jaytee, I suspect that there will always be a chance you'll have a question with any one set of testing. When my kids were first tested (dd10 and ds13 were both tested privately at 5), the tests were spread out over multiple sessions so they wouldn't get tired etc. They've both been tested privately again since then, and ds has had a test through school - each of those tests have been conducted at one sitting in the same day, with a few breaks in between subtests. When ds was tested at school I wasn't given any advance notice of the date, he was pulled out of a once-a-YEAR class that he'd been looking forward to for months, was extremely unhappy, and on top of all that he'd hit his head in a fall while ice-skating the night before and still had a horrendous headache from it which he'd refused to take pain meds for. To cut to the chase, his IQ results have always been very consistent no matter who tests and what the situation is and how well he likes the tester. My dd10, otoh, scored much higher on her original testing which was spread out over a few days with a psych that she really REALLY liked. Did that make a difference? I'm not sure I'll ever know.
The one thing I would consider before deciding when to test again is will other people/groups/teachers/whoever consider the results reliable? The factors that played into that for us were reputation of the person doing the testing *and* age... we've had the early IQ tests (given at 6 years old and younger) questioned by our kids' schools and gifted programs. The tests they had when they were 7 and older haven't been questioned. NOTE - this includes ds' testing that at 5 that was given through the school district - was in fact questioned later by the SAME school district lol!
So - unless there is a compelling reason to retest now (other than curiosity), I'd suggest waiting a year and then re-test if you want to know. I wouldn't pay to do it now to get into DYS, simply because you're taking a risk that he still might not qualify, plus you'd spend $ on a test that you might not be able to use for another program later on. FWIW, and this is not a dig at DYS in anyway at all - there are other programs out there for gifted kids with admission bars set lower... you might find that a different program offers the type of help you're looking for for your ds without having to retest now.
Best wishes,
polarbear
