Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Getting 4 year old tested, advice please!

Hi all,

So we bit the bullet and have scheduled an appt for DS4 to get evaluated at the gifted child clinic at Robert Wood Johnson. I am worried about him not playing along, and trying to make sure we have everything we need to make this as smooth and exciting process for him as possible. Do you have any suggestions on what to bring, (food and drink right?) what to say to him beforehand, how to encourage agreeability, etc? So far we have mostly just been saying (in a super excited way) that he is going to go play with a lady who knows all about games and puzzles and other fun things, and that he will get a chance to show her all the amazing things he knows in his brain and it's going to be so much fun and interesting etc. (he responses well to enthusiasm).

Thanks in advance!

I had DS tested at 4 years, 3 months. I told him he was going to play with a teacher who had a lot of fun games, and who was very excited to meet him. I told him they were going to have a lot of fun together. He did get nervous when we got there (at that time he didn't always like walking into new buildings/spaces), but the administrator was able to quickly calm him down and asked him things like favorite color, toy, etc.

Good luck!

It depends on what your child is like... we had DS go in at 3.5 for various reasons, and our psych said to be careful to say that he will do interesting activities with them, not games (play for DS always includes toys like trains)... so we told him that he is going to meet a few people that are very interested in meeting him and in doing activities with him.

We got there a little early so we could use the restroom before the testing, and let him get comfortable while we were in the waiting room. But DS tends to be by nature a calm observer and tends to love going to new places. And we did not want to emphasis the testing so we did not mention it until a few days ahead of time. We worried that if we mentioned it too much, he would get tense instead of being excited by something new.

They should know how to handle all types of children, and be able to work with most children to keep it fun and smooth. DS loved the whole process, and our psych mentioned that he detected DS had initially sandbagged one sub test, and was able to coax him to cooperate fully later in the session to get a more accurate assessment.

good luck!

Doing the testing in the morning may be a good idea as well -

Interesting activities vs games shouldn't be a problem for DS, as his 'games' often are things like math and puzzles, board games, sudoku etc - he isn't really a trains kind of kid. but it's a valid point and we will definitely add that into his prep talks.

The test is at 11am so I think that should be pretty good for him, time-wise - he doesn't usually get sleepy for a nap until at least 2 or 3, if at all, so I am hoping that timing will work well.

We will probably give him a small lunch before, I'm thinking, and then bring snacks and water as well. The 11am time does make lunch a bit tricky, but DS will probably not complain about picking up some food on the way...especially if it includes french fries .

I think it's great that your psych redid a subtest, notnafnaf - shows a someone committed to their work, which is awesome.

My DD tested there - am surprised you got in so quickly as there is usually a ridiculously long wait - did you grab a cancelled one?

Dr Lewis is great and really knows how to put kids at ease.

Take water and snacks for sustenance during the test particularly if it spans lunch time. I didn't do this with my DD like a typical oblivious dad and I definitely saw my DD flag towards the end.

Also be sure that he will tell the tester if he needs 'to go' so he will not be distracted by things like an uncomfortably full bladder.

You will have the chance to view the test via a two-way mirror should you wish to or at least I could. Quite insightful.

@madeinuk, Dr. Lewis apparently increased her appt days, and so has a lot more openings. We were surprised but the lack of wait time as well...we had called thinking we would be making an appt in a year or so, and then were faced with the option to get DS tested in a matter of weeks. It was a little crazy, actually.

The two-way mirror sounds amazing, I hope we are able to get a bit of insight in that regard.

And yes, definitely snacks and water. Thanks so much.