Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Have test result, now what?

My son was recently tested using the WISC IV and his FSIQ is 140. My question is what does that mean in practical terms? I see terms such as moderately gifted, highly gifted etc. and wonder where he falls and what does that mean in terms of his emotional and educational needs. We do not have a gifted and talented program in any of the local school districts and I want to advocate appropriately for him. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

Hi Breakaway4,
You definitely have a smart cookie on your hands. Here is a good place to start regarding levels and scoring: Gifted Levels - Hoagies

If any of DS individual scores are above 145 (VCI, PRI, FSIQ), you could apply to the Davidson Young Scholars' Program as long as he is under 18 yrs old. Here is the link to their criteria for admission: DYS Admission Criteria

Also, I would check the Hoagies website to see if there are any state organizations for the gifted. You might find a local chapter and/or support group as well. And, I would verify if there is a gifted coordinator in your school district that you might be able to speak with. Good luck on your journey!

There is a state organization here called Massachusetts Association for Gifted Education. However, I sent in my donation (membership) and now none of the emails or the yahoo group listed actually work. Anyone familiar with this organization?

My second question - I read the information on Davidson Young Scholar's Program and it sounds fantastic. As it stands now my DS just misses being eligible. I asked before about the qualifications of the tester being important and got a resounding "Yes!" The Wisc IV was administered by a very competent child counselor but not one familiar with gifted children/education. He seemed kind of "tickled" with how well my son did leaving me the impression he was not used to those kind of scores at all. I know he mentioned a few times during the breaks in the testing that he felt my DS was bored. Could this result in a slightly lower test score? I know if he is bored he doesn't put much effort in and I wonder if he might gain those few points he needs to qualify for the DYS if he is tested by someone who specializes in gifted children. ON the flip side I spent my entire tax refund on the test and it would be quite a hardship to pay for a retest unless it can really make a long term difference to my DS such as qualifying for the DYS. Any thoughts are much appreciated. Sorry for rambling. And thanks to all you seasoned veterans who probably answer the same questions for us "newbies" over and over. I honestly do search to see if anyone has asked the same questions but of course it never quite fits.

Hi again,

Was away for a few days and hoped someone had some experience with Massachusetts Association for Gifted Education? Or any advice on if I should have DS re-tested for reasons listed in last post. Thanks again.

No help on the MAGE
How old is your DS?
Is he having any problems at school?
Why did you decide to have him tested?
Congrats on a good score! and with a little more info we might be able to offer some more advocate advice!

My son turned 8 in March. His problems at school are mostly social. He disturbs his classmates with singing and tapping and interrupting. He sometimes refuses to do work if he thinks it is not interesting to him. There are a few teachers who he seems not to respect that much and he gives them a hard time as well although his regular classroom teacher did not have this problem with him. He has always been an intense kid around other children, not ever hostile but overly physical and missing social cues like especially ones that mean "Stop, this is not fun for me." I mainly had him tested because as he progresses in grades his social behavior becomes more and more of an issue. He was grade skipped in first grade so he is already a year younger than his classmates but is still at the top of the class academically. Trying to figure out where the maladaptive behavior is coming from and how best to help him navigate. Evaluation shows no definite pattern such as ADHD, Asperberger's, BiPolar, Depression etc. Only thing obvious was his intelligence level so still have no clear idea on how to help him.

I can tell you from personal experience that can be true. When my DS5 was tested, he scored quite well on the subtests that he found interesting, but did not do well on the subtests that he found boring. In fact, he told the tester during a few subtests that he felt they were boring, and being only 5, she had to redirect him to get him to "engage" again and continue testing. She wrote in her report that she felt the FSIQ obtained from the test was probably a bit low because of this (i.e., he just didn't do his best because he didn't like the test and found it boring).

Did you have an achievement test done for your son at the same time as the WISC IV? If not, maybe you could ask the school to give him one (if that's possible)? It would be interesting to see what his grade levels for math and reading are. He may be bored in school and that could explain some of the social problems. Or, he can have a higher IQ than what the test results show, and maybe he's very asynchronous in his development, so his social skills have not "caught up" with his cognitive skills. I'm no expert here (trying to figure out some of the same things with my son!) - but just hoping to give you a few ideas.

Thanks, yes they did give an achievement test as well. He scored at the 12 grade level for reading/10th for comprehension and spelling. He was in third grade this year after skipping first grade and then missed a few months of second grade last year dues to family issue. His math was grade 4 which is not so high but I know that the minute I show him any concept in math he gets it right away without any need to be shown twice. Unfortunately math is not something I often think to throw in to our home life beyond calculating costs, measurements in cooking etc. and I saw very little math work come home from school this year. I have a feeling I could spend a week with him and he would retest higher on that one just through better exposure.

Does your school/state have accomodations for gifted kids? What are you doing at home or at the school for your son?

Breakaway4,

Yes, our school district does have a GT program, but it doesn't start until 3rd grade and it appears to be more enrichment based.

I, like you, am a newbie to all this. My son is only 5, and he will be starting K in the fall (although we requested a grade skip to 1st, but in our district they have to start in K and are assessed after about a month to see if they should move up to first, so that is what will be happening to my son - start in K and hopefully move up to first grade). At this point, we don't do anything "special" with him in terms of workbooks or anything, but I do give him a "math question of the day", which he enjoys doing over breakfast. Plus, we provide him with LOTS of books from the library - he loves reading.

I really connected with your original post and responses because I feel that your son and my son may be similar. My son will not do his best or even refuse to do some things that are not interesting to him (in pre-K!). He is very asynchronous, so socially he either misses social cues or decides to ignore them - I haven't figured it out yet. I know we have a LOT of work ahead of us advocating. I don't know if I can be of much help since I'm still trying to figure all this out as well, but I can tell you a few things I'm reading which may be useful to you.

First off, I am in the middle of reading "Re-Forming Gifted Education: How Parents and Teachers Can Match the Program to the Child" by Karen Rogers. This is an excellent book which may give you some ideas to approach the school with (e.g., subject acceleration for your son may be useful). I am also in the middle of reading a book that was recommended by the psychologist who tested my son. It's called "Raise Your Child's Social IQ" by Cathi Cohen. It's a very easy read and gives step-by-step suggestions for how to help increase your child's social skills.

Would it be possible to try and apply for DYS using a portfolio? (see http://www.davidsongifted.org/young...Scholars____Application_Process_380.aspx). It seems that your son's achievement scores are extremely high. If the ability scores are only a few points off, maybe doing a portfolio would help. You could always call Davidson and ask them what they think.

I hope this helps!

mtgts,

You gotta love school systems. How does it make sense to start a child in Kindergarten, let him get settled in and THEN test to see if he has to move up? I hope it works out well for your son. I know that the public schools here are loathe to make any grade changes. My son is now in the public school system but it was actually a Catholic School that grade skipped him. He went to public Kindergarten and the teacher was very sweet but I kept getting called in because he was scribbling on his worksheets---coloring in the letter "V" and a picture of a van etc. I said well since he can read the newspaper he probably is not very motivated and they just didn't want to hear that. The next year we moved and the public school didn't have a great rep so we chose a very small Catholic school. After two weeks in first grade the first and second grade teachers and the principal came to me and all but insisted we move him up to second. So oddly the Catholic school was more progressive and less rigid. We moved again that year and the public school wanted to put him back into first without even screening him despite his grades from the other school or any testing. They are just so locked into keeping them at grade/age level and nothing else matters.
Sorry for rambling on. My point is that if the public school does not give you satisfaction then look to the parochial schools or private (Catholic school was much more affordable than local private). It is at least worth a talk with the principals of other schools and if you do it this summer you will feel like you have options if things don't work well for you son at the public school.

Also thanks for the reading suggestions. I am living on inter-library loan these days trying to gather info. and resources.