My son has shown tremendous signs of giftedness since a very young age. Many people had suggested having him tested, but at the time I figured it wasn't really necessary. This year he started kindergarten (5yrs old) and began having behavior problems in school. He began seeing a school counselor (grad student) and we decided to test for both ADHD (recommended by my son's teacher) and IQ (WISC-IV). The test results showed that he did not have ADHD and only showed an average IQ level, much to my surprise. It wasn't that I expected him to have an extremely high IQ, but I did expect it to be higher than the results showed. It doesn't seem to make sense. The counselor administered the test and I'm wondering could his lack of experience affect the results? By observation, my son is clearly gifted, so should his IQ be average?

hi and welcome!

We have had a similar experience with our DS9. We had him tested at age 5 and were extremely surprised to get the results that he was a "bright" boy but not really "gifted" WE put him kindergarten and had to pull him out by the second half of grade 2 because he was just too "different" and was having behavior issues.

We are presently homeschooling him because he's at least 3 "grade" levels beyond his age and by all appearances quite gifted.

So - as many other posters have mentioned here, testing is just a snapshot in time and many factors play in the result that you are given at that moment.

You are his parent. You know who he is and if your gut tells you the results you were given don't add up - trust yourself and your child.

I will have to say that I'm nervous about testing again because of our first experience and also at this point "knowing" an IQ wouldn't make any difference to our educational path. But that's just us!

((hugs))

My youngest son's kindergarten teacher thought he was ADHD. After helping him with his difficulties with letters and numbers, I had his eyes checked and found out he had amblyopia. After vision therapy and patching, his ADHD symptoms disappeared. School testing did not place him in the gifted range, however, I think he still has his talents in art and music (he can learn and play the violin and piano by ear).

He is very shy and tends not to want to draw attention to himself so sometimes, I wonder if he holds back

Tests could possibly be administered incorrectly. Some districts conduct testing through their GT department instead of the classroom teacher. Perhaps you can try another test next year in a different setting.

I wonder what you mean by average? If just not hitting 130, that might still be above average...Also, experience of the test administrator is said to make a lot of difference.

Here is an interesting link, does your child fit one or more of these descriptions?

http://nswagtc.org.au/info/identification/characteristics.html#checklist_menu

Gomongo - definitely the tester makes a big difference if he/she is not experienced in testing gifted kids. If your child is a thinker and needs time, the tester may have just thought he didn't know the answer. Also, my district tested my son at 4yrs old, and once he hit above avg, they stopped the testing b/c that is all they wanted to know.

Also, you have to look at the spread of scores. If you like, you can post them here for others to comment on or you can PM them to our resident expert Dottie and she'll give her thoughts. For ex: is VCI and/or PRI high with a very low WMI or PSI? If there is a large spread, you can calculate GAI using VCI and PRI only.

Also, it could definitely be the child's age. I'd recommend testing again closer to 7yrs old. I think the minimum age for the WISCIV is 6.

When I say average I mean just above average, not even out of the average range. It's so puzzling. He definitely fits many of the descriptions from the link you sent. He's extremely verbal, could speak 50 words clearly when he was one, was speaking like a 5 year old when he was just 2. Has an amazing ability to understand how things work and I'm often in awe at the questions he asks and how he can point out inconsistencies in situations. He has a passion for science and is constantly performing his own "experiments" around the house -- this began w/o any prompting from me. He also has quite a natural athletic ability, could dribble a full-size basketball all the way to the park (about 0.5 mile) when he was 18 mos, first time on skis (age 3) he could ski down the mountain no problem w/o lessons, when we took his training wheels off his bike right after he turned 3 he just rode away like he'd been riding for months. He learns very quickly whether he's being taught academics or athletics. So, in my eyes and by the definitions I've seen listed he's gifted. So why such an average IQ?

Look at the subtests of the WISC IV. Was there discrepancies (significant difference between the scores) or were the scores all similar? Discrepancies can mean you have gifted child with learning issues. Don't just look at the FSIQ.

All the scores were roughly the same.

When we moved as a teenager, the school insisted on retesting my IQ for entry into the gifted program...my IQ dropped 16 points on that test and disqualified me from the program. 1)I was old enough (15) to remember that test and the tester was horrible. I remember noticing at one point that she was timing me under the table. 2) I always performed in school like I was gifted...I performed better that 40 other "gifted" kids at my HS and went to college on a full academic scholarship +

So IQ scores can come out low on any given day, but theoretically not high, and IQ doesn't tell you everything.

Brownie

Any kid can have a bad day test-wise. It can be hard to pin down what skewed the results. It might be the test admin, but it could also be low blood sugar, minor illness, stress, or being over tired. Sometimes it's a combination effect. Young children are particularly likely to have trouble "showing what they know" on a test that may take several hours.

I'd suggest that you try again in another year, with a different test admin. If you do retest, be aware that there are rules about how often you can use the same instrument for an individual.

The test took only an hour if that, is this any indication of how it was administered? It seemed rather quick to me.

My son's first test was administered in a hour- the tester was horrible and had never tested a child under 12. We cheaped out and tried to do it at the local university with their students. The tester said in her report that he would probably need serious help in class to succeed, might not be mainstreamed all day and that he was far below average in a few areas. We honestly thought she had some other kid in her office- none of it jived with our son.

Fast forward 6 months, new tester used to testing kids under 8 and specifically worked with HG kids. Major difference, this tester laughed hysterically at the previous tester's recommendations, gave us a confirmed HG IQ and said that the other tester was a moron :-)

It all depends on the tester, the test, the day and the child.

If you went through a university, I hope you contact the program director. Not in a "oh bad people you" but maybe they just need to decline serving young kids. What if your child belonged to different parents who just accepted... and then their looking glass becomes this discolored portrait.

Thanks for your reply. The guy who administered our test was quite young, in his early 20's, and going to grad school. He works for a non-profit that helps with counseling needs for the local schools. I doubt he has had much experience administering IQ tests. He said that my son should be adequately challenged since his IQ was only average. I kind of feel like this IQ test really missed something if that is the conclusion. My son in no way struggles with the academics in class. The challenge we face is keeping him interested instead of being bored. He already started to "cut" class by saying he has to go to the bathroom (which is outside of the classroom). The teacher came up to me and said I should check with his pediatrician that he might have a bladder infection because he was using the bathroom so much. When I asked him he said he was just going to get a drink of water and when I mentioned that he was going to miss what the teacher was saying he replied that I shouldn't worry because he easily catches up. I've tried to talk to the teacher about our issues, but I just can't seem to make a connection with her. And she talks to me like I'm 5! I am waiting to see how 1st grade goes. Hopefully, we'll have a better teacher and a more challenging environment.

We did speak with the program director, who refunded our money, apologized and said she really didn't understand what had happened. In theory, they are all trained to test any child. We just had bad luck and a kid who was paralyzed by the one-way mirror. The tester stupidly told him "oh there are people back there watching you."

Oh my goodness CAMom! Hopefully that young tester learned from his/her clearly idiotic way of handling things. And gomomgo, it really does sound like you had a bad situation and false information. Bravo to you for just not accepting it and asking questions. There are testers that specialize in gifted kids. I hope you find one in your area.

See, herein lies the problem with all of these tests. The testers should be sure to reiterate to parents and schools that these tests are limited. They are not the full picture and whether they are truly measuring intelligence is questionable to say the least. Unfortunately, the rub is that testers, by default, really believe in these tests so they're the last people that are going to blather on about the limitations. Who loses? The kids. Sad Sad Sad.

That's what my son's tester said. (qualified, private, "gifted specialist") Yet, every day, DS6 comes home from his public, affluent school begging for a grade acceleration so that he can do harder work. Everything is repetition based and he just doesn't seem to need repetition to assimilate new concepts so he's banging his head against the wall while he waits for new information. I've lost so much faith in the IQ tests and process for identification of kids who need a greater challenge.

This is what I'm afraid will happen to us in 1st grade especially if we get another teacher like we've had this year. Or maybe it's just the way public school is in general? I never thought I'd consider anything but public school, but this first year is really making me think about alternative possibilities.

Thanks to everyone for sharing all your experiences. It is nice to know that I'm not alone. I also never realized how limited and inaccurate these tests could be. Right now my plan is to wait and see how first grade goes.

Also the more detail you can get from the tester the better picture you have of your child. On a few subtests on the Wisc and WJ we were told ds got the easy ones, missed a few mid level and then got most or all of the hardest ones. He scored gifted but just barely and I'm not really sure what this means as far as educational needs (actually we don't have all the scores back yet). But in general I'd say this fits for ds, he'll be excited about a task, dig in, flounder a bit if he gets bored, or makes a mistake. If something is harder he enjoys spending time on it...he probably needs more exposure to harder/fun math just for himself, outside of school.

chris1234: I was told something similar about my DS. In his case, the tester said that he missed the easy ones and perked up once it got harder then got the harder ones right. Does this mean the score is an underestimate? Do you get points (WISCIV) for each question correct rather than just how high you get? And that totally fits my son....can't focus on something if it's too easy. He also mentioned this happening on block design and that was the first test given I believe so I can imagine DS was nervous to start out.

Dazed- I don't know whether it is an underestimate, I'm glad the tester kept going, though. Block design is one where I think this occured for ds. Later the doctor and ds showed me the blocks and how he got the last few, so I am assuming this is one where he missed points in the middle - that score was 14.