Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment One child is gifted - do I get the other retested?

I would love some advice on this topic. My youngest child was just designated gifted (99th percentile)in the standard grade 3 testing. My oldest son who was in grade 5 this past year didn't test as gifted when he was in grade 3. I knew nothing about giftedness until recently. Now that I've read two parenting books and countless articles and forum posts about the characteristics of giftedness I am wondering if the first test missed my oldest. I'm considering having him retested.

He is intense, emotional, has had anxiety, is a perfectionist, hates school (has since grade 1), is extremely verbal (spoke early and has a really good vocabulary) and is quite a dominant older brother. I'm wondering if he's a visual spatial learner. He doesn't like to show his work when he does math, he can't seem to memorize his times tables, his spelling isn't very good and his teachers have commented that he is performing below his potential. All that said I'm not sure. His previous score was just above average. The test has changed (we're in Canada so it has gone from a CAT 4 to a new CHC testing). I'm not sure if that's relevant but it might be.

A few articles I've read have suggested that if one is it is quite likely that the other(s) are too. Add to that the sibling rivalry that arises from one gifted sibling. I have to be honest and say that life would be easier if they were both designated and we could operate from that point. Also, as I mentioned he is miserable at school and I would love to get to the bottom of why. He might be 2E which would mean we could figure out how to help him.

Thoughts/comments very welcome.

Another potential issue - what if the school test doesn't catch it? Do we get more extensive testing or drop it? How will this affect his self esteem (being tested and not being designated)? I know that will depend on how we deal with it. As I've said above life would be easier if they both were (in terms of rivalry) but of course it doesn't matter either way. Seems like life is easier if you aren't. Though again, he has many of the markers. Okay I'll stop rambling.

I don't know anything about the tests you named, but I can tell you that if you suspect he's 2E you should get him tested by a private psych who has experience with 2E kids. I would not trust the school psych with the testing in this case.

I agree with morgans-mommy. If you get him tested, be sure it's with someone who gets 2E kids.

Initial testing missed my older son. When the younger one started reading at age 2, I realized that there was something more going on with the older one than testing indicated. Several years and $$$ later, he was found to be HGish and to have dyslexia.

Not liking to show math steps is a typical V/S trait. Inability to memorize times tables or correct spelling are not. V/S gifted kids usually excel at these tasks, because they store the information in memory in visual form, and can then recall the entire thing at once, in excellent detail. This is where the term "photographic memory" comes from.

I think it's possible that these two challenges represent a possible memory deficit. It might be worth exploring with a full psych eval. Then again, you probably already have an idea about this one way or the other, from observation.

Another possibility is that he's just not applying himself. This can be from a combination of being under-challenged in school, and from a negative self-talk that he's the "dumb one" because his brother is tagged with the gifted label and he isn't.

I would have the other child tested (by a private psych) simply because he seems to have signs of being potentially 2e, and I'd want to understand his learning style and challenges in order to help him maximize his potential.

We have different levels of giftedness among our kids and they go to three different schools - it's really not such a huge issue re schooling, we simply explain that each child is going to the school that best fits their unique person We also celebrate all of their unique personalities, not just the intellectual gifts. And we see all of them as being smart and capable children and are sure that they each have that reassurance that we see them that way. In our case, there is an extreme difference in the abilities across all three as our oldest is EG, youngest is HG, middle is MG or perhaps no G at all (testing is variable). Whether or not they were in the same school program, they all clearly are very aware that oldest dd is out-of-the-ballpark smart relative to the others, and that HG dd is an uber-driven-high-achieving bright child. So there are times when issues due to that arise, but no more so than the usual sibling rivalry etc.

Best wishes,

polarbear

Thanks for your reply. That's interesting. It has made me look up the source for that info. Here is a link to it.

http://www.giftedservices.com.au/StartingPoints/VisualSpatial.html

Does that not fit with what you know?

I should have responded more thoroughly. You may be right that he's not applying himself - perhaps because he has been distracted by the environment, missed things and now feels inadequate, or perhaps he just needs more encouragement.

He just learned about his brother's designation at the end of the school year so that likely hasn't had an impact.

I wrote a reply and it was lost so if this comes up twice - this is why.

I dug up the link where I found the mention of visual spatial learners have difficulty with times tables/spelling. Here it is.

http://www.giftedservices.com.au/StartingPoints/VisualSpatial.html

This info doesn't fit your experience though?

My understanding of Visual Spatial learners is different from Dude's, sort of. That the do in fact struggle with rote learning type tasks (spelling, times tables) but if presented in a way that caters to their visual strength may in fact do very well at these areas.

My visual spatial child can't spell worth a darn and took a long time to memorize times tables (to be honest, I'm not sure he has them memorized even now - he may still be recalculating every time he multiplies!)... but there's no question he's a VS learner/thinker.

polarbear