We always knew our son was special. He was doing things the day he was born that the books said would come at 3 months. However, we also assumed that much of our pride was simple first parent stuff - so we didn't really assume that there was something big going on. (Although as we are both HG, we did assume gifted.)
Then kindergarten became a nightmare. When my husband confided that he was starting to wonder if our son was autistic - and when I was able to answer 'no' along with a list of all the reasons why (having researched it the week before) - we agreed we needed an evaluation.
As for the usefulness of the numbers, I would say that the full scale score isn't very useful or meaningful. However, we got a full report from the psych who did our testing and he explained the significance of some of the various subtests where our son hit the ceiling or didn't do as well and why. We ended up with a better understanding of why our son was going to have problems in a regular classroom.
We didn't really buy into the profoundly gifted label until a couple of months ago when a real expert in PG kids gave us almost the same analysis of DS's scores - ignore the full scale and concentrate on this one subtest. On the basis of that subtest, the conclusion was that our son was most definitely PG.
I used to tell stories about DS all the time, never realizing that they were that unusual. I figured all kids were learning to read at 2 or 3 now with all the educational shows and toys available.... LOL
I would love for him to be in the academy, but there are no jobs in my profession in the Reno area and we don't want to change professions and move away from all family in one whack. Too hard on the kids. So, we are doing the grade skipping thing in a very understanding and supportive private school....
Just a suggestion - Exceptionally Gifted Children by Miraca Gross. Boring book - but really interesting from the point of view of looking into the lives of a whole bunch of EG/PG kids from Australia. It helped me realize how normal my son is .... when compared to the right peer group.
Davidson is the best thing you can do right now... helps so much to have others who 'get it'.
Mary
