Wow-- thank you AGAIN, everyone.
I don't know that a "gifted specialist" is in the cards, honestly, given location and other considerations in the situation.
But it's good to hear that our radar jangling over the therapist's credentials/specialty is not entirely unwarranted, at least.
We actually suspect that this is probably just our daughter's personality colliding with angst and hormones. She has an incredible tendency to "win" anything she sees as any kind of power struggle-- and anyone she knows very well who attempts to guide her is often caught in her crosshairs there.
In other words, a lot of this is (in our estimation) because she's who she is, and she's decided that "adults" who try to "tell her what to do" (ie-- you have to brush your teeth... you have to complete your schoolwork each day) are trying to "control" her. Ay yi yi...
Anyway.
Also want to note here that I agree with PTP about 'assuming' ability scores on the basis of acheivement testing, even out of level. That's definitely not the sole (or even 'major?') basis for our estimates. Our estimate is a range based on how our DD seems to fit developmentally and cognitively into the range of known scores of close family members, whose scores on the same SB tool range from 137 to 170-something. Her abilities are toward the top end of that range. DH thinks 150+, and given all of my experience with the person who was the 170-something individual (it was a parent), I think she's not quite at that level, but she's clearly more capable than my DH or I either one. So I think 160's-- but that *could* mean 155-170, in all liklihood. Her development puts her there by pretty much any estimation tool (Ruf's, etc.). All that to say that while our STATE may be happy using acheivement test scores to identify gifted students, we don't necessarily put much stock in that for its own sake.
I was definitely surprised when the intake PA for Psych II didn't KNOW what kinds of assessments/evaluations were planned for this four hours-- but that cognitive assessments were unlikely to be part of it. That just kind of boggled my mind. They know that she's 11 and they know she's an 8th grader. So that sort of left me scratching my head.
I'm still waiting to hear back from them about what, precisely, they are planning with this four hours of assessment. Seems a little weird that they didn't know right off hand what might be on the table, so to speak.
