Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment curious...how well did scores match your estimate

Just curious as I am mulling over my DD6 appt tomorrow for WISC testing. I was considering what I thought the scores would reveal and I was just wondering how often parents are accurate at estimating level of giftedness in their children on their own. I suppose this only applies well to parents who have some knowledge of giftedness through reading or experience with other child. Anyone want to share what they thought the test results would be compared to what they were i.e. thought their child was MG but turned out to be HG or EG or whatever the case was.

I had no idea with my eldest. I had no idea with my second, until she was being tested and I could tell she was running out of questions in some sections and in another the tester said out loud "I've never seen that before".

Third child we won't test for at least a year and I am fascinated because I swing constantly between "she's at least as gifted... Definitely more gifted... who am I kidding she's not at all..."

Clearly im confused by my own kids, but I've pegged other people's kids within 5 points more than once...

My older son is 2e (Aspergers) and I often wonder if his scores would be higher if he wasn't so anxious and didn't have problems with novel situations like testing with a strange person. He tests gifted and qualifies for school services but he didn't blow the test away (and they didn't use a WISC or SB so I really have no idea how to compare RAIS, which is a really short test, scores to a WISC.

My younger son I denied that he was gifted for years. Then I accepted it. Then the school tested him on the K-ABC II (why this school system won't use a darn WISC is beyond me)...and he came out profoundly gifted...that I didn't believe. I had him tested at the college and the WISC was slightly lower (not enough to qualify for DYS but close) which was much more my inclination. I did not take the second testing into school and will continue to let them think he is profoundly gifted if they want to (not going to argue the point "my son isn't as smart as you think he is" is just a silly position to take).

I had my daughter tested. I was thinking she would test MG, and might possibly slide into HG territory on one index. I was shocked when even her full-scale was over the DYS cut, and her VCI and GAI were over one full standard deviation above the DYS cut.

It was DD's K teacher who first mentioned it. The more I had read about "gifted vs. bright" I was convinced that she just bright. (I have since learned that "bright" is more of a personality trait that can be found in HG kids as well.)
I had guessed she would come in the 100-120 range. Then the brief test they gave her in K at school had her pegged her around 115, which I was comfortable with. However, DD's teacher insisted that they do the full test, because she intuitively knew that number was too low.....DD's full test score was 30+ points higher than the brief test, with some of the sub tests jaw droppingly higher. Because the school's testing process was so slow, she was 5 when took the brief test in K and almost 7 when she took the full in first grade. Her young age could have been a factor for not performing well on the brief test.

Now that I have been around gifties of many levels I have come to get a feel for it. Something about the way they talk; its as if I can see their wheels turning? I was able to guess my younger DS's score within 5 points although his memory subtest was a shocker.

In anycase good luck with your testing. I hope your DD has fun! My DD didn't like the testing, she likes to know the answer. My DS loved it; he'd much prefer to play games and guess his way through life. LOL

...and try not to stress too much while you are waiting for the results :P

I had DD pegged at around 135. Her FSIQ on the RIAS came in at 138.

I thought my son would be around 145. His FSIQ on the RIAS was 155.

Sweetie, I often think the same thing you do - can the district just go with the gosh-darned WISC? I feel like we got so little information back from the RIAS. Although, we did consult with a psychologist who specializes in working with gifted kids and she said that the RIAS correlates to the WISC by about 15 points in either direction. Ummm. . .so he could be at 140 OR he could be at 170? I'm just going to go with 155 and call it a day. LOL

I thought DS9 had an iq of 130. But I sort of believed that his iq would come back closer to 120 and I would have to admit that I'd been wrong. FSIQ on the WISC was 141

Edited to add: I'm fairly certain that DS5 is not gifted at all and DH thinks I'm even further off in my estimation of him.

I am wondering the same thing as we are about to have my DS7 tested. The teacher who told me I was doing him a disservice not getting him tested told me that parents of gifted children are notorious for being wrong about their gifted child's abilities.

She said normally parents are right on - they know what their children can do, and what level they are/should be at in school, unless the child is gifted then they either way under or over estimate. She said if you think DS7 is MG (my assumption), he could easily be HG or PG, and you just think he is "a little ahead."

It was an eye opener for me and now I am very curious to find out if I am right or if he is going to surprise me. Since he has been surprising me since he was born I am preparing myself for a kick to the stomach

Good thread! I knew my youngest was gifted, hard to miss it. I was tested in elementary, think I had around 130FSIQ who knows what test, definitely a group school test, never private. My dh is very gifted, he recalls 160 as his #, again no idea what test..we do know his little brother got that perfect 1600 on the SAT and can play be ear also teaching himself three instruments on his own (piano, string bass and guitar). The history was there so we basically expected it! My oldest has never been very academic, much preferring sports but is an incredibly voracious reader. I figured he might be gifted but could just be very smart, I knew his younger brother was more likely DH. WISC-IVs on my oldest came out at 135, gifted but not crazy gifted. He's a TIPster and had Explore sub scores in DYS range in math and science. My youngest made DYS FSIQ of 143, hit a few ceilings so they probably should have run some extended tests but his portfolio got him in DYS.

So I knew one was gifted and thought maybe on the other...both were higher than I thought.

Shannon L.