Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Private or School

Where did you go for testing for your child/children?

My dd#1 (8 yo) was tested 2 years ago by a psychology student at a local college and I'm looking to have her retested. I'd like her tested b/c I suspect she is dyslexic. She thinks outside the box, is a divergent thinker and has anxiety. So I'm not sure if should go with somebody who has experience testing gifted children on a regular basis, or the school psychologist who is used to diagnosing learning disabilities. And if we go with the school psychologist we wouldn't have to pay anything, whereas with private testing we'd have to pay $500 to $1000.

We used the school resources, but that was appropriate for us because our state and district have the policies, resources, and experience for dealing with gifted children. This had two advantages... not only was it free for us, but the school had no doubts about the validity of the results.

So I guess the answer here depends on where you live. If the school has the appropriate resources, that's your best bet. But if they don't, you should definitely go and find them on your own.

Our testing experience with the schools here evaluating a 2-E kid were, frankly, disastrous. Much more accurate and useful information came from the subsequent IEE with a private tester who had experience with 2E.

ETA: Since we disagreed with the district's findings, our IEE was paid for by the district. We had to notify them of who we were using so they could pay them directly. They tried to tell us that we had to use an evaluator on their list, but this was not true, and we knew it. They wouldn't reimburse travel expenses if we chose not to use a local evaluator, though. The gas money was more than worth it.

I wouldn't trust the school psych as the sole evaluator if you suspect a disability. (Their training is limited, and they have a conflict of interest; they may be pressured to find no disability so that the district is not on the hook for services.)

See if your insurance will cover the private evaluation, and talk to the private psych's office about funding opportunities. You can also contact your county/city to see if they have financial assistance in evaluating for developmental disabilities. Here the county will often pay for the eval if your insurance won't.

DeeDee

We did both -- private to get a more detailed picture, and public because our district will not accept private testing without having public testing first. I've seen many people rush out to get the best testing they can get, and then be completely dismayed because their testing is not admissable and the poor child has to go through it all, again. The private testing can be introduced informally of course, and there is a process for bringing it in to play after the public testing has been done, but either way, in our district, if you want services, you're getting the public testing done at some point.

We had luck with the school psych doing our 2e dd's eval. The district is throwing every possible service at her even without our requesting it. I'm not sure they would have been so willing if the report came from an outside source. If you are not satisfied with the school eval I believe you can have a private one done and seek reimbursement from the school district if the finding supports your claim.

Our son's school did an eval but when they told us his scores they couldn't really tell us anything about it just that he qualified and they were very high. After researching a bit we found out the IQ type test wasn't one of the better assessment tools, and we still needed answers that came with explanations other than " yup hes really smart " so we sought out testing from professionals who specialize in gifted children. It didn't help us with the school any, )but well we weren't holding our breath on that one anyhow), but it gave us other avenues to look into for our son to help us with guiding him in the future....it was worth every.last.penny.

our school did "gifted" testing at the end of second grade, but that's all they give us, a "pass" to the GATE program if you score high enough...

where I live, the way it works is that you request, in writing, a formal IEP evaluation, which includes the school psychologist assessing the situation. In our case, they denied us LD testing because DD's academic scores (grades, state testing and gifted testing) are on the positive side. That alone irritates me, to say the least. It is MORE than possible for a kid to be gifted with a disability, and in my DD's case, they keep SAYING how she's not cooperating, etc. I would think the GAP between academics and conduct would indicate a deeper problem, but...and we just had a second SST (this is a conference with teacher, psychologist, counselor) to see if they should write a formal IEP (also denied). EVERY YEAR I have gotten multiple calls about my DD, complaints about her refusal to do work, etc. The point of all that is to say "You get what you pay for".
So far, the school refuses to test further. The ped wanted to push ADHD drugs on us, even though DD doesn't meet all the criteria...we are literally at the end of our rope!
We have chosen to take her to a private psychologist, and hang the cost. We will likely have to pay for the whole thing out of pocket, but this is a dr that specializes in gifteds and the school wants us to take her to a counselor anyway...additionally, in our case, I feel like we are paying someone to help advocate and support us. She also has considerable experience helping families navigate the special gifted programs and talent searches and used to be an advisor to our District's GATE program.
We were told they could not test twice in the same year and I don't have any more time to waste, so we are done messing around and are going to a real professional!