Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment DYS application questions

I'm getting ready to apply my dd7 to the DYS program. I don't have a good reason for putting it off until the end of the year, but so be it.

DD was tested earlier this year and scored just high enough, WISC at 146 She is already radically accelerated in reading/language arts, and math. Here are my questions:

- The resaon my dd had the psychological testing done was to address her absentmindedness and attention span issues. Yes, this is common in gifted kids, but the write up I have from the psychologist ids her with ADD. I don't want to pay for the Dr to do another write up, but the report I have deals with the gifted stuff almost as an aside to her ADD issues. Should I edit out this information somehow? I would imagine this "diagnosis" is pretty common with gifties.

- DD's school has become very supportive of her this past year. She is at a small, well known, private school. (We were new in the fall and it took some time to get them on board.) After her needs started to be met by the school, I asked the head of the lower school about DYS. She thought my dd would be a good canndidate and offered to write a recommendation. Is this the best person to write the recommendation? Her classroom teacher was a first year teacher this year and we have had some issues in the past, so I have some hesitation going that route. I could go directly to the math and reading enrichment teachers but the school year is rapidly disintegrating...

- I was also thinking of asking our violin teacher, not that my kiddo is a music prodigy, but they seem to have a good relationship. Of course, dd spends a lot of her lesson time trying to change the rules and being difficult, which again is really the gifted thing.

So please tell me to not be apoligetic, don't edit anything, and just send it in.

Chrys

Welcome to the board. Leave the report as it is. She won't be the only child with ADD diagnoses in Davidson. It will not hurt her application. All you need are the scores.

The head of the lower school sounds like a perfect candidate. Let's face it most of the people don't even know what Davidson is. Having recommendation from the violin teacher is a good idea too.

At the end of the day it's the numbers that matter. The fact that she is accelerated at school and the head think she is a good candidate is a great bonus.

Good luck

Do *not* edit it -- if they find out you edited it, they might disqualify her out of hand. As LMom says, she won't be the only DYS with ADD; they'll be most interested in the scores.

Both of your recommendation ideas sound great -- that was a problem for us with ds's DYS app. We had two preschool teachers write recommendations, and they must have been adequate; I think the head is a great one.

Good luck!

In terms of letters of recommendations, I felt out the two people a little before I asked them. For example, one of the recs came from a gifted summer program teacher who knew she was grade accelerated even within the gifted program. She had noticed and mentioned how quickly DD picked up the science concepts. When I approched her, I quoted back some of what she said and added: "Would you say this is unusual for a seven year old? When she said: "Absolutely, a lot of my junior high students still don't get it" I knew that she would be a good person to ask, because she seemed to believe that DD was operating several years above grade level. I think it's important to avoid attempting to influence what the person writes in the rec, but asking good questions can determine whether or not the person writing the rec really *gets* it.

Good luck,

Neato

Thanks. I really appreciate everyone's feedback.

Chrys

My DD9 was just accepted into the DYS program this spring. She also has ADHD and anxiety issues. Instead of a big write-up, the doctor who works with her just hand-wrote a quick note on clinic stationery that said yes, I am treating her for ADHD and anxiety and she is doing OK.

I also wasn't very comfortable with her classroom teacher for this year, but asked her GT teacher from last year to write a recommendation. My second recommendation was from her piano teacher.

Good luck with the application! I know it's stressful, but worth the effort.