Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Where to start with testing and identification.

Hello,

I am new here, and I wanted to ask for some input on a situation with my daughter;

She is 7 years old, and in the 2nd grade. She has always had a rather large

vocabulary, and she taught herself to read and write within a 3 month time span when

she was 5, so that she could interact with her friends on Minecraft. She is a very

emotionally sensitive child, and will start to cry if she sees other individuals cry. In fact,

if she gets too upset, she will break out in hives (we have seen the doctor about this

and he has no idea why this happens, therefore, our solution is to keep her from

getting too emotionally distraught). She uses rather large words like occupation

instead of job (her favorite words are actually, and basically), and she asks me "what

would happen" questions constantly. Recently, I bought her a lego set (mid sized) to

see how well she could put it together, and she told me to "let her do it" and finished

the set in about 30 minutes all on her own (she had never touched a lego set prior to

this). She can build elaborate worlds in Minecraft, and all of her friends age ranges are

11-13 rather than 7-8. I tested her reading last week as she is currently reading 5th

grade chapter books. Her testing came out at 6th grade mastered, and 7th grade

proficient; I brought this up to her teacher, who told me that my daughter could not

possibly comprehend reading material at that level. In response, I went to the

bookstore, and I purchased some advanced reading comprehension books that I went

through with my daughter. She read the story, and then I asked her a series of

questions pertaining to the story; she got all of them correct. On Friday, my daughter

brought home a paper that said the students were going to write a short informational

piece in class, and that they needed to brainstorm ideas on things they want to write

about. It gave examples like: making a PB&J, or baseball. I asked my daughter what

she would like to write about, and her response was "I would like to write about the

gas giants".

All of the students were given a pre test during their first week of class, and then

conferences were scheduled with parents. My daughter tested out of 2nd grade at

that time, but the teacher acted like that was normal, and I didn't really think anything

of it, but, it is becoming more and more apparent that my daughter may need to be

tested. She has recently confided that she is lonely at school, and doesn't have many

friends, because the kids her age think she is weird, and she talks about weird things.

I am in a state that apparently has zero regulations or funding for gifted children,

and, schools are not required to identify nor help gifted children. Therefore, where do I

start? Who can I have my daughter tested by? Would the doctor be a good start?

What about a neuro? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome!

If your school system does not have a gifted mandate, and therefore won't test her, you could start from the pediatrician, by asking for a referral for a neuropsych, but that usually requires some kind of problem area, and it doesn't sound like she is presenting with difficulties, other than not feeling like she fits in with age-mates. You can also pay out-of-pocket for an eval with a private school, clinical, or neuro psych. Or you can go to a university clinic/training program, where it will probably cost less, but testing will probably be conducted by a psych intern. Where you go, what you have done, and how much it costs depend largely on what your purpose is in testing.

Are you comfortable with giving us a little more information about what you hope to achieve by testing? In-school advocacy? Applying to a specialized program/school or private school? Qualifying for a GT supplementary program (e.g., CTY, TIP, EPGY)?

My neighboring school district offers a gifted and talented program, and they go out on their own to identify the students early. My district apparently does nothing (so far that I know). The goal is to challenge my daughter; she states that she would like to build robots when she is older, but, in this district, I fear that will never happen (outside of what her father and I do with her). Currently, her teacher uses her as a tutor to the other children. At first, I thought that was cute, but, I wonder if she is bored. She absolutely hates rote work, and she will become disruptive and silly in class; and, I have been approached about the possibility of ADHD.

It sounds to me like your daughter could really benefit from being in a gifted school or a gifted classroom. The social benefit of being around other like-minded kids is huge. That's one of the main reasons I wanted to make sure my daughter was in a gifted classroom. If a gifted school or class is not an option where you live, skipping a grade can help. It's better for kids to be with intellectually-matched peers than with age-matched peers. It is also very typical for gifted kids who are bored and not appropriately challenged to have ADHD-like behavior. Good luck with testing and figuring everything out!