For us, it was so very useful to get testing done before real school, because we would not have had any idea that our kid was more than a little gifted and would need special attention when school comes around. Heck, I didn't even know there were different levels of giftedness much before testing. And if you have a HG+ kid, it's nice to go through some of the 12 steps (denial, disbelief, acceptance, etc) before school! It also explains some of the weirdness at preschool. And best of all, it helps us to advocate even before DS gets to our local public school by meeting with the gifted coordinator to get her recommendations for placement with the right out-of-the-box teacher. But, as we are not quite actually IN school yet, it remains to be seen how useful the advance paperwork really is. At the very least, we will know to be on the lookout for red flags.
(On an unrelated note - Neato -i recently realized that I am also a specialist snob, now that you mention it. Someone asked who my primary care doc was, and I said "i guess I only see specialists" then blushed.)
