We could not afford testing for our homeschooled child and the only thing we had was a WIAT achievement test (taken in one sitting by a child with sensory issues, vision issues (required vision therapy), and the problem with perfectionism. The psychologist told us that my then seven year old son wouldn't use the pencil and paper to figure out math problems and he thought he would have done better if he had, but still made 99th percentile on that portion of the test. He had handwriting difficulties and visual motor integration at the 1% level so I don't think it was surprising that he had problems with writing numbers. I know this embarrassed my son and he would refuse to do things that required writing. My son's reading score was higher than the math but he was actually able to read at a much higher level than what the test showed. His eyes tired very quickly and the tester told us that he needed to be retested over several days because of fatigue issues. His test was given in the afternoon and he was also hungry. I do think this affected his scores also.
We couldn't afford further testing. Our insurance paid for one only test. I explained all of this in our application and portfolio that we sent to Davidson. I think they want to help twice exceptional kids.
They accepted our achievement test and application and letter of recommendation and now they say they need original pieces of the applicant's work that demonstrate his advanced abilities. They accept video tapes so I plan to get a video of him reading college level textbooks and practicing for a spelling bee and a few other things. I had only sent in some things that he had dictated to me and they say it has to be in his handwriting. Since my son has to use so much of his mental energy in writing I think he will have to type what he writes first and then copy it. I am so glad that he learned how to type.
