Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Younger sibling scores

I was here a few years ago for my oldest boy. He is happily in third grade (fourth for math) and buzzing along. Just did testing for his younger sibling (now in first) - WISC IV. Don't have complete scores yet, but FSIQ is 142 and GAI is 155 (significant perceptual ability). Might be terrible to say this because of course each child is their own person, but very excited that his abilities are on par with his older brother (FSIQ 145, GAI 146). Didn't apply for older son to DYS because I think I was afraid that one would get in and the other wouldn't. Thinking of applying now for both.

I don't think that is bad to say at all. I only have one child, but I can imagine it can be tough for both parents and children when siblings vary in ability a great deal. I just had testing done for DD and am getting the application together this month to send in for May to DYS.

I have two kids, but still very young. I'm hoping to get my son tested this fall to investigate some 2e issues, and I'll probably test my baby girl too when she gets to the right age, just to know. I always felt that I wasn't as smart as my older brother, so having some objective info might have helped (if we weren't really that different, but maybe we were, lol). Glad you got good news!

I think that's a totally normal reaction! I certainly felt the same way when we had our youngest (of 3) tested. And it turned out he had the highest score of all (145 compared to 139 and 132 for the other two). So you just never know. My oldest, who has the lowest score, certainly presents himself as the smartest -- we get so many comments on how brilliant he is that it's funny to know that the other two are technically "smarter" (which we never, ever share with anyone!).

A lot of it is the picture that is presented to the world. DS10 is off the charts but you would never know it by his actions. DS8 is much lower MG but uses every ounce of brain power to excel. DS8 is driven, super competitive and pushes himself to his limits. The funny part is that a large part of it stems from wanting to be like his big brother. Big brother spends entirely too much time skating through without effort.

My boys are not related as DS8 is adopted, so the genetic piece is not there but the behavior is.

Now I just need to work up the nerve to apply to DYS. I am still not sure my guys are the brand of gifted for which DYS is looking. Sent the first email to the first grade teacher requesting acceleration in math today. Expect both the school and my son to be less than enthused (to give them credit, though, they were great about math acceleration for my oldest). I know I should be used to this process now, but it still just isn't easy (which is why it would be great to have DYS help). Here we go again! FWIW, did any of you with similar scores have luck with DYS? In particular, with these scores, would you recommend getting achievement scores or building a portfolio. The older boy (in third) just got a pretty siginificant math MAP score (well, I think it is - 135?). Any guidance is greatly appreciated. This forum was so helpful and kind to me when I posted two years ago about my oldest. Thanks in advance!

It definitely is tough to have a sibling that is significantly lower than the other/s, so there is nothing wrong with feeling happy to get such good results!
My daughter (high school) and one of my two sons (in grad school) are both in the gifted range (one HG, one MG). As for my other son, who is out of college and back living at home without a job, school has always been a major struggle. He's never been tested, and I think he is smarter than he seemed at school, but I wouldn't be surprised if his IQ is below 100. Of course, the other two siblings are very kind and would never bring up the fact that they are smarter than him, but he sees his brother getting accepted into Ivy League schools, his sister scoring 1000 points higher on the SAT than him, both of them seemingly effortlessly getting perfect grades in classes that he failed, etc..