Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Is there a post or list somewhere of good testers?

Of the 3 people/clinics I've called so far, one took a week to email me her price list after I talked to her on the phone, and I emailed her back asking for clarification about 3 days ago and she hasn't replied. I'm guessing that's not a good sign.

Another place that sounds good on paper (and a friend referred me there) does full neuropsych exams but charges $3300 so that is probably out unless we can figure out how to get insurance to pay.

And another I'm still waiting to hear from (I called yesterday and left a message).

I feel like I'm randomly calling people with no way to know who is good and reliable. I don't want the school to do an eval because they are incompetent but it would be even worse to shell out tons of money out of pocket and then not know if the results are reliable.

I am relatively new here. Is there a list somewhere of recommendations of good people? Reviews online anywhere? How do you choose a place/person?

There is a list at Hoagies Gifted http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/psychologists.htm .

While each list has a disclaimer stating essentially that the list is a courtesy, not an endorsement... known lists are:
- NAGC, and its state allifiates
- SENG
- Hoagies gifted education page (link- http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/psychologists.htm)

To learn more about a particular office or individual you may wish to use a search engine. For example, there may be youtube video interviews, blog posts, etc which may help families assess a comfortable "fit".

Ok, thanks. That's a start, anyway.

One more thing which may be of interest is that some parents have encountered the same psychologist in private practice and also functioning as the psychologist for their school or district. You may wish to make a list of questions, and possibly have among them, whether this psychologist serves any local schools/districts.

Some families have reported taking a vacation built around visiting a tester... traveling a distance, staying several days, taking in the local sights. This may help broaden your possible selections from the Hoagies list.

Some have shared that university psych departments have offered services at reduced fees. I believe these are typically conducted by students with a Psychologist providing supervision. You may wish to check the website of local universities to see if this is offered in your area.

Blackcat, I PM'd you. If the place I mentioned can't help you, they might at least be able to give you some other names in your area.

The neuropsych who is seeing DS is with a university. He won't see DD (I guess she's not complex enough for him), but I emailed him to see if he has any recommendations.

Are you sure she needs a neuropsych?

My younger son's evaluation didn't need a full neuropsych. Not sure yet if my older son just needs a psycho-educational evaluation or a full neuropsychological evaluation.

I don't know what she needs, or what kind of person should even be evaluating her. She needs an IQ test in order to find out if she qualifies for the GATE program next year (after a disastrous experience with the timed CogAT, where she left half of it blank). Other than that, my main concern is ADHD and that she is incredibly slow. Last school year when she was on Adderall the teacher wrote to me that she is slow, sloppy, moody, can't complete the simplest of tasks, argues with her friends, etc. Over the summer we switched her meds and she's doing much better. Her teacher says she is focused, but the speed issue is still there. She is usually to last kid in the class to get reading worksheets done. This used to be the case with math as well but I worked with her like crazy over the summer with math fluency and I think she is doing reasonably well. The school does not think she needs a 504 despite having a medical ADHD diagnosis. So I would need someone who would at least briefly state that she needs accommodations (like a reduced workload).

There is a thread, "Choosing a tester with 2E experience"
with good info. If you do look it up there is a very useful link, made by Grinity of the top 12 testers.

Hope this helps

"Choosing a tester with 2E experience"
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....osing_a_tester_with_2E_e.html#Post112048


"Top 12 US testers to assess highly gifted children"
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/36728/1.html

GOOGLE
"Psychologists who specialise in IQ testing for Highly Gifted Children."
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&a...f403bed&z=4