Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Test results - would like some feedback

Yes, your DS would be considered profoundly gifted.

A 156 GAI is above the 99.9th percentile for the population.

I suggest you look through the Davidson database, and browse through threads on this forum. There are many parents here who have been where you are now. You've found the right place.

It would help her to qualify for talent search programs that could provide for some great opportunities to be with other gifted kids learning and doing things that she would probably greatly enjoy and that she might otherwise not have access to.

Here's a link to information on what level of giftedness is indicated by certain scores on various ability tests:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/highly_profoundly.htm

As you can see, a score on the WISC-IV of 152-160 can be considered profoundly gifted. Of course, other things can come into play as well. Some people think an intense drive to learn things can be the difference between a highly or exceptionally gifted child and a truly profoundly gifted child, but others acknowledge that some very gifted individuals do a very good job trying their best to hide their abilities in an effort to fit in.

Certainly, your DS's scores indicate at least HG+ (highly gifted plus) with the possibility of being "more." I think an application to DYS is certainly in order.

Also, as someone else mentioned was the case for them, we were told skips don't happen in our district. That changed with my DD when they saw it was necessary to best meet her needs. And, in fact, the skip was so successful that they have ended up doing several other skips since then, including for my DS. So, don't take no for an answer without a meeting or two (or three).

I'm trying not to fixate on the numbers, but at this point I can't help it. I need to understand as much as possible what those numbers mean.

Is a GAI of 156 comparable to an IQ of 156?

If no, why? Does GAI have a bell curve that I could look at or are there percents or rarity (for lack of a better word) statistics I can see?


Thanks!

The GAI is a measure of reasoning ability that places less emphasis on working memory and processing speed than the FSIQ does. Both are measured using standard scores, and have a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. In terms of the bell curve, the numbers indicate the same degree of rarity - a GAI of 156 is as rare as a FSIQ of 156, by definition.

Your child's GAI falls more than three standard deviations above the mean. This is very rare.

Your child's PSI falls less than one standard deviation above the mean. Processing speed could be a "bottleneck" for your child, limiting how well he can demonstrate what he is capable of and how easily people will recognize his potential.

You might find this link helpful.

I was very confused by those charts, so I printed them out and I understand them now!

I think so, anyways.

Because his raw score in vocabulary was 37, I found that range under VC, then follow it all the way to the left to see 20, yes?

So that brings his VC to 58 and his PR stays the same at 48.

58 + 48 = 106

If I plug 106 into page 16 I get a GAI of 157. Correct?

I met with the principal yesterday and gave her ds's test scores. After her eyes bugged out a bit and she took a minute to collect her thoughts she said "I'm going to need to talk to the superintendent and school board to see how we can accommodate him".

I think that's good, right?

That's a very good first step.
A lot of us didn't get past the 'I hate it when parents get their kid's IQ tested 'cause then they think the child is gifted or something' sort of attitude. Having an ally can make all the difference.

Or the results may be underwhelming.

Either way - document, document, document

Send an email thanking the Principle for the meeting and mentioning what the next step is and writing down what you heard her say, and asking her to confirm that that is what she remembers saying.

Smiles,
Grinity