Hi,

I'm new to posting, but have been reading things on this forum for a long time.

My DD is almost five. I read somewhere that the scores are determined in three month increments and so testing one month to the next can make up to a ten point score difference. First off, is this true, and second, if so, do you know if she will be scored with the 4 years 9 months, 10, and 11? I want her to get the scores that will help her get the best response from the schools possible.

She is clearly gifted and will do well no matter what, but if there is a possible ten point score difference, I'd like to make sure we finish testing at 4 years 11 months, not five. Thanks.

Welcome. My DD is a similar age so I am interested to hear this answer. Are you seeking a grade skip?

We honestly don't know what we want or what is available yet. All we know is that kindergarten material is not right for our child. She struggled with being so out of synch in pre-k and we want and need other options.

I do think that at that age bracket WPPSI is normed every 3 months.

thanks, Mam, if that were true would you assume it would start with "year + months" so that taking it at 4 years 11 months would group you with the younger group and five years 0 months (just would lump you with 5 years and the next three months. I know it isn't that big of a deal, but if there was ten point jump it might make a real difference in how her "case" is considered.

Thanks, I appreciate the responses and the digging. I tried looking myself, but didn't have much luck. I wonder if it actually makes that much difference in the score. Not to send anyone off on a mission, but if anyone can figure out how much and if it makes much a differene in scores, I'd be curious. I just want as much ammo as I can get going to the school, and if it really could mean ten points, then I will make sure they do all the testing before the jump to the next grouping. If your kid has an IQ of 190 then it may not matter, but I think my child is more around 135 (I could be wrong here) so up or down ten would mean a lot...thanks

Thanks Dottie and Mam. Since we are in a similar position to May, I am wondering what people think you should say to a four or five year old child before an IQ test. Would you tell him or her anything or just have him or her walk in and see what happens? We had one "sprung" on us at 3 (long story there) and she just went along merrily, but now that she is older and we know it is going to happen, what to say before the appointment. Thanks.

Here's our Aimee on the subject:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/test_prep.htm

Twinkles- I hate to be dense, but, what - exactly are you hoping to learn from testing DD at this time? And would it be WPPSI again?

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Hi Grinity,

I am mostly trying to understand what is making raising her so challenging. As I have said so many times you probably know it by heart: she is very intense, needs to touch everything, can be controlling, has ceaseless energy and cannot stop talking, needs nearly constant interaction, is emotionally hypersensive, impulsive and so on and so forth. She is silly so much, but then says things that stop me in my tracks.
She is getting OT for "sensory seeking" and it may be helping, but it is still hard to be on the receiving end of all her talking, wiggling, singing, and intensity. It is like she is getting electrical shocks of excitement a lot too. She has matured a ton in the last year or year and a half. Things are much better so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
We finally contacted someone who is going to do a full eval. The psychologist met with her once and did some autism spectrum type tests. From that one meeting and viewing videotape, she was not learning towards that diagnosis. My DD can also look a little ADHD at times, so I guess I would say we are trying to determine if there is anything "extra" going on besides being cognitively advanced. I say cognitively advanced, because I still can't quite bring myself to say she is gifted yet even though she clearly appears to be. The evaluator is already calling her gifted and wants to do cognitive testing soon. That wasn't my reason for contacting her.
If she has any issues next year in K, I am hoping that testing might help us in one way or another, and help me make sense of my lovely, but challenging child.

What does a 4-month scoring block mean?
If the child is 6 years 0 months and 6 years 4 months, is that normed the same?

Grinity, that link to Aimee at Hoagies. It had incredibly useful information on what to say to emotionally prepare a child for what is happening. Thanks

This sounds totally reasonable! I'm glad to hear that your DD is maturing - Yippee! and it's great that you have someone to check her and give you insight. I guess I think more cog testing is a good idea as long as it isn't WPPSI. Yes I would ask 'by name' before saying yes to the test - if the tester is as good as you say, she won't take offense. You can blame me if you want, "My bossy older sister Grinity keeps telling me that my DD is too old for WPPSI, and I'm mortified to question you in any way, but I won't get any peace at home until I ask you what kind of cog test your were planning to do." or something like that!

Smiles,
Grinity

Hi Grinity I hope no one minds me jumping in, but why is the WPPSI not right for a four going on five year old when the test goes up to 7.2 years?

The WPPSI ceilings are to low at that age to really assess giftedness.

4yr10mo,
Sure if the school will pay for the WPPSI at age 5, why not? But if one has to pay out of pocket, why not get the SBV, particularly if DYS is a possibility.

I'm not sure if there is a GAI for WPPSI.
I found this:

It is not called GAI, some testers call it "prorrated IQ" or simply IQ w/o processing speed. It CAN be calculated though (but not by us since the tables are not available online).