What did IQ and other testing tell you about your gifted kids?

[scbusf]

DS is 7, and he has been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder. I suspect that he is also gifted and has dysgraphia. I found a college Psychological clinic that will do a full assessment for $325. We have the intake appointment this Wednesday.

 

My main goal is to find out specifics of how DS's brain works and where his strengths and weaknesses are in order to better help him to learn.

 

What should I be asking in the intake session? It will be me, DS, and the provider (a male doctoral student). I'm not sure exactly which assessments they use, so I will definitely be asking about that. I just don't really know what to expect.

[wapiti]

That's a pretty low price, presumably due to the tester being a student.  I'd want to know whether the tester's superiors will be assisting in the analysis of the subtest scores, which can get pretty complicated for a 2e kid, and how experienced those people are in testing 2e.  If they do not have significant gifted experience, I'd look elsewhere (or get the testing done and potentially take the results elsewhere for a second opinion).

 

Somewhere on the Learning Challenges board is an old thread about questions to ask at a neuropsych conference (which is typically not on the same day as the testing).

[Kathy G]

Definitely a low price.  Check to see what you are getting

 

When we did testing it showed me that my kids were a lot more intelligent that I had imagined.  It was at this point I knew that school sjust weren't going to work.  In fact that is what the psychologist told us- there was only one school in the state that MIGHT have worked and it was an hour away.  It did give me areas of strengths and that was helpful for homeschooling. I felt overwhelmed by the results but years later- I am glad we did it because I can't change who they are and it helped me accept the fact that I would be a homeschool mom for a long time (sigh..haha.)  

 

One of mine has dyslexia and the IQ test done wasn't helpful for me with that. 

 

Kathy

[quark]

We used a university psych department. The tester used the WISC4 and was an intern who was later confirmed as staff. She might not have been super new but she was obviously inexperienced. I went in expecting that and also a lack of score interpretation. I also went in expecting that DS will hit subtest ceiling scores so I specifically asked that they give me raw scores as well as scaled scores. Raw scores helped me calculate extended norms scoring for a more accurate picture of DS's potential.

[EKS]

You want to be sure that the person doing the testing has experience with 2E children.  Frankly, an evaluation done by someone who doesn't understand your child and how his issues may affect test results can do more harm than good.

[texasmama]

Generally, Ph.D students must have their work supervised and signed off on by a professor. The "risk" is likely more in the realm of lack of helpful interpretation rather than in gross errors of test administration leading to inaccurate scores. If what you want is raw data, you will likely get it. If what you want is helpful and practical advice on working with your child, you may be disappointed.

 

You may want to contact Rivka from this board. She is a private practice Ph.D psychologist specializing in just these sorts of kids. :)

[kbutton]

Some psychs will do the WISC over several regular office visits, and bill you for an office visit if you have a very high deductible that you aren't going to meet this year or your insurance won't cover it. You get a reliable tester, interpretation, and a decent price (around here, that's $90 per session for about 3 sessions). Just a thought. I am sure this practice varies from region to region.

 

WISC testing confirmed that my son is really, really asynchronous, and it gave us some perspective to keep searching for answers. He also had the Woodcock Johnson test that revealed some delays in abstract thinking. Eventually our 9 y.o. received an Asperger's diagnosis. We talked with the psychologist a lot about his developmental history and personal characteristics, filled out some ADHD scales (Conner's?) and a couple of Asperger's specific inventories--this involved a lot of discussion too as we felt like our answers didn't always fit the rating scale. He had a SCAN III(?) screening for auditory processing. Our little guy will be old enough for the WISC in two months, and I am really curious what the testing will show. Screening indicates that he has some auditory processing issues (but he's too young for that kind of testing), so I am eager to see how he does. I do not know if the pysch will do the Woodcock Johnson with him or not.

[Crimson Wife]

With my oldest, the test told me that we were going to be unable to find a classroom environment appropriate for her unless we either shelled out $$$$ for private GATE school or moved to one of the few places with specialized GATE school (neither of which were an option).

 

With #2, the 22 point gap between the verbal and non-verbal told us that we are going to need a full neuropsych eval with someone experienced in testing 2E kids.

[kiwik]

It has told me I probably have trouble ahead and that my very bright boy is possibly the only primary school kid in our city that bright (ok not a very large city - probably you would consider it a town) but it is big enough for that to be scary. It also told me that I had to take things seriously but I am still working on that.

 

Probably not the only but there aren't a lot statistically.

[Laura Corin]

I learned that most teachers would never have met a child like Calvin in their careers.  What I didn't realise until later was that, whilst he is extremely bright, the test over-stated how 'out there' he is.

 

Nevertheless, the test made it easier for us to look for the right school and then, when we moved and schools became impossible, to design home education that would work.  I did a lot of study with him orally and worked separately on his motor skills.  By the time he was thirteen and wanted to go to school, his motor skills had caught up enough that he could fit in with accommodations.  In the mean time, we had gone wide and deep with his education without being stymied by his physical writing skills.

 

L

[saw]

You might want to ask how the tester would interpret discrepancies among subtest scores. DS was tested by the GDC when he was six, when we found out/had confirmed that he is 2E. The testers there were able to look at the subtests and the scores and the discrepancies and explain how his learning differences would have influenced the scores. The testers were also able to suggest what further testing was needed by specialists in sensory issues, APD, etc. I thought we received a nuanced interpretation of the scores. DS was tested again this summer, at 12, by an ok ed psych. I wanted the testing done so that I could get him the right to use a laptop in class and was not as concerned about what the test would show, since I knew that already. (The only way to get him the laptop was to do the testing, btw.) His scores were so wacky the tester said she was unable to give him a valid FSIQ. No surprise there. She was also unable to offer a thorough interpretation of what the scores meant, though, and couldn't really give us any sort of update on how his learning differences were affecting these. Since I wasn't too interested in this, I was okay with this. I would definitely ask about experience with 2E and what the tester knows about this and how learning differences might affect the scoring.

[Χά�ων]

DS has been tested extensively. The nonverbal IQ test confirmed that he was not slow, that he had an underlining language disorder that needed to be treated. The standard battery by a NP did not show the differences and as a result he was deemed "slow". I am very glad I took him to a person who specializes in screening for learning disabilities and uses tests that were significantly different than what the NP used. I am not thrilled with the testing he had done by the NP, but I am glad to have the results to compare to the LD expert.