Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Good age for first testing?

Starting to think more seriously about when we should have an assessment (WISC, etc.) done for YDS5. Older son was tested just before he turned 7. YDS is just starting to read and has limited math exposure so far (although he can do some adding and subtracting, counts past 100, etc.).

What's a good age range?

We are within driving distance of a well-known university-based center, but they have a waitlist, so we need to plan ahead. Also, we hope to be relocating within the next few years and I just glanced at a recommended assessment clinic in one of the target areas... more than triple what we would pay here, so that's a consideration.

I would say to wait until he is 6 so that he can take the WISC. After that, I don't see any point in waiting as you're less likely to run into test ceilings at a younger age, anyways.

We tested our DC when there was a need for the scores in order to apply for a program. When tested, DD was 8 and DS was 6.

Could he take the SB? I don't think the age matters as much for this test. I don't think the WISC V has extended norms available yet...perhaps aeh or someone here can comment on the best test.

Otherwise, I agree with George.

Our tester (who had already tested DD and had used extended norms) recommended we wait until DS was 6 so that he could take the WISC IV, which had extended norms available. She ended up using extended norms for DS, so it was a good recommendation.

I don't think that reading or math abilities matter for the WISC, as it is an IQ test - so I would not worry about that. They would come into play if you decided to have him also do achievement testing, such as the WIAT. Best of luck!

We had ds tested about 6 years 5 months. just for a look-see.

Our DS was not very cooperative at 6.5 when we tested. This wasn't a shock to us given his personality, shyness, etc but we had to test to sort out some things with school. We ended up testing him again a little over 2 years later to get a more accurate picture.

We're waiting until 7 to test DD. She likely would have been cooperative enough at 6 or 6.5 but we've been maxing out our benefits on DS's more pressing issues and it hasn't been as urgent of a need (the school has been way better and recognizing and dealing with her than they ever were with DS even with documentation to back it up...).

One thing to think about is how long schools consider the results valid and the re-testing window. If you are planning on moving to a place that only accepts scores less than a year old and you can't do the same test within a 2 year window for example. Some of our school boards are very picky about which tests they accept and don't accept WPPSI so that is another thing to consider (assuming you are planning to use the scores to get into a school or program).

7 or 8 is when IQ stabilizes from what little I have read.

Testing too early could put undue pressure on a kid if the stabilized IQ doesn't settle out at as many sigmas north of average later- at least, that would be my main fear concerning early testing, I think.

Good advice above. The WISC-V does not have extended norms at the moment, but the scuttlebutt is that they are on the horizon. I do feel its standard norms have a better ceiling than the IV did.

Thank you, everyone! It looks as though we should wait another two years, then (or nearly that long). I suppose we can always travel back to this testing center if whatever is available is as expensive elsewhere as I fear. Question re age ranges - is there a significant difference between say nearly 7 and 7? I'm thinking timing of assessment and the school year. It worked well to test in the summer last time.

Main reasons for assessment are advocacy support (it's been very helpful to have a printed report when working with ODS' school) and tailoring learning as much as seems appropriate. And, because it just seems fair given that ODS was assessed. :-) Also, YDS doesn't seem as "mathy" as his brother, who topped out some of the scores in that regard, but I don't want to assume he's not, if that makes sense.

Not really. The age norms are in 3-month brackets. There is a task change in some subtests (notably Coding, and less so Symbol Search) from age 7-11 to 8-0, but otherwise most of the subtests should be reasonably unaffected.

I would put in a word for early testing. We tested in the early to mid 3s - these scores can't be used for DYS and are likely only an crude approximation due to the early testing age. But were a real wake up call for us a parents. As a result of testing our whole original carefully thought out middle of the road educational plan went in the garbage and we developed a whole new plan (which was more or less to go full speed ahead at Warp Factor 9).