Q. I'm fairly new to the field of gifted education. I have a few underachieving students, but one that is an extreme underachiever. He's a gifted seventh grader and will likely be diagnosed with Asperger's. He's also depressed and has attention and oppositional issues. He has begun to see a counselor recently, and it's going well. This student is failing nearly all classes. Many accommodations have been made for him. He's doing independent study in many classes to help enrich and accelerate him. He frequently argues, becomes easily distracted, and falls asleep during class. I hate to push him in the direction of too many more independent activities because he lacks friends. Other children find him strange. The hardest part is that nothing seems to motivate him. He loves the computer but won't accept extra computer time as a reward, so contracts haven't been successful. He does well for me in the gifted program. He's often off task and completes assignments his own way, but he gets them done. A recent success we've had is getting him enrolled in band. He was failing choir, but enjoys having an instrument. I'm really struggling to find other ways to help him succeed in school and more importantly, develop the skills necessary to have a successful adulthood.

A. The student you're describing has symptoms too complicated for me to provide any diagnosis or easy solution. He, first and foremost, requires a full psycho-educational evaluation. While counseling should help, involving his parents would be very important. Sometimes opposition is fueled by opposition at home or by opposition between home and school. The frequent arguing may emerge as part of what he is accustomed to or may only be symptomatic of his being given too much power by one or both parents. He seems to be determined to do only things he chooses, rather than work that is expected and that is often a symptom of a too powerful child.

Children can also feel depressed if they've been accustomed to making all choices at home and then aren't allowed to in school. The boy's falling asleep in class sounds very worrisome and should surely be explored further. I agree with you that independent study shouldn't be his main mode of learning, since discussion and collaboration with others is a part of social learning that he'll require for the rest of his life.

An evaluation may provide many answers. For example, some work may be entirely too easy for him while other work could actually be too difficult. The evaluation can also help to identify attention or depression problems.

You can do other things to engage him in learning. By your description, we already know he likes hands-on activities as seen by his love of computers and his interest in band. Teaming him with another hands-on student for science or social studies projects could engage him. PowerPoint presentations on the computer or construction projects could be very effective. Group social skills counseling could be added to his individual counseling. Actually teaching children how to participate with others and read body language and expressions can substitute for what is intuitive to some other children. Contracts may also be successful if your student is allowed to choose his own reward.

I've included in my newsletter a new ALLIANCE acrostic, a shortcut way to summarize the many steps in reversing underachievement, taken from the new third edition of my book "Why Bright Kids Get Poor Grades" (Great Potential Press, 2008). For a free newsletter about why bright kids get poor grades, which includes the acrostic, send a large self-addressed, stamped envelope to P.O. Box 32, Watertown, WI, 53094, or visit www.sylviarimm.com for more parenting information.

Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm is the director of the Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the author of many books on parenting. More information on raising kids is available at www.sylviarimm.com. Please send questions to: Sylvia B. Rimm on Raising Kids, P.O. Box 32, Watertown, WI 53094 or srimm@sylviarimm.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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