Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Hello! Is it worth applying for DD?

Hello, everyone. I feel like I found a safe place, finally.

I just joined the forum. I had initially thought that DD would not qualify for the Davidson's Young Scholars program due to her Full Scale IQ being 144... but as I read through this morning... it is actually any portion of her test being 145 or higher, correct? That would qualify her on the WISC-IV portion if that is one of our options. I do realize there are other parts to the application.
She is 8. She took the test happily in one session and had the following scores. The GAI was not calculated b/c the school psychologist said it wouldn't have mattered at that point - I'm guessing that is b/c she already qualified for their gifte pull out program. By the way, we ended up pulling her out of school and returning to homeschooling due to the pull out program not being enough for her. She was extremely unhappy due to the high level of repetition in class and they would not give her work to meet where she would be challenged.
WISC-IV
Full Scale 144
Verbal Comprehension 146
Similarities 18
Vocabulary 18
Comprehension 17
Perceptual Reasoning 137
Block Design 13
Picture Concepts 19
Matrix Reasoning 16
Working Memory 132
Digit Span 18
Letter-Number Sequencing 13
Processing Speed 118
Coding 7
Symbol Search 19

Any thoughts, insight and more... I greatly appreciate. I hope you all are having a fantastic day.

If you have other pieces in place for the application (achievement or a good portfolio), I'd certainly apply and see what they say. Her GAI should also qualify, I suspect. Having both the GAI and VCI be over 145 should be a plus.

Overall, she looks like a kid with a lot of strengths and I'm not surprised that a pull-out GT program wasn't a good fit and too repetitive for her.

Cricket2 - Thanks so much for your response. I appreciate it.

I am not familiar with the Davidson criteria, but her GAI
is 151, which is really high (>99.9). I think she should
have no trouble getting admitted.

Did your tester commented on her coding ? There is a huge
difference between it, and her stellar symbol search.

The Verbal IQ is strong enough to qualify. Definitely apply. How is the homeschooling going? These scores validate your impression that the regular gifted program wasn't enough.

Thank you palodeagua for letting me know her GAI. I didn't have that number. I'm sure we have more than enough stuff that we could pull together on the portfolio/sample work side.

LOL, The tester did NOT comment on her coding. I asked about it and her stance was "that is common." I was hoping for more than that as at that time, DD was going through horrible stomach issues and anxiety at school and someone had mentioned that the way she handled that section might have been a clue. Oh well, on that. Hee hee.

Thank you, Grinity. I will work on getting her application together. The homeschooling is sooo much better for her. She is at the level that challenges her in everything 5th in some subjects, 4th in others and so on..and I've been working on compacting her lessons more. We start EVERYTHING with pre-tests now and only teach on the stuff she doesn't know. She is soo much happier. I feel like I got my daughter back.

It was a difficult decision but when I asked DD's teaching team at her GIEP meeting, "well, the pull out is great but what are you going to do about the rest of the week to challenge her?" I got major push back. They told me they could give her more but that is it (nothing challenging) and they CERTAINLY accelerate her language arts. OH, and if they moved her ahead to fourth grade, she would learn things just as quick and she would have the same issues.

Nice. That was the day I got clarity. : )

I appreciate the feedback very much. I have been enjoying reading posts here today. It is sooo nice to read about other parents who understand and have the same daily struggles.

Glad to hear that you are putting the application together. It is true that low coding is fairly common, but that doesn't mean it doesn't take a toll on the children who are living with it. My son has that split also, (for him is was part and parcel of his ADHD-Innatentive) and yup, it sure was frustration that school, especially in the elementary grades was so simple and so impossible at the same time.

It's also possible that the stomach issues are related to the extra sensitivity, right down to the neuronal level, that many gifted kids have.

I love that you are pretesting and look forward to the day when every teacher of every sort does this with every student.

Smiles,
Grinity

Thanks, Grinity.

Pre-testing definitely rocks! She is sooo super sensitive, my one friend has always told me that it was just the way her brain works and I think she is right.

Smiles right back at you!

I forgot to update you all.....
DD was accepted to DYS last month!!!

The resources have been fantastic and I got the support and encouragement from other DYS homeschooling mothers to look into a formal evaluation for SPD for my daughter (which she does have - BIG TIME). So, I guess she's technically, 2E then.

DD also has made an email friend via DYS who she loves communicating with and we hope to meet in person this summer.
Grinity, Cricket2 & palodeagua, Thanks for your encouragement and comments when I initially posted this.

Yay for you and your dd! WTG!






(I suck. Must finish application.)
edited to be clear on my use of the word "suck",
suck, verb
•to be bad at a particular subject or action.
I suck at math.

verb - intransitive
•to be inadequate, displeasing, or of poor quality