Hi all, thanks for your comments!

About DYS, we did join-- I got the testing done not for this purpose but because I was worried and teacher was pressuring me (in fact the testing was done at the height of the PANDAS crisis-- he came out of the WISC with a 102 fever, so who knows if that affected his scores)-- but when I saw the scores I did the DYS application, and now I am waiting to start talking to them. But I don't want to be an overwhelming PITA from the very beginning! How much help can I hope for from them? Basically I am trying to decide whether to home school, or to find another school.

I will definitely get "handwriting w/o tears" as this has been recommended more than once.

My instinct is to just let him be a little on the writing... because at this point all the pressure seems to be generating a real phobia. So I want to let it go completely for a little while, then come back to it calmly. My husband (not his father) vehemently disagrees and of course thinks I cater to him way too much. And the teacher also doesn't agree, so we are sending mixed messages, which he reads loud and clear. And the assignments really ARE stupid... he knows I agree with him.

I don't really think they will FLUNK him, but this is a school in NYC which people basically chop each others' arms off to get into...if I voluntarily give up a spot it will probably make the news. I think the school could make our lives miserable until I decide to withdraw him.

I'm sure others have been disappointed by a "gifted" school which seems to have no idea how to help a truly gifted child.

Oh boy... homeschooling, here we come! The problem is that my husband might not support me, I am also working (p/t time, evenings, so it's doable) and have a new baby. Also this child is EXTREMELY stubborn, so...

About the test scores... is a difference of 115 PSI/158 GAI a red flag, or just normal for gifted kids? What about the difference between 160 in reading and language comprehension vs. 115 in spelling and numerical operations?

Also, I believe he's had this PANDAS since he was a toddler and first had strep... and this has been the cause of at least some of our difficulty... since his behavioral problems have waxed and waned over the months, confusing everyone. His handwriting HAS deteriorated a little this year, or did it never really develop? He shows a lot of signs of dysgraphia that have been mentioned earlier... mixing upper and lower case... poor spacing, etc.

Here is a link to a site about PANDAS:
http://www.adhd.com.au/PANDAS.htm
Interestingly, this seems to afflict precocious children mostly, especially early talkers.

Thanks again... baby needs me!