Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Is my DD's experience normal?

Hi all! I just found this Forum this afternoon in my search to try to educate myself so I can best help my daughter. She is in 1st grade, and is in the process of being tested for the gifted program, whatever that is. In my understanding, she has already leveled up to some type of individual testing with a psychologist.

She has met with him 4 times already over the span of 3 weeks, about 45 minutes each time. At first, she was very upset because he was a man she did not know and he took her to a room she had not been in before. After meeting with him these past three times, she is more comfortable, and they have been meeting in the guidance counselor's office, which she is more comfortable in.

At this point, he does not know how many more sessions this will take, partly, he says, due to her sensitivity each time. She seems to be upset when she does not know an answer, and he has to stop the testing because of her emotional state.

I just don't know what's normal, and cannot find anyone else int he district with a daughter as young as mine being tested. My DD's teacher said she's never had a 1st-grader tested before. I have been emailing the guidance counselor just so I can guide my DD through this process and try to work to make her feel more comfortable.

Does anyone have any experience with 1st-grade testing? Am I right to be concerned about how long this is dragging on?

In my son's case there were 3 tests. 1st was a group test, second an individual with a certified teacher from the district and 3rd a 1-3 hour test with a Psychologist. I've not heard of any testing that takes place over several visits but I'm new to all this too.

It sounds like the tester hasn't figured out how to work with her. I suspect she feels it's better to meet several times instead of pushing through being upset. Of course, now poor experience with the arrangement is likely feeding anxiety over it all.

Can you contact the tester to get notice ahead of time which times she'll be coming?

Then you can prepare your daughter: Mrs. T is coming to do some more puzzles with you today during reading groups. These aren't like other things you've done in school. In your first grade class,you only see things that first graders are supposed to understand. These tests are going to ask you things that start easy and get hard, and they'll be hard even for a 3rd grader. If you don't know something, it's ok, because it's meant to get too hard. Just tell Mrs. T you don't know that yet.

You can tell the tester what your script has been so she can back you up and confirm it all for your daughter.

Poor dear, that sounds awfully stressful.

Sounds like the 'man' is probably the school psychologist or diagnostician and they are administering the WJ-III or WISC or something similar. They are probably pacing it out according to your daughter's needs, so she isn't getting overwhelmed/upset. Honestly, it sounds like they are doing a good job and are trying to make her as comfortable as possible while trying to get accurate testing. I would ask the school administration who is in charge of the G&T program and if they use a school psychologist or diagnostician for the testing. You should be able to get some sort of contact information for them so you can speak to the correct person.

This doesn't sound like a common scenario, but under the circumstances, it seems like the psychologist is doing the best he can to get a fair and accurate assessment of your daughter. He's obviously picking up that there's an emotional issue that's preventing her from doing her best, so he's trying to work past that with her.

Being upset about not knowing an answer sounds like perfectionism, a very common trait/challenge in gifted children. My DD7 recently asked me why a girl in her GT class always cries when she gets an answer wrong.

When my son was tested as a kindergartner, the school psychologist broke the testing into parts, over a few days. But she was young, very friendly and engaging, and had met my kiddo before. She also said he took awhile to open up to her. She tested him more for achievement on WJ-III, if I recall, since we already had private IQ results. I think they also observed DS and filled out some social/emotional form.

It sounds like your school psychologist is doing a good job making sure that he is getting decent answers, instead of just marking off that your DD doesn't know the answers. Most school pychologists are more familiar with testing for LDs, and it sounds like this tester has only tested older kids for GT.

If they give you any indication that the results might not be very accurate because your DD has been so upset, my only other thought is maybe you can ask if there is another school psychologist that your DD might be more comfortable with. But from your description, that person would probably take time for your DD to warm up to as well.

It's hard for me to say what is normal.
Send a few emails or exchange calls.
It's nice to talk to someone in person.
Might as well find out who they are.
Lay some ground work now.
JMO

Welcome to the board, Mancomom

I am hoping that you get some good information from these tests.

How does your dd like school?

This seems like a reasonable approach. Because schools are used to dealing with average kids, and average 1st graders don't sit still for a very long period of time, testers in schools like to break it up into multiple sessions. Also, kids who know more take much, much longer to test than kids who know less than average, so the testing may be taking longer than anyone expected.



This seems totally reasonable to me, but I'm a parent! I would continue to push for this, particularly in light of the tester saying that it was a stressful experience for your DD. If the GC isn't answering your emails, then I would keep writing them and ccing more and more higher up people as you continue to get no response. If that doesn't work I would handwrite a letter and mail it, along the lines of "On x date, y date, and z date I have sent emails requesting a phone call to discuss the testing process. Please set up a meeting time so that I can meet with GC and the tester face to face." ccing everyone in the chain of command.
I wouldn't be at all concerned with how long it's dragging on, as an Individual IQ and achievement test is about 12 hours in all. It sounds like your daughter is unusal in her level of giftedness, which is why they are testing her much younger, and also why she is so upset by not knowing an answer. So I think it's actually a good sign both that they are testing her and that they are making sure she is comfortable enough to 'show what she can do.' I don't like that they 'forgot' that you exist and are a major source of emotional strength for your DD, but, well,this also seems within the realm of what can be expected. Apparently, the majority of students in U.S. schools have parents who want less contact with the schools, not more. ( I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard it from a lot of teachers. )
Hope that helps and welcome to the board!
Grinity

Is your dd getting stressed out by the numerous testing sessions? I agree that on the one hand, taking the time to really get your dd to feel comfortable and really test her to the best of her ability is a good (great!) thing for the school to do, but I'd also add a caveat. Not all school counselors / school psychs are great with kids, or great with all kids, etc. We've had some not-so-great experiences with the school psychs we've encountered while advocating for our 2e EG ds. When ds was 10 he had to have a set of ability/achievement testing administered by the then-school-psych and it was *beyond* frustrating for him - and he's a kid who had fun at his previous neuropsych eval and private gifted program ability testing. There was something about the combination of being pulled out of class unexpectedly plus the personality of the psych that really stressed out our ds. If that's what's happening, I'd want the testing to stop and then explore what your options are for either going with a recommendation based on what data the tester already has (combined with teacher recommendation), or getting someone different either within or outside the school to test your dd.

Have you talked to the person who's actually doing the testing? If not, send them an email and ask your questions or ask if they can call you. It's a-ok to do that!

Also, another thought - in our district, their is a matrix that is used to qualify kids for gifted programs, and it includes *2* qualifying ability scores as well as qualifying achievement scores. Sometimes when kids don't get the qualifying score on one test if they have a strong teacher recommendation or other reason to suspect the child could qualify they will administer a 3rd ability test or alternate achievement test - all of which can take a lot of time, plus would mean extra sessions.

Best wishes,

polarbear