Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Testing a 3 y.o.? Pros/Cons

We would like some professional help and direction with our son's needs, age 3.5 and so I've been seriously considering a full evaluation. My husband and I go over this often and we are having trouble deciding. Truth be told, part of the decision has to do with cost. I contacted The Summit Center, as we live close and they specialize in GT issues. They require a consultation fee before testing. I completely get why a full consultation is important and the chance to sit down with an expert in the field is worth the money alone for me. But we ask ourselves these questions, "What if the test results do not seem helpful and we are out that money?" and "How do the results help us in everyday life?" Here are my list of pros/cons:

Pros:

Possible relief and information for advocacy

Possible early K entry if results show 99th %ile in academic achiev.

Loose future planning/anticipation homeschooling options (this causes me a great deal of anxiety because I planned to return to work "once the kids are in school" and now I realize I may need to homeschool, so future family income planning is important)

Cons:

Having DS go through testing (I think there is a good chance he'll love it)

Chance of the testing being a disaster (like a meltdown)

Cost

Results being incomplete

Results that don't align with what we see, making us question everything (I mean, let's be real here, that's a real fear LOL)

The Cons are a longer list, but the pros outweigh the cons for me if any of that were possible. But he is only three, so is it too early for this kind of hope for test results?

I appreciate any opinions! Thank You!

We tested our 3 year old and it made us do a complete 180 in our planning. DS thought the testing was fun. It was not cheap but it was 100% worth it.

It is really going to be a personal decision - and depends on what you hope to find out from testing.

Note - if your state is as rigid as mine is about the age cutoff, test results won't sway them for early entrance.

We actually met with the psychologist when DS was 3.5, without intending to test, because we had started to question our original thoughts about DS and public schools. DS was in daycare - and DS's personality and development made us realize that we may have to re-think about what we should do about kindergarten. He missed the state cutoff by a day or two, and our area is notorious for being strict with that age cutoff. We saw "flashes" of giftedness, but DS is one of those kids that blends in so well that most people look at him and see a very average boy (even the psychologist was surprised by the results because DS is so low-key, and nearly fooled him at first) - and we were concerned that in public schools, he would be one of the kids completely ignored because he does not make noise and focuses on blending in.

We ended up agreeing to testing because even though it can be unpredictable at his age, we were also looking for any answers that may help us figure out what to do. For us, it really opened our eyes - his results completely stunned us, and the recommendations given were completely the opposite of what we thought originally would work that we really had to re-evaluate our plans for his early school years.

Note - the test for 3.5 is not going to give as many answers as you think. I am glad we did it because before it, we had viewed DS as being very bright and maybe MG, but the results showed he may be beyond MG - and that he was hiding some of that from his teachers (we had no idea what a normal 3 year old would know or be interested in, so he just seemed like every other 3 year old especially since he was a late talker). We will have to get him tested again sometime in the next year or two for a better picture (and his school requires it), especially since our family history has a lot of 2E history, and we want to make sure we catch any potential LDs earlier than later. Cost for us is not as big a concern as it is for some families and I know we are lucky (especially since my parents are in complete support of what we are doing) - so if you are looking to push for early entrance to public schools, I don't think I would recommend it.

But - it did make us aware we needed to make changes immediately in his daycare and ammunition to push for those changes (early promotion up into pre-K and then pushed for K 4 months later at DS's request - he started to show early signs of boredom and acting up), and look at long-term school environments for him.

We realized we could not wait until he was basically 6 to start kindergarten, or have him in a situation where he does kindergarten at his daycare and then repeat at private school (which many parents with kids missing the cutoff do in our area). And we started looking at private schools where age cutoff was not a limitation, and where he could be happy - we found a GT school. He has started at our local GT school, and has gone from fighting to stay home and 10PM bedtimes to hurrying out to the car to get to school, and having a normal bedtime - and finally finding a peer group that he wants to be with (and where they are not in his face about his young age or size).

So - for us, it gave us the information that we did not have, and the ability to act on that with confidence that it is what DS needs. All our actions to date and the happiness of our DS today has validated the test results. But it does not always work that way with this age - so please take this with a grain of salt - we are one of those families where it did really work out.

@notnafnaf, our state (CA) is rigid on K entry as well. Our DS is rapidly flying through 1st grade curriculum almost entirely independently. He's in the 99th %ile in height and so entering K at just over 5.5 seems insane. Of course, when he was 2, I thought other kids would "catch up" and his learning would slow down but it's only sped up.
I read the ed laws and the only way to possibly get a child into K early is to provide testing results. Now, if his results are below 130, then we have no case. But perhaps the subtest results can help us provide for his needs anyway.
I don't want to regret this, but then there is always regretting not doing it. If his K year at 5.5 is a disaster, I'll regret not being a more assertive advocate. It's almost like you cross a line and can't return when you test I.Q. I certainly don't want to know my I.Q. I only want to know his so I can begin an action plan.

We got neuropsych testing for DS when he was just-turned 5, and looking back, I wish we'd waited a bit. We have a long neuropsych report, but it can be boiled down to comment the neuropsych made during our meeting with her, "I can't diagnose him with anything, but something's not quite right about this kid." It was really difficult for him to sustain engagement through the whole test at that age. I suspect we'd get somewhat different results if we tested him now, and different still in another year or two. So I want to wait for a bit more (also, we can't afford to test him again right now).

GGG, sent you a PM

The big thing to keep in mind is - if you use the WPPSI-IV, I understood that for under 4, there are fewer sub-tests than over 4, and thus why most people find it more inconsistent for kids under 4 years old (granted, even under 7/8 years old, results can be inconsistent). I am not sure how different the test is when the child is over 4 versus a younger child though. I don't know about SB-V since it seems like more people use WPPSI for preschool age children and DS took the WPPSI-IV.

We did not test at 3 because of concerns about unreliability of the results either way. We tested at 4 using the WPPSI and that is a good age to do so, in my opinion.

ETA: Since you are in CA and hoping for early K entry, I recommend that you look up the K curriculum (available if you google it on the state's website). You can then compare it with what your DS already does and get an idea if early K entry is going to be sufficient for your DS or not.

How likely is your son to cooperate with testing? I think the answer is so idiosyncratic to the child's temperament.

For my DS-almost-3, I have zero doubt that he would answer in jokes and disguise his knowledge, so it would be a wasted effort for us to test at this age.

OT, but I will raise my hand for the roll call of mothers who expected to return to work when their child became school aged, but who are now planning a sojourn into homeschooling. It's a relief to think of homeschooling our equivalent of pre-K next year and following a wait-and-see approach for kindergarten. If he starts to do algebra in kindergarten, we'll know we made the right call. (I'm only half-joking there.)

Thank you, Ashley. I need to research the tests more because I am worried about him hitting the ceiling of the subtests.

I am a former teacher and have a lot of friends in the system still, which is a great asset for us (sort of, they don't know what to think about our DS, they cannot believe his ability and worry about his education as well).

I've read over the new standards online. He's definitely in the 1st grade range for reading, math and writing. He's suddenly obsessed with inventive spelling and writing stories. So as far as early K being appropriate-probably not but what else can I do? Where will he be when he's in K and 1st? 3rd grade level?

My basis for early K is: those early years are so critical for social skills, I am worried about total, complete boredom, thus behavioral issues. Also, this could help reduce chances of grade skipping. Some of my teacher friends just say, "Let him enter K at 5.5 because you are not going to get him in early and then they will skip him to first." I just feel like, can't this kid get one good year of social fun before the insanity of begging for differientation and talking about grade skipping begin?