Hi,

We decided to get DS tested at a local university which is a cheaper option. This asessment covers both Cognitive and achievement testing and is with a Graduate student. I was just wondering what are the questions I need to ask? Or to be more precise What is all the information I need to get from the psychologist apart from the test results? If you can share your experiences with me I would be obliged.Please feel free to DM me if you wish to do so. Thanks!
A little background : Ds was tested this year at 3rd grade and scored very high(in his AIG teacher's words) in ITBS and CoGAT tests. He has had some behavioral problems at school(hates school as of now) and suffers from occasional tics(?). We are getting this asessment done mainly hoping to come up with a plan that meets his needs academically and also to rule out any other problems.IMHO, he has not exhibited any remarkable behavior so far that would signify giftedness though he loves to read and has built lego models that are meant for a few years above his age.

I don't know that I would go for the cheap test with an inexperienced tester if I was trying to evaluate a kid who I suspected might be 2E - ideally, you'd want an evaluation with someone who had lots of experience with this particular population. The quality of tester observation during the test is something that is incredibly important, and frankly, I wouldn't trust a grad student to recognize "red flags" for some 2E issues, such as the fact my kid was holding his head in a slightly odd position on all of the visual subtests, or that his response times on social comprehension questions were significantly slower than on questions relating to object relationships or factual knowledge.

The money you save now might be more than canceled out by the need to do an additional workup with an experienced evaluator later to get better answers to the question of what is really going on with your kid.

It is food for thought and I do agree with what you have written. I am torn about doing this test but going with a private professional who are experienced in this particular field will mean we have to wait a few months or possibly a year.Thank you for your input.

IQ tests can not easily be repeated. If you test with the wrong tester you may not be able to re-test for a year or more with a new tester on the same test. There are other tests, but it is likely the uni will be using the WISC4, and for most children this would be the most useful test for diagnosing 2e issues. The SB5 for example just doesn't test certain areas that can be weak in 2E kids.

We went with a 'trainee' psychologist for our testing because it was all we could afford ($1500 was the discounted price!), but all the work was reviewed by the head of the practice and he was at the meeting where they gave us the findings.

See if you can find out who will be doing the testing and making the diagnosis, before assuming it won't be someone experienced. We've had a lot of experience with medical trainees over the years and often find them more open to possibilities than more experienced professionals who may have become set in their ways, and may not be up to date with the most recent research.

For what it's worth, we used a graduate school tester for our youngest DD, however there were no suspected 2E issues. I hate to say it, but I was much more pleased with the grad student than with the other 3 licensed psychologists that have tested my other children.

Thank you for your inputs - as with all things I think it finally boils down to the person who is doing the testing.We are going to talk to our Pediatrician as well next week to get his opinion.