Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment What testing should I use?

I do hope that I am doing this right since this is my first time posting. I guess I will find out soon enough. Anyhow, my son just turned 4 a month ago and I took him to a developmental pediatrician when he was 3 who suggested that we had my DS IQ tested by a psychologist in the spring before starting Kindergarten. He felt that he was very bright, which was not news to us. He is an amazing child (aren't all of them though?) but so different from DH and I. He was reading before he was 2 and now probably reads at a 5th grade level...he can play songs by ear on the piano and has done this since 2 as well. He recognizes tons of classical pieces and links them to composers just by memory. He knows the cd tracks of every song that he listens to. He writes, emails, loves math and word games, wants to learn new languages, loves sports, I could go on and on.

But my question is this....what type of test would be the best for a child like this? I have read that different tests work better for certain children and for children that are highly gifted it is hard to find IQ tests to suit them. I don't know his level of giftedness or anything....but know he is not the norm. The Ruf estimates easily puts him as a 4, possibly a 5 but probably not quite. I just don't know what to do with a child like this. I just don't want him to be unsuccessful and unhappy with schooling (he didn't do that great in his last pre-k at 3 because as he said "the other kids in my class don't speak english"....but he is eager to start his new one in 2 weeks). Our local school district has no programming for gifted children and I want to at least have some information/IQ scores or something to get him some services. Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much! And I apologize for the lengthy tangential post...

Michelle

Welcome! Your son sounds like a very nice and gifted child. At the age of 4 your options are quite limited. The most common are WPPSI and SB-V at that age. There are other tests available (we were offered a different one but I forgot the name of it). Reading about your child you definitely want to take a test accepted by Davidson Young Scholar program, which would be either WPPSI or SB-V.

You can check the list of recommended psychologist on the Hoagies site. The waiting list for those may be quite long though or you can see if there is a gifted center near you. Not all the testers offer all the tests.

You may consider achievement test in the near future. That one may work better when it comes to the school administrators. They may understand Broad reading score better than VIQ.

Thanks so much for your responses! I felt odd posting it since he just turned 4...but when you have a child that starts doing the stuff he did at 18 months....I feel like I have been waiting forever already. What type of achievement testing is there for children? I am somewhat reluctant to do any testing at all...because I don't really want him labelled or classified by a number....so I don't intend to tell anyone the results other than what the school needs to know. I just decided that his actions already label him anyhow why not be able to have an explanation for it. I am hopeful that some testing would help him, but quite honestly I am not sure any testing will help with our district. I live in NY, so there is no mandated gifted programing and our school doesn't have it. But I will certainly go ahead and pursue a CSE to get him services if necessary.

Ah, would that the label were really granted to most HG+ kids!

I suspect you'll be amazed by how little the schools will recognize your child for who and what he is. If I had a dime for every time I read on these boards, "The principal/teacher/GT coordinator/etc. told me that my child isn't unusual," I'd have more than enough money to start my OWN GT school!

Schools rarely give above-level material to a class, so they rarely see a kid who can do more then the norm. What they see instead is often a frustrated, bored, lazy troublemaker who doesn't do the work (because, the child thinks, why waste my time on something so easy?), or doesn't do it well, or does it but stares off into space instead of participating, or any number of other behaviors that don't fit the stereotype of the bright kid/teacher's pet that so many educators seem to buy into. The issue for the school, then, becomes all about the behavior, with the GTness completely denied/ignored.

It's sad.

As for testing, I agree with the advice you've gotten here. The SB5 is probably your best bet given his age, though be warned that it's harder on verbal kids than it is on visual-spatial and/or mathy kids, or so rumor has it.

Try it, but if his scores on the SB5 aren't fitting with what you see in your child--as they didn't with our now-in-DYS child--then consider giving him the WISC when he's old enough. Some very bright kids just really don't click with the SB5, for some reason. They test as GT, but not level 4/5 GT, as they seem to be. I felt like DS7's WISC scores made a lot more sense to me in context. No test is a perfect instrument for all kids.

My advice: if you can get the GT label without too much trouble, TAKE IT! All too often, schools are very happy to treat all kids as exactly the same, with no distinction in the ways different kids with different needs are taught. But a level 4/5 kid has different needs that MUST be addressed. (And sometimes, woe unto those who do not meet them!) If a label gets those needs met, then take the label with a smile!

My usual take: If it comes down to my being "THAT mom" or my son becoming "THAT kid," then I'll always choose to be "THAT mom." I can take it. My son shouldn't have to.

And sometimes, it comes down to just that, sadly.

The bad thing about achievement tests given at this age is that not all of the subtests will be given to your child. They simply do not have data samples for reading comprehension at the age of 4. I think that's something you would have to discuss in more detail with the tester and see what she/he can offer.

Thanks, I will look into it. I am pretty sure that those are for children that are a little older...but I don't want to do tons of testing now anyhow (although he would probably enjoy it).

I totally agree. It is very sad. Actually I am in a good position to fight for him because I know the school systems very well as I am a school social worker. I work with a different type of population though as I work in an inner-city elementary school with pre-k and Kindergartners. So the students I work with typically struggle academically. I spend much of my days in CST and CSE meetings so I know the laws and how things work. All schools are different, but many things are about money. I am thankful that the school I am at now really is great...but I have been other places and have encountered districts pressuring schools to make decisions based on financial issues and what is best for the whole school vs. one highly gifted child. I am not sure how my DS would test on anything because he may just start answering strange things for fun, he can be like that. He is very math and verbal oriented though. When he was 3 1/2 he started doing word scrambles...he would think of words in his head, then write the words out in random order and ask us to guess what word they are. A few months ago he did xylophone, and computer. He is pretty good at figuring them out too...I would say he is easily as good as DH (and DH has said that as well and he was in the gifted program when he was a kid).

And I agree, I would rather be THAT mom. We are in for an interesting ride as he doesn't seem to know that he is smart yet. He will figure it out soon I am sure. He does seem to know that many other kids don't know things, but he also seems to think that they are teasing and pretending not to know.

thanks again.

Yeah, I guess it would be pointless to tailor tests for children like that since they are such a minority. I have the same problem when we go to the library to get books. I can't find any books that would challenge him to read the words where he could still comprehend the topic. The topics of books for 6th graders just don't really appeal to him, and often aren't appropriate for a child that just turned 4. Although non-fiction is usually okay for him.

Hi Shellymos,

Your son sounds amazing, even for those of us with gifted kids.

Yes, testing is good. But after testing is figuring out the educational needs. I have learned so much on this board about what my DD is like and what she needs to be happy and succeed academically.

Good luck.

Ren

A key question is whether both parents work. If not, I'd consider keeping him out of school this year and spending a lot of interactive time with him. In this case, you wouldn't need to test him until he's a bit older.

If both work, I'd guess that finding a high-energy teacher who would enjoy the challenges he presents is more important than getting him into a G-T program.

This POV isn't strictly responsive to your question, but I hope it's useful as you consider your options.