So is it still his hyperlexia or not? By that I mean - is it the fact that he started reading very early that is still affecting his scores like that or this is in fact reliable and an indication of specific giftedness (math)? How do I tell at the age of almost 8? Do hyperlexic kids do well on Cogat in general when they are young? Or WISC tests?
I'm not a professional, just a 2e parent, so take my advice for what it's worth (i.e., it's free lol!)... You have an indication that verbal is a relative weakness from the CogAT. The CogAT is a learned ability test, not an innate ability test like the WISC - so it's a test that's sometimes not exactly the best measure of giftedness. That said, the difference seems to tie into observations you've made in real life, which is a clue that there may be something to it. FWIW, high ability students who have reading challenges are sometimes not easy to diagnose in early elementary, especially if it's not classic dyslexia. I have a 2e dd who appeared to be an early reader yet once she hit 2nd grade she'd dropped back from being one of the highest testing readers in her class to just average, and by the end of 3rd grade it was obvious to most that she was no where near the ability in reading comprehension that she was in math/science. For her, that mattered, and the impact on achievement in other studies due to the differences in reading comprehension compound over time until the root issue was identified and she had individual tutoring. Reading is still an issue for her, even with all of that. So - if you suspect something is up, I'd recommend trying to understand it now rather than assume all is a-ok and then find out later on that your ds needs help with reading comprehension.
FWIW, it was a tremendous help to us to have our dd evaluated by a reading professional who's practice specializes in remediating dyslexia. Our dd is *not* classically dyslexic, but the testing package that the practice offered was thorough and was able to catch what the issue actually was, as well as give a road map for her tutor to follow in remediating.
Does it make sense to continue with the gifted assessment (Iowa tests) or let him stay with his class and work on social interactions instead of being pulled into a much smaller group of kids?
I have an older 2e ds who's struggled with social issues due to an expressive language challenge. The best thing we've ever done for him is to place him with other HG+ kids when we can - there is no reason that a student should not be given access to whatever instruction he needs from his IEP because he's placed in a gifted program. It has been much easier for our ds to benefit from each of his remedial therapies when he's been placed with other similar intellectual ability students. If it was me, I'd move forward with the testing and advocate to get him into the full gifted program. Even if the advocacy doesn't work, at the very least, you'll have the data from the additional testing and that might help with understanding his abilities better.
Best wishes,
polarbear
