Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Made the appointment to have my son tested

My 6 year old son has always developed a keen interest of things and I have allowed him, following his lead, to learn more about different subject areas. He is a voracious reader and is increasingly fascinated by math - creating a page full of long equations like 25/5 + 5 - 2 x 3 + 9 - when left in his bed before we turn the light off.

Talking with friends who are past principals and current child psychologists - and after talking with the principal and her suggestion of possibly moving him into 2nd grade next year - mid year - I have finally made the appointment for my son to actually be assessed. I have not told him anything yet.

My life is very busy so I am not obsessively thinking about this. However, I am a bit stressed/unknowing about why I am doing this (even though I know it is just to get a good assessment on his ability and advocate for the best resources for him), and what test results really mean.

Just a good night's sleep and good breakfast and say that we are going to x tomorrow morning will be the extent of preparation he needs.

But what about me!?! I know that sounds funny. But can any of you share your nervousness or anxiety or maybe doubt before you had your child tested and then what you went through after?

Thank you!

Hi Jonas,

I think it is important to remember that your DS is the same person regardless of whether or not he's tested, and regardless of how he does on the testing. Many a post on this forum has reminded me that testing is just a reflection of how someone did on a particular test, on a particular day, with a particular tester. If he does better or worse than you expected, he's still the same voraciously-reading, equation-solving kid.

Having said that, I think it's probably pretty normal to worry about either result, and have some anxious banter in your mind, like "What if he's not as smart as I think he is? What if he's off the charts? What will I do with him then...?"

As for after the testing....

I think the tests sometimes provide the first concrete-feeling evidence that your child is really "different" and that the ND class/track is probably not a good fit. Then you start the road to figuring out how to deal with those differences. How easy or hard that is depends a lot on your options and the attitudes of the school. It sounds like your principal sees that your DS is gifted and is supportive of the changes he might need. Many of us here would LOVE to be in that situation.

One thing I've seen a lot on this board is that people say to take it one year at a time. What you implement today may not be a good fit, or enough for your child next year. So, you may find that you are continually evaluating how things are working for your child, and then finding (sometimes very creative) solutions to make things work.

Well, those are my $0.02 -- not sure if that's what you were looking for. I'm sure others will chime in. It's a great group here!

Hang on for the ride. It can be challenging, but these kids definitely make life interesting!

Hi, did you read the article on Hoagies on how to prepare your child for the test? In addition to what you have said (sleep, breakfast) there are a few goof pointers. For instance, do not tell him that he is going to play. He could then expect to be able to control the situation more and not give it his best. I explained my dds that they were going with a person that was going to help us see what type of school would be better for them and how they learn. We also explained that some questions would be too easy because they use the same questions (did not use the word TEST) for younger kids. It is important for your Ds to know that he has to reply to even silly and super simple questions. By the same token, he will be asked some very hard questions, so he can then give it his best shot.

As for you, I know I was nervous as well. Yes, my girls would be the same I had before they were tested, but we had school admissions criteria to think about.

I think it helps to know when you will get the report back. The first tester we used did not tell us anything until we met with her a week or 2 later. It seemed eternal! When we had to do it all over again, we went with one that would give us a full report later, but let me "take a peek" at the results right away. That was much better for me!

Thank you for your input!

My son is currently in a public montessori elementary school that I am very happy with. Next year is a combined class - 1st and 2nd - so I think that will be great if he advances to 2nd say mid semester it will be less social shock as he will already have friends and if he moves up the next year to 3rd grade it won't be that much of a shock. I am just concerned because he is already doing 3rd and 4th grade math. I just want him to continually be able to challenge himself - which he enjoys doing.

Thank you for the extra tips on to prepare my son.

I have not read the often quoted Genius Denied book and I think that I should read it. The purpose of thetest I think for me is an effort to see if he just has an ability to focus on something he likes and learn lots about it or is he truly "gifted." I just don't want to short change him the opportunity to learn more and faster if that is how fast and eager his brain is processing all that is around him.

Thank you for your guidance and shared experience. I'm sure I'll be posting with reactions to the testing.

Hi Jonas,

I was very nervous about testing. We had it done to work out what approach to take with starting school. Much of my nervousness was about whether or not I was going to be validated. I hadn't told many people my thoughts about where dd was at, but I had had to raise it with people like dd's preschool teacher because we were having issues. My mum thought I was just a 'proud' parent etc, and I felt like I was going to look completely ridiculous if dd came back 'normal'. Which of course is ridiculous in itself, because in terms of my daughter I was very aware that it didn't matter what the result was, she was still her wonderful little self.

On the actual day, I sat in the waiting room like a caged tiger. 3/4s of the way through I could hear that dd stopped cooperating with the tester (a very loud 'I sharn't!) floated down the stairs and not long after that they both appeared in the door way... hmm... The tester had a policy of not giving any feedback until the test was done and it took just over 2 weeks for the test to arrive, which nearly killed me. I was worried we'd wasted money on testing that would now prove pointless because she'd stopped cooperating etc. In the end I was validated and while her lack of cooperation in the final two subtests brought her score down, I had enough to be able to confidently say that dd had special needs.

Good luck, I hope all goes well and if it doesn't - take it from me, it wont necessarily be a disaster

[quote=Jonas]
But what about me!?! I know that sounds funny. But can any of you share your nervousness or anxiety or maybe doubt before you had your child tested and then what you went through after? quote]


Some after experience - I requested some testing at school. I had no experience/knowledge of achievement or IQ. Before the final results were passed on to me, the School Psychologist said, casually in passing, my 2nd grader AT seems to be like an 8th grader and adult in some areas. No wonder he is bored at school. I got really scared, I knew he was smart but now what? How could she just say this to me without further explaining?

Well, what a journey I have been on figuring this all out. The school said they would help him and then they made it worse. The principal said things to me like it's ok if school is easy for him. Why am I working at this so hard? They know what to do.

I had read some gifted books prior to testing and skipped some sections that were for kids who have had tested. I thought that was not about my son, he never had testing. Then, when I got the AT results I found out about DYS and this forum. We are headed to a gifted school for next year.

There is lots of help here. Good luck.

So my son was tested today. The clinical psychologist wants to do two more rounds of tests. She did not give me any official scores or stats - but probably to ease my nervousness or for me not to take the waiting too bad - she told me that DS(6yo) is testing at the 4th grade level. He is high on everything and significantly high on any cause/effect relationships.

She really encouraged me to understand what this means for my son. She really is advocating for grade acceleration next year - she knows the principal at my son's school and she says she does not think there will be an issure with that. I'm just concerned what else or what specific am I supposed to do that I am not already doing. We go to the library and I let him think of a topic he wants to read about and then we pack up about 8 books on the subject and he'll devour them. Should I be more focused or purposeful? Will advancement into 1st and then 2nd grade next year help guide me and his educational pursuits? Should I encourage online parallel curriculum? The testing is not even over yet - but still wanting to know - Now, what?

Ahh...the waiting has begun. that is never fun. It is good that you already have some validation by the tester saying that he is 4th grade level. That will give you some ideas...but I am certain when you get the full results you will get a lot more that will help you figure out what his needs are.

We had DS5 (almsost 6) tested when he was almost 5. We didn't tell him it was "testing" just told him that someone was going to do different things with him to see how his brain works. Something like that. He was interested. We told him that there will be some puzzles and some questions. Some may be easy and some may be tricky but just to answer the best that he knows. He really enjoyed it...in fact just yesterday he asked if we could go back again and play with her (this testing was over a year ago and he still talks about it from time to time). We had always suspected that he was several years ahead...but of course even we second guessed ourselves during the whole testing process. He turned out to be a PG child. It was somewhat shocking at first, but the advice that they are still the same child regardless of testing results really meant a lot to me. We were suddenly very anxious about his future and what his needs were. We are SOOO thankful that we did testing though. This really helped us to get the right school services and also to figure out how his mind works and just how different he is. Without doing it the school would have thought we were yet another set of parents that think our kid is smart. Sad to say, but I see it happen all the time. Our testing allowed us to get a full grade skip for DS and subject acceleration (so he will be in second this next year) and things are going pretty well. Hang in there, hope that you get some good answers and learn more about him!

Thank you, Shelley!

Next year he is in combined 1st/2nd class (Montessori School) and I will advocate strongly for him to advance into 2nd throughout the year. Principal has slightly already indicated such - but hopefully armed with tests I will have more encouragement and less resistance.

Wonderful,no,yes,no, read some books! (Humor Alert)
OK that was the short answer -
Wonderful:Great story about the library - he has internal motivation - the holy grail of gifted parenting. It means that something is going well.
No:No need to be focused or purposeful at this age as long as he is not showing any major challenges, the school is interested and able in accomidating him, and he is challenging himself during library expeditions. Is there something you are seeing that makes you think you might need to be more focused or purposeful?
Yes: Getting in classrooms that aim towards older kids is a great way to start getting a child in a 'good fit' classroom. It may or may not be 'enough' but it's a great start.
No: I wouldn't jump into online curricula unless there is a specific need, or the child is asking for a specific topic. Many kids find that it's much more exciting to learn in groups, or have interests of their own that they would much rather spend the time on.
Read: 'Now What?' - observe your child, journal about your own 'gifted baggage' read Ruf's '5 Level's of Giftedness' and 'Iowa Scale Acceleration Manual' and this forum to see if reading what other families are seeing triggers thoughts that have been bouncing around in your head.

Enjoy,
Grinity