I have always felt strongly that my daughter is gifted (as her parents were), but it has never been important for me to have confirmation of that because I don't have a need to get her into a gifted program (she's in a Montessori program that goes through 8th grade; she's in first grade now). However, she has developed thoughts/behaviors that can best be described as OCD; I, too, had these weird quirks and ritualistic gestures as a child, and I merely outgrew them in middle school. They are distressing her and she wants to learn some coping mechanisms, so I think I should take her to a child psychologist.

However, I want to take her to someone who understands giftedness (the perfectionism, the sensitivities, the imagination, energy level, etc.). I am also considering having her evaluated for giftedness, because she feels "different" from the other kids and perhaps a diagnosis would give her an explanation and a way to feel understood and not weird/alone. I have never researched the various testing methods, and I have no idea what to look for in a reputable psychologist. Any advice, books, articles, etc. to get me started in the right direction on how to best serve my daughter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Did you look at the Hoagies web site?

Hoagies has a list of evaluators who are experienced with gifted learners.

The following sites/organizations have been incredible helpful to me on this journey: Hoagies' Gifted Education, DYS, Gifted Homeschoolers Forum, and SENG. I'd check out their websites. Best of luck to you!

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I'll check them out!

We decided to do IQ testing for similar reasons. We thought from an early age DD might be gifted, but never felt the need to test her. Then she started developing anxiety, panic attacks, a fear of failure, etc...quite a few attributes that often show up in gifted kids.

Ultimately, it helped fill in the whole picture, and has helped in advocating at her school for proper differentiation. Not sure if it is connected to the proper differentiation or a change in school setting, but I have also noticed a drastic reduction in her anxiety in the last year.

Funnily, DD had the hardest time at a Montessori school. Her teachers were absolutely amazing, but it turns out her Visual-Spatial IQ is 3 SD lower than almost everything else (VS is 106, PS and memory are 145 & 147, for example). All the hands-on materials, especially the math stuff, were highly frustrating for her. Despite my LOVE for Montessori, we ultimately pulled her from the Montessori program, and she is thriving in a different school setting.

Mayasmom, thanks...it never occurred to me that Montessori might not be an ideal fit because my hope was that it would allow her to go at her own pace without the label/stigma that often goes along with that, not to mention the expectation that teachers sometimes have that gifted children excel in EVERY topic. Where I live, the county doesn't offer a separate gifted program, but the counties around me do and they seem like they are pressure cookers that mainly serve as bragging rights for the parents...ugh, no thanks.

What program worked for your child instead? How did you go about finding a place to get tested? I'm still having trouble locating professionals in my area. Thanks!

We are using a gifted private school (but I think these are mostly available in bigger urban areas). The hoagies gifted site has a list of psychologist who work with gifted kids. We used one and had a good experience:

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/psychologists.htm

Thanks! I had found a place near me that does assessment and was shocked to find out the cost would be $800-1000. Wow, I had expected something closer to $300. Anyway, I asked the therapist if it would make a difference in how she treated the OCD issues if she knew one way or another if my child is gifted, and she said not really, unless you want to know for schooling reasons it's just a matter of curiousity.

I have been reading this book http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0910707642/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which has been helpful.

If you are not in a rush, many times you can get testing done at a local university by their grad students (supervised of course by a licensed professional). The CSU near us will do this for around $350 (I believe that was IQ plus an achievement test) but had an 8 mos wait list (so we tested elsewhere).

Of note, I had heard about the program from another parent but could not find it anywhere on the school's website. So finally I called up the psychology department and right away they knew what I was asking about and they gave me the information on getting signed up. So you might have to dig a bit.

I had OCD myself from a young age and it became much worse in middle school. Apparently it is a common pattern for symptoms to worsen then. So hopefully your daughter will improve like you did, but it could be very helpful for her to have some coping skills and a trusted professional for help in case it does worsen. Because of my history, my daughter has been getting some advice from a psychologist since she was in kindergarten and developed anxiety problems. She only goes when there is a specific issue, not regularly, but I think she has learned some useful coping skills and that it is helpful.

I agree that having specific testing results with IQ and achievement isn't really necessary for her to start getting professional help. However, if she shows characteristics of giftedness, then I think it is very important to find someone who understands that. My daughter first saw a psychologist who didn't specialize in gifted kids. He was very helpful in negotiating her grade skip, but thought she would do well in any setting because of her high ability and achievement scores. Her current psychologist understands her challenges much better. For example, many people have suggested oversimplifying or even misleading her to reassure her about things but I prefer the way her current psychologist approaches it from a perspective that the unknown is more scary and misleading kids damages trust, so explanation at an appropriate level is better. I don't think only specialists in gifted kids would be able to help, and I don't think misleading information is good for anyone, but I do think you are more likely to find someone who can help if you go to someone with experience with gifted kids...

If another example is needed, I can also tell you about the psychologist in middle school who insisted I was fine because of my A average even though I was incapacitated by OCD. It was awful.

I'm not bashing Montessori...I love it. It was a good fit for my daughter....but not a great one. It was a perfect fit for me!

There are a few gifted magnet schools in our area, and DD did have a spot at one, but we ultimately declined that as well. We decided to go with a charter school that follows a Basic School philosophy. I didn't want to sacrifice diversity, and I also wanted a school that had a strong focus on music and arts (none of the gifted magnets do), since that is DD's passion. The school has a great student:teacher ratio (11:1 is the max), which allows for a lot of differentiation in the classroom. K had some moments that were a struggle (particularly math, since differentiation was still not high enough to meet her on her level), but overall we were happy. We have the same teacher for 1st (kids stay with the same teacher for two years), and are extremely happy so far this year.

I was almost brought to tears when I went in for parent-teacher conferences in August, and her teacher showed me all the extra educational supplies she purchased to meet my daughter at her level.

As for testing, we paid $500, just for IQ. We didn't do achievement testing, because of the cost. We found the psychologist through word of mouth.

One of the weaknesses of the Montessori approach is that it can be very rigid. They present works to a child, and insist that the tools can only be used in a prescribed way. In other words, it's a little OCD. The Lego Movie comes to mind.

I would be worried about a child with OCD tendencies in an environment like that, as it would seem to be somewhat reinforcing.