Oh Belle,
I feel your pain on this one! So hard to wait for the right opportunity, and sometimes it matters and sometimes it doesn't! It seems to me that the school can do it's own testing and on a different day your son might do much differently. When my DS11 was tested in school at 4th grade, they broke it up into 6 visits, I think!
I'm not sure if the tester is allowed to modify the test for folks with particular disabilities, but I do agree that his challenges are masking his giftedness, and in a way, that's what you mainly wanted to know. Will his challenges mask his giftedness in a real life situation? That matters more, in the long run.
I want to say "Well Done" for having gotten him to the OT at this young age! Also 'well done" for being able to look at him and 'know' that he isn't doing Kindy level work. I guess the questions now are:
1) Is he happy in Kindy?
2) Is he learning that learning involves 'a bit of a challenge?'
3) Is he acting out at school?
4) Do you anticipate 1st grade will be worse? (Longer day, more focused on reading, etc.
5) Is the gifted program worth fighting for? What I've overheard is that for MG (moderatly gifted kids, the majority of gifted who are around that 130 mark if there was some mythical way to reduce a child to an acurate number) a program that meets a few hours a week can be enough to keep that child engaged in school, but for more unusually gifted kids the pull outs don't provide much unless that child is with older kids.
It's great that you have gifted teacher-friends, but if they are constantly around MG kids, they might not have 100% reliable advice for your own child, who his OT and Speech teachers believe is 'very gifted.' 2E issues are very tough to deal with, this is cutting edge stuff. In other words, don't expect that if you can get him into the gifted program at school that the school will be able to 'take it from there.' Although that does happen. Think more about what his actual needs are and how they can be met.
I think it's very important at age 5 to introduce the idea that "in our family" Mom gives you her own learning assignments that refect your readiness level, M-F, with few exceptions, no matter what the school is or isn't doing! We've got a great thread on hothousing if this idea scares you. Maybe only 10 or 15 minutes a day, but you want to give him the idea that working at learning is normal. This is one of those 'do as I say' and not as I did, areas. If he hasn't memorized his Addition Facts, work those in, maybe verbally, and then go on to Multiplication Facts. It it isn't fun for him, mix in work that will be. It might seem difficult to do it now, but as he gets older, he'll be even pickier about what he does and doesn't like doing if he hasn't gotten the idea that 'he must.'
If I had it to do over again, I would have insisted that DS eat (or at least taste) vegtables at every meal. Such a free spirit I was!
Grins,
Grinity
