Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Test results and recommendations, now what?

Hello, I am new here and hope this is the right place to ask these questions. Recently, our DD6.5 took the WISC IV. Her FSIQ was 150 and her GAI was 170. I was told that the GAI was more accurate in assessing her ability, is this true? It seems confusing to have two numbers (with such a large gap) to consider. Also the psychologist's assessment was that DD's anxiety and perfectionism affect her ability to concentrate when she does not know an answer immediately. Furthermore, the psych recommended that if possible DD go to a school for gifted children with a low student teacher ratio. (FWIW the psych said she does not usually recommend this but thought it necessary in our case.)

I guess I am wondering what to do with all this info.? Should we be looking for gifted schools like the psych. said? Should we stick it out at our local public school for a while longer? DD is currently at our local public school, first grade, and is having a good year but the future doesn't look good (budget cuts, lackluster GATE program, very high student-teacher ratio.) I think I am in shock a little, trying to figure out what all this means and what we should do. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

I would just get out to schools and start looking to learn what is available. It takes time to figure out what school is the best. I looked at schools for 2 years before I found one that seems to match our needs.

Are you able to do enrichment with her out of school? Music lessons or an online courses?

Could you consider homeschooling?

Just keep asking your questions here and read lots about gifted education.

Have you applied to DYS? They will help with this process.

Those are pretty stunning scores, and it is very likely your child is going to need some very substantial accomodations to keep her engaged in school. That being said, a special G/T school might not be the best fit either - every option has pros and cons - the best one is usually the one that is able to individualize instruction for the child as much as possible.

I would say to definitely plan to apply to DYS and then start reading as much as you can about profoundly gifted kids and options for education as you research and explore what is available to you.

And start reading this forum as much as you can - you will learn a ton here.

Good luck, Cat

Limonata - Did your DD also have achievement testing? From reading here and elsewhere, it seems schools are more interested in what kids can actually do than they are in what their potential is....if that makes sense.

Thanks for the kind replies, I realize I probably sounded a bit crazy.

Onthegomom-it was very helpful to hear that it took you 2 years to find the right school...for some reason I have been feeling like it's urgent I find the right school, immediately. It has been hard to find the right afterschool enrichment programs, DD is very intense and it has to be the right fit. We are only doing gymnastics right now. I plan on looking into piano lessons soon. As for homeschooling, I don't know enough about it, I will have to look into it.

Catalana-we are stunned by her scores, I keep thinking "nah, that can't be right."
But I know that thinking that doesn't help my daughter. I feel overwhelmed, I don't want to fail her, I want to be able to provide her with what she needs educationally and I worry that her choices will be severely limited if we can't afford private school.


Dazed&Confuzed- she did not have achievement testing, we will look into that, thank you.

Hi Limonata! I was where you were about a year ago when we got DS's scores. I have to say that we were thoroughly overwhelmed (though not all that surprised) with DS5' scores and the recommendations. The testing psychologist gave us many schooling recommendations. All of them included the need for extreme differentiation or special programming. Such as, going to a gifted school, being grade and subject accelerated, homeschooling, etc. It was stated that if he was going to attend his public school it would require "major adjustments to his educational program" Which was oh so true. We decided to go the public school route despite many people saying that they didn't see how DS5 would be able to ever be in a public school based on how many years ahead of their curriculum he was. The school actually recommended skipping K after reading his report and so he is in first now. I have to say that at this point I am glad we are where we are. He enjoys school and is learning some things. We aren't exactly where I want to be with the school yet, but we have made great progress. They are giving him work several grade levels above 1st grade material for spelling, math and reading. Science he is still being given work at his grade level but we are hoping we can have that changed. It is work to advocate, but it is so worth it and we are thankful to have a school that is really trying and working with us. My point is not to tell you to stick with public school by any means, just wanted to share that you never know certain situations and how things may turn out. You really have to have an idea of what the school will actually do and when they say things like "we will differentiate" you need to ask specifics as to how that will work and what that will look like and how they will know what level to differentiate. Sometimes lip services sounds quite good...but when you get down to it some places are not willing to meet the needs of PG kids.

Also, question for you....was DD tested through the school? And if not does the school have a copy of her testing results? that may help her to get more services.

Anyhow, good luck to you!

Limonata - Honestly, if I had seen scores like your DD's, I would have been unconscious on the floor! But scores are only a part of the equation. The other parts are the surrounding area (are you near a major university? If so, instruction is likely to be higher), the school district (a 125IQ kid can be just as bored in classroom that is taught to the bottom, as a 140kid can be in a classroom taught to the middle), and the biggy - your DC's personality. There are kids w/ IQs much higher than my son's who do just fine in PS with some accommodation. We had the double whammy of a district with no accommodations and a kid who can. not. stand. boredom. He abhors repetition, although now with HSing he sees that the right repetition is a good for him. And he is a kid which needs downtime and HSing gives him time for that since he has no homework at night.

Dazey

Welcome Limonata,

I'm so glad that you found us. You daughter is certianly gifted, and her scores indicate that she is unusually gifted and would 'stick out' amoung most groups of gifted children as well.

To give you an idea of how unusual she is, take a look at the page that lists cut-offs for Davidson Young Scholar's Program:

http://www.davidsongifted.org/young...holars___Qualification_Criteria_384.aspx

(Also take note of which Achievement Tests they accept, so you can find a tester who does tests that will be useful in your YSP application.)

The aim of YSP is to support Talent Development in kids at the '1 in 1000' range of unusualness of IQ - basically too high for the tests to measure. I don't think you have to worry about the spread of FSIQ to GIA, because at your daughter's scores, the tests really do fall apart and stop making much sense. My bottom line is that she is 'gifted enough' that even schools with gifted programs, private or public, may have no clue what to expect from her.

A really good question, if you don't feel to shy to ask, is to ask the tester to see how many gifted children he would expect to test before he sees scores like your daughter's again. There are certianly neighborhoods where testers would get to see rather more scores on the higher edges of gifted, but I doubt that even if you are in one of those locations, that your tester has ever seen scores like your daughter's.

Remember, Psychologists are trained to have a poker face - my son was described as 'certianly bright' by our local tester - but when I called back a few years later, that same tester said: 'I've never seen a test score that high, and I don't expect to see another one like that ever.'

This is important because it gives you a sense of how much salt to use with this particular Professional's advice. The first thing to know about having a Profoundly Gifted child, is that they are rare enough that even people who 'should' have lots of experience, don't.

I'm guessing that your family decided to have DD's IQ tested for some reason. Perhaps you were worried about DD's intensity, or that your parenting was somehow 'to blame' for her differences from other children. Whatever the reason you had the test, it might provide keys to what your concerns are for your daughter, which might point ways of solving those concerns.

It will take time and flexability to build solutions that fit your daughter's needs and work for your family. She is the same child she was before you saw those numbers, and she is still an individual. It is my hope that seeing the numbers acts like a lens to let you see your daughter more clearly than before, and pay attention to small things that might have been ignored or denied before.

Welcome and keep posting. Apply to Davidson's Young Scholar's Program. There are about 1500 other families in similar situations to yours - you are not alone. Each family figures out a slightly different solution because each family has unique and individual children. You will find your way.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Thank you all for the advice. I really appreciate it, you have given me a lot to think about. I like feeling like I am not alone.

From your initial post, I would recommend reading up on perfectionism as well--on this board and in other places, like Hoagies. You want to nip that in the bud before it becomes crippling (speaking from experience here). Sometimes, when really bright kids haven't been challenged in school, they get so used to easy success that when they are eventually confronted with a real challenge, they shy away from it for fear of damaging their image as the smartest person in the room. Your goal should be to find an educational environment for your daughter where she has to work just as hard for her good grades as the other kids do--where she has the opportunity to occasionally fail, recover and learn that it's not the end of the world. As Carol Dweck put it, you want your daughter in an education placement where she's developing her intellect, not merely documenting it. Just my two cents.