I have the same questions about my kids. We are thinking we may need to spend serious $ to get DS9 into a school that would let him learn faster, but what if DS3 is NOT gifted and the local public school is really great for him? Will he feel ripped off at some point? Will people think we don't care as much about him? What will we do if he doesn't test well enough to get into a functioning, safe middle school or high school here in our big city?
I did get some answers about LD in my younger one. My DS3 got evaluated through the federal early intervention program and was found to have speech and physical delays, most likely from sensory processing disorder. He's a sensory-seeker, so he has some alarming sensory-seeking habits such as liking to fall and land on his head, turn in circles, flick light switches etc. We have been told he has a great interpersonal skills and is not on the autism spectrum, and that he may or may not grow out of this behavior and may or may not be smart and is currently testing low average on cognitive functioning tests used for toddlers, which as far as I could tell had him doing things like imitating cube patterns and putting things over, under, next to, etc. He is currently going to a special education preschool, where his speech has grown by leaps and bounds.
On the other hand, he's also memorized entire scenes from movies, counts to 20, knows his alphabet and most of his sounds, understands that numbers correspond to particular amounts, tells jokes, and we can't pull one over on him about anything. These skills are definitely much later coming than they were for his brother, but seem more advanced than some and less advanced than other kids in the neighborhood.
And his HUGE personality! He's definitely gifted there!
I'm rambling... Just wanted to say I share your concerns and you can get free testing and perhaps help if needed for LD or other issues affecting growth and development through Early Intervention. It's a federal program available in every state.
bk
