Our daughter’s IQ is 145 with a processing speed of 96 and a working memory of 100. Because her PS and WM are average, she does not qualify for an LD, according to DSM-V. She would have qualified with DSM-IV. The psychologist told us that she is at a high risk of mental health concerns with this profile but can’t diagnose her with anything. She is a perfectionist and most likely has ADHD. I have ADHD, and so does her brother. Her perfectionism won’t allow her to show her anxiety in public, and her high IQ helps her mask her anxiety and low executive functions. At home, she has outbursts, hoards 6 months’ worth of rotting lunches, spends 10 hours on 1-hour assignments in order to get the mark she feels she should get, can’t organize her room, has an eating disorder, etc. The teachers see her studying hard, handing in assignments that are well done, and overlook the fact that nothing is handed in on time. They feel she’s fine so we can’t get an anxiety or ADHD diagnosis in order to get her help. In grade 9, her social studies teacher taught the year through a government simulation. Everyone was divided into parties, and the elected party was given portfolios, with one person in each appointed as the cabinet minister. She chose to work alone, and that meant she had to be the cabinet minister (that hadn’t been explained to her ahead of time when everyone chose their groups). She had to stand up in front of the class every Thursday with proposals for her portfolio (Health), and the opposition could ridicule her, call her names, debate with her, etc. With her poor executive functions and anxiety, she would find herself paralyzed in front of the class. Because she couldn’t allow anyone to see her fear, she gave poor answers to simply make it end. She begged me to allow her to stay home on Thursdays to avoid social studies. She was ready to drop out of school because of this one simulation. When I spoke to her teacher, his response was, “If she can’t handle my class, she needs psychological help.” While he was correct that she needed help, his response was very inappropriate, and he never gave her any consideration or support. She made it through that year, but forever had panic attacks at the sight of that teacher and refused to go down that hallway at school ever again.