I'll add:
You touch on something that is a big part of why we haven't tested our DS: the dark side of the idea that an IQ test may give valuable information that adds to what everyone sees by looking at the child is that an IQ test may give misleading information that subtracts from what everyone sees by looking at the child (including by influencing what you think and how you behave in an way that is irrational). I think this is a reasonable worry, particularly as you don't seem to have a question, as such, that increases the expected benefit of testing, so the risks loom larger.
This is exactly why we have NOT tested DD and never plan to.
My DH's IQ was thrown in his face periodically as "you don't seem SOOOO smart to ME."
Mine was just high enough that I was something of a freak to parents and teachers-- and in one junior high school setting, other students. :shudders: I would hope that FERPA would prevent such a thing in this day and age...
but. We're both well beyond Mensa qualified.
My DD's rate of learning and advancement alone suggest that she's at least another standard deviation out, probably. The person she most resembles in either famiily is my father, whose old SB results were in the 170+ range. That's obviously freakshow territory, big-time. NO good (in our opinion) can come from having those numbers in our particular case. We are already able to differentiate right up to the limit of what seems emotionally/physically/maturation-wise possible for the child in question. We're there already, so no reason to test. The
only thing it would do is take the focus off of the PERSON she is, and focus attention onto only one facet of that person.
On the other hand, there is nothing "stealth" about my DD's cognitive ability. If there were, that's a reason to test so that you know what you're dealing with. Particularly true if there seem to be oddities about how a child's ability manifests as they get into elementary and beyond, since that can indicate an LD.
Suggested exercise: browse some of the IQ test threads here, and then *write down* a guess as to what your DS would score on each of the main indices. Imagine you have tested him and he actually scores that. How do you react? Is that the right thing to do anyway? Why, or why not? Suppose the numbers were different - what difference would it make, and why?
Excellent advice. What would it change? If the answer is "nothing" or "nothing, we HOPE" then it may not be worth it.
