You know, I think there is a need for early testing for many children, but that perhaps Cat Smith's experience points to the need for continued monitoring. The point of discussion that I've heard made re early IQ testing is that there is a basic, early development which must occur before testing is accurate -- and it seems clear enough that the timing for that development varies individually. That said, I think there are clear and compelling reasons for early testing for some individual children -- and in our case, waiting until 4 years old has just been too long. No way can I place my daughter in any public or private school -- they suggest (1) that she be placed with kids her age because socialization is so important, and then (2) that she be set apart in the classroom when she does her regular work, which is currently at a level around twice her chronological age -- as if that won't be strange socially for her. She conceals so much already -- and has been since around 11 to 13 months when she first realized that other babies wouldn't respond to her greeting, "Hi! How are you?! I'm __. I'm __ months old! What's your name? How old are you?" It's sad to see her going underground. We -need- to find other kids like her. It isn't that we want to rush her or hurry her -- it's that we don't want her to get so used to hiding her abilities, to grow used to not learning. Those are bad lessons, the wrong things to teach. That's why we need early testing -- earlier than is now available.
