Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Where to begin?

I'm overwhelmed with where to start my son's application process. I have started collecting his past/present work for his portfolio and his scores from his school. Any suggestions on who to contact to have his IQ determined?
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks - D'sMom

Where are you located? You might try posting/searching in the 'Regions' sections for a tester near you.

I'm in Chicago. Is that a forum on here?

Are you more wanting 'just a number for DYS' or do you have some mysteries about the child that you want to figure out?

Is money tight? If so, you can always ask the school to administer IQ and/or achievement test.

Local universities might have cheap testing sessions also.

If there are mysteries to unravel, let us know where you can travel and what sorts of mysteries, ok?

smiles
Grinity

Hi D'smom, welcome to the board.
Could you tell us a little more about your child? How old is he?

If you are going the portfolio route, then you just need one more (either IQ or Achievement). The cost for achievement testing can be a lot less, but will not give you the same kind of information that IQ testing can (if given by the right tester). We can probably give you pretty good advice, if you give us a little more to go on.

Hope I'm being clear.
Anyway, welcome.

My DS is 11 yrs old. He was officially identified as gifted in 1st grade, but back in preschool his teacher told me that I had a smart cookie on my hands. His achievement tests put him in the 99% in all categories and he got a perfect score on one of the national tests given. I was told that this program needs his IQ determined (the actual number), is that incorrect?

For DYS you need one of the following: 1) IQ & Achievement testing; 2) IQ testing & portfolio or 3) Achievement testing & portfolio.

The specific testing requirments are found here.

http://www.davidsongifted.org/young...holars___Qualification_Criteria_384.aspx

Not sure if you are applying for DYS or the Davidson Academy (DA). DA has similar requirements as above and those can be found at

http://www.davidsonacademy.unr.edu/Articles.aspx?ArticleID=144&NavID=1_33

In terms of Chicago area, there are several people on this board who are from that area and have recommended or talked about testing. I suggest searching Chicago in the search feature that should bring up a place to start for you.

One thing I haven't been able to find is the minimum age that testing can occur, does anyone know? I know 5 is the min age for applying to DYS, but can testing be done younger?

Polly

You can test as young as 2.5, but scores can be overly inflated or deflated at that age. Even at 4-6 scores can be unreliable. Which is not to say that scores WILL change, just that an 8yr olds scores are seen as more reliable and stable than a 2 or 4 yr old.

My own DD refused part of her test at 4yrs 9 mths.

DJ'smom, are you looking for a tester? Where abouts are you in the chicago area? We just had both kids tested in the Long Grove area. Our tester is recommended by Hoagies and by the local gifted schools.