Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment IQ Testing Question

Hi,

I have an 8 year old daughter in 3rd grade who I wish to have IQ tested to determine if she is gifted or not.

I know that she is bright and suspect she may be gifted, I am finally ready to move forward and have her IQ tested. I went to Hoagies list and found two psychologists in my area and called them both.

One said that she would administer the WISC 4 test and it would take an hour and a half, she said she would meet with me alone for a 2nd consultation and go over all of the information and answer any questions I have for as long as it takes. This would cost $500.

The 2nd person said he would like to administer both the WISC 4 test and an Achievement Test. He seemed to place more emphasis on the achievement test even though I told him that I was more concerned about the intelligence testing. My daughter has taken the NWEA and scores in the highest percentiles 98/99, so I feel the achievement test would be redundant. What I don't know is her actual IQ score and areas of strength/weakness, which is why I wish to have the focus on the IQ test. He would charge $400 ($800 total) for each test but he does not do the follow up consultation, just a written report.

So, my gut is telling me to go with the first psychologist but I would like to know from experienced people if I would be doing any sort of disservice by not having the Achievement Testing done.

Any thoughts or opinions? Thanks!

I don't know but I'm bumping this up so maybe others will chime in. Welcome!

How about checking in with her school and school district? Many schools have gifted testing usually starts at 2nd grade.

And check local university/college. They may have PhD students who may do the complete testing for around $200.

Is this for admission to a gifted program? Something else? The testing needs to fit the need.

The advantage to doing paired IQ and achievement testing is that it can point out areas where performance is out of sync with ability.

Personally, I wouldn't test just to see where my kid is. It's expensive, time consuming, and can be quite stressful to the child. Testing is a means to an end.

I'd say go with the first option. If the second one was pushing achievement test over your concerns, then how well is he really listening? Since it seems you are mostly curious, then the first option also gives you a chance to discuss the results and understand them better.

Personally, I'd go with option 1. The follow-up visit might easily be worth the extra $100, and you have other options for achievement testing (and plenty of them that offer little to no follow-up).
-S.F.

If your child goes to public school in the US, you are likely entitled to the school testing her through one of their diagnosticians. Unless you think she is twice exceptional where the testing may need the nuanced experience of a private professional, I'd talk to the special ed director at your school and request the screening. If they push back, you can submit a request in writing. This starts a legal ticking clock where they have to respond to your request within a specific time frame.

We have used both school and private testing, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. So I'd start out with free and then work from there depending on the results.

Thank you all for the warm welcome and the responses, truly appreciate it.

To answer some questions: My daughter goes to a public school in MI. We are a state with no gifted legislation or funding. Sadly, the elementary school won't even acknowledge that she is accelerated and from talking to other parents in our district, I have found out that there are no accelerated programs until high school.

I do not think my daughter has any LD (although I read a book that said many gifted children go undiagnosed with LD because they overcompensate academically, so I may be wrong). She seems to have some mild anxiety but nothing that interferes with the quality of her daily life, so we just deal with it as it arises and I don't make a big deal out of it.

The reason I am seeking testing may be selfish, so please don't judge, but I have her best interest at heart.

I feel like since she was born she has accomplished and surpassed milestones but I could never tell anyone or talk about them. I soon began to realize that the things that she did were not age appropriate and it made my peers uncomfortable, even though I was not bragging (just trying to join in on mom conversations type things). We did minimal preschool (for socialization purposes really) and when I put her in Kindergarten she quickly became labeled the teacher helper (by the teacher) and the teacher sat her with the slower students because the teacher said she could use my daughter's help. Thankfully Kindergarten was half day and I was able to enrich her at home. Her 1st/2nd grade teacher recognized that she was bored and gave her enrichment work at school to do, which I appreciated. Her 3rd grade teacher loves her and works well with her, but when I suggested that the curriculum was not challenging enough for her at conferences, I met with some resistance. We still do enrichment at home.

I would like to have her IQ determined so that I can find out once and for all if she is genuinely gifted or just a bright child. If she is a bright child, I can relax a little bit and just continue to nurture her strengths and support her academically as she achieves.

If she is genuinely gifted, I will at least have some evidence to present to the teacher/principal to try to advocate for a more challenging curriculum for her.

I will continue to enrich her curriculum at home, however, my main concern is that it won't be long before I am going to be outwitted by her and unable to teach her the level that she is going to be requiring.

Additionally, if she is genuinely gifted I would like to be able to review my education options for her and see if perhaps a private school might be a better fit.

And my last reason for wanting her tested is because I just want to know if this feeling of being overwhelmed and being crazy and not getting any support or encouragement for having a smart kid is valid or not. I just feel like I have no support system in place and no one to talk to. I tell my daughter she is smart but not to tell anyone how smart she is (sadly because the people around us do not support the gifted and of course they label me as *that parent*, even though I am not that parent).

I just want to advocate for my daughter if she is gifted or just let her be a very bright child, if she is not.

I am OK with whatever these tests results show, I think the results are going to bring me internal peace, it is the answer I need so I can move forward.

I think I am going to go with option 1. My reasoning is (as Zen Scanner mentioned) I am mostly curious and I agree that the conference will be nice to discuss things. I bet there are aspects of the results that I won't even be aware of and the psychologist can help clue me in.

I also agree that option 2 psychologist wasn't really listening to my needs and since my daughter has to take the NWEA every fall and spring in her public school, the Achievement portion would be extra testing time and stress that is redundant, IMHO.

I posted to be sure that this extra Achievement test would not be a component that I would regret not having done in hindsight and I think based on your replies that the IQ testing should be sufficient for what I am looking for.

Thanks again for the support!! I think I will wait until Feb to have her tested and will definitely look into college students as a less expensive option.

We used one of our state's top colleges to test our DD. We were very pleased with how much time they spent with her and the time they spent with us explaining what everything meant and answering our questions. Now that I know how much testing can cost, what we paid was very reasonable. I also agree with you that just not knowing what you are dealing with...is she really smart or truly gifted...is frustrating and once you find out it is a relief! If you do find out she is gifted a lot of things will start to make sense, however it also opens a whole new can of worms! I know I've said this before in other posts, but having DD tested was the absolute best thing we could have done because we needed answers and through the testing we got them. I'm so glad you found this forum! It is a great place to get information and find others who know exactly what you are talking about. Good Luck!