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I think psychological tests/IQ testing can be paid for with a Flex Spending account (so pre tax dollars can be used). This helps a little with the cost.

Also with regards to IQ testing - it is expensive, but for an 8 year old it may be a one time test. At this age IQ may be pretty stable and there may never be a reason to test again.

If you get private testing, make sure it is with a person who will write a report giving recommendations to the school. We had the WISC IV done over a year ago and it was $300, and that included her throwing in possible ideas of accommodations for ADHD.

What can his school do though, when they have no special programs in place?

You may wish to inquire about the name of the test and what specifically the scores mean. You may wish to keep a copy for your own records at home. Collecting information about your child's educational progress may prove useful for future advocacy and decision making.

It's OK to be frank on the forums and speak of boredom and kids being bored in school when they are not learning, progressing and being challenged, but other word choice is beneficial when speaking with schools or individuals who may not be familiar with gifted. This recent thread has several posts which discuss reasons to not use the word "bored" when advocating.

This is a valid concern. However it may be outweighed by the damage of not learning, causing brain changes, which may make it much more difficult to learn in the future. Some have said that it is growing increasingly difficult to access higher level curriculum during the school day in schools which have adopted common core, which tends to focus on all students meeting standards, and does not necessarily facilitate or encourage continued progress for students who've met standards.

Special programs are not necessarily a panacea. Many parents speak of advanced academics which teach one year ahead, essentially capping the student's growth at that level. This may not begin to meet the needs of a gifted child. The advantage may be that the child is amongst the closest possible intellectual peers, and can make arrangements to see them outside of the school setting.

Whether there is a program in place or not, parents most often advocate to have their child's educational needs met in the classroom. Successful advocacy takes time and effort on the part of the parents, but there are resources available which outline the process and provide case studies.

That's a fair point. We did private testing and the results really helped us understand our child's needs better. Test results can help vanquish doubts that you or a school may have about a child's needs. Defining the needs clearly may help a parent advocate for a grade skip or other differentiation.

Depending on what the testing shows, there are some things the school *could* do, even without special gifted programs. Subject acceleration is one option, either by sending your son to a different grade during math (or science or reading, etc), or allowing him to do an online class (like EPGY). Or a full grade skip, if you think that could be appropriate.

I was absolutely intent on making school work for DS when he was in 2nd grade because I was looking for a job, so I understand the feeling. We tried many options, including subject acceleration and partial homeschooling. In the end, though, our family decided that homeschooling was best for him in elementary school, so that's the route we are taking.

I really do want to get the gifted testing done. I do have money I can draw from to get it done. I know there is a gifted center in Rhode Island and my son's LICSW also pointed us to a therapist nearby who does it. Which particular test should I be looking for?

I had a hunch that having that "proof" would be helpful. I do not think he has any learning issues at this point, so I don't think we could use that as an excuse to get cheaper testing. He's never had any trouble with school besides having to refocus him once in a while when he runs at the mouth.

Home issues are another story. He's always been extremely stubborn and defiant. We see the LICSW I mentioned above to help him with these things, with mixed results. He has trouble following directions and doing routines. He gets angry when he's reminded of what to do because he says he knows, but then wanders off and does the opposite of what I said anyway. He has these super complicated ideas and then gets frustrated and angry when he doesn't have the ability or resources to carry them out. (I'm still recovering from the leprechaun trap fiasco...) It's been a real challenge and it's only recently that I realized there was a connection between giftedness and these particular struggles. I was hesitant to call him gifted, because I think that someone can be smart for their age but not gifted, but I see a lot of signs of it.

I don't really have any answers, but I wanted to say hello because I am also in MA and in a similar situation. My son is 7 and I have debated and debated on what to do with him. I believe he is 2e. Finally I got my husband to agree and we are getting him tested next week! It is a huge undertaking, and it is expensive, but I am so relieved that we might have answers and "proof", and to be able to understand him is worth it's weight in gold! We are going to a neuropsychologist in RI...probably the one you were reading about, but she is going to stop taking patients at the end of this month (we've been on a wait list forever). I have the name of someone else recommended to me, if you're interested message me. Hang in there...

kjs, fwiw, I would also suggest you ask through your local homeschool community if you can find any connection, or ask through your ped's office if they know of any lower cost resources for testing. We were able to find a low cost option for IQ and achievement testing this way.


Proof of ability will be helpful but you already have proof through achievement testing that your ds is working ahead. I'd suggest that, before testing for IQ (and spending the $), you ask yourself - what would you do if the testing showed he wasn't "gifted" - wouldn't he still be the same child who is bored with the academics at school, and wouldn't you want to advocate for something more for him? It's possible your best answer for now is to advocate with the data you already have. I'm also curious - have you requested any further testing through your school district? Even though they don't have a gifted program, there is no doubt they have other gifted students somewhere, and they might provide some type of ability testing if you request it. That wouldn't necessarily be a full IQ test, but it might be enough to advocate for "more" during the school day.



To be honest, I'd not necessarily assume these behaviors are coming from being gifted - it's quite possible for a child to be gifted and also have other challenging behaviors. I'd think that with the list of challenges you've mentioned above you might be able to get neuropsych testing paid for through medical insurance (some of us have). Don't ask for IQ testing, ask for neurospcyh testing to determine the root cause of executive functioning issues, challenges following directions, etc. You'll get the IQ testing as a part of the package, and you'll also hopefully get useful information on how to deal with the challenges you're having at home.


I wouldn't get too caught up in the semantics of gifted vs smart. If a child is bored in school, they are bored in school and they need something more challenging. OTOH, a child who is showing challenging behaviors at home such as you described might have something more than just being bright going on, and as the parent of 2 2e kiddos, my experience has been it's far more important to be sure you understand the 2nd e and start remediation/etc for it early than it is to push for gifted services early and hope the other will simply resolve with advanced academics.

Best wishes,

polarbear