis and dual diagnoses of gifted children and adults : ADHD, bipolar, OCD, Asperger’s, depression, and other disorders
Author: James T Webb; et al
Publisher: Scottsdale, Ariz. : Great Potential Press, ���2005.
This book describes the characteristics of giftedness and compares and contrasts them to each condition.  The book is aimed at a wider audience than research.

Losing our minds : gifted children left behind
Author: Deborah L Ruf
Publisher: Scottsdale, AZ : Great Potential Press, ���2005.
This book talks about 5 levels of giftedness and the different characteristics of each.  The levels range from very bright to profoundly gifted.

I’ve started this one, but not yet finished it.
Living with intensity : understanding the sensivity, excitability, and emotional development of gifted children, adolescents, and adults
Author: Susan Daniels; Michael Marian Piechowski
Publisher: Scottsdale, AZ : Great Potential Press, 2009.
Edition/Format:  Book : English
Summary: Gifted children and adults are often misunderstood. Their excitement is viewed as excessive, their high energy as hyperactivity, their persistence as nagging, their imagination as not paying attention, their passion as being disruptive, their strong emotions and sensitivity as immaturity, their creativity and self-directedness as oppositional. This resource describes these overexcitabilities and strategies for dealing with children and adults who are experiencing them, and provides essential information about Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration. Learn practical methods for nurturing sensitivity, intensity, perfectionism, and much more.

I hope some of this helps.  Good luck with your search.  Please post again if you find a definitive answer to your question.
Mom of gifted ADD, ADHD, and sensitive kids.

This is a very good article about the complexity of making sure a gifted child with ADHD gets all the help they need.  It also gives some insight into differentiating the two.  Good luck with your research!

http://www.athealth.com/consumer/disorders/adhdgifted.html

I don’t know what the statistics are, but my 5 yr. old son is twice (or thrice!) exceptional. He comes by his Asperger’s and giftedness from my husband’s side of the family (they skip grades and go to Harvard and MIT!).  He hasn’t been tested for GT, but his older sister has, so we know what to look for. The ADHD is not official (b/c spec. ed can work w/his Aspieness), but all the professionals note how “busy” he is (and he has impulse control and focus issues). My dad (only child) and his uncle and 1st cousins fit the ADD/ADHD profile (bright people, lots of job changes, etc.).  It seems to have skipped me.  I was afraid I was in denial, so took an online quiz that told me I didn’t have ADHD, but had symptoms of stress!  “I get ADHD from my kids!”

I love wizinc’s answer. I think the qualities of excitement , high energy,persistence,imagination,
creativity and self-directedness are good qualities for a self employed entrepreneur, not necessarily for a 9-5 job which the schools are mainly training the students for. So, unfortunately, a person with ADHD in some schools will be out of their element and suffer till they survive their school years and then can prove themselves on their own.

Astroboy - are you asking if the percentage of gifted people in the ADHD population is higher than in the non-ADHD population?

I do know that there is a correlation between giftedness and introversion (and that introversion is actually genetic - there’s a gene associated with dopamine sensitivity that differentiates introverts from extroverts). The higher the IQ’s, the higher the percentage are introverts (across all of society it’s estimated to be 25% intro and 75% extro).

I’d love to know if there’s a similar stat with ADHD. I’ve often wondered that myself. Sorry, I have no answer, just a shared curiosity. There must be stats out there somewhere. Have you tried contacting SENG? They’re extremely knowledgeable…