Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment JHU CTY testers or the average Joe, does it matter

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I'd go with someone more experienced with gifted kids. We didn't, and I regret it. We went with Jane Doe because she was on our insurance. I think she didn't administer the test well and she didn't interpret it well. She had no advice for educational placement. My 2 cents.

And I would say go to the gifted test center b/c they've seen it all. I would have loved to have had one stop shopping. Also, if you go to a well-respected GT test center, hopefully you'll be able to avoid the midiagnosis of GT kids thing. I don't know anything about the quality of the service at JHU (and wonder about them not returning emails or phone calls), but I'd say that if there's any chance your DS is 2E, you should go somewhere where they're trained to recognize both E's and advise you as to how best to accommodate both the stengths and the weaknesses.

You should be able to get the testing for free through the school system. To get the school to do testing, you can request a meeting (in my sd it's called a child study meeting). Make the request in writing, and the school has 10 days to meet. If you can make a convincing case for a learning disability, they should agree to psychological testing (here it's WISC and WJ). You'll have an answer to your gifted question at the end of the testing too.

The two big hurdles are the convincing case and the time. In our state, the sd has 65 working days (the days the school administration works) to get the testing finished, meet, and decide what to do with your child. If he qualifies for an IEP, they get 30 calendar days to get it written and approved. That's a lot of time to wait, but the price is right. As for making the convincing case, you should go in with evidence (i.e., he's really good at math, but has problems reading) and be a little pushy. If they think you will go over their heads to have your kid tested (at least in our sd), they'll go ahead with the testing.

Awesome, MON. Glad you got some closure on this decision. Now you just have to wait(easier said than done!)




Freaking brutal. But be grateful you KNOW this now. It's easier to make progress when you know what you are dealing well.


Hooray for the good guys/girls. You mentioned that DS knows he is not taken out for gifted. If this is adversely affecting him perhaps you might think about letting him know his last year teacher believes in him, in an age appropriate way.


This kind of stuff affects me too. Just remember, they are responsible for him for a year. You are responsible for his entire youth. You do what you need to and ignore the rest. In ten years you won't even remember that they glared at you.


I agree with DH on this one. It's irrelevent and out of your control. I will tell you that if a teacher either wants a kid in the GT program or OUT, they have all kinds of assessments and they can paint any picture they want if so motivated.

Go get the testing and then revisit with school IMO. In the meantime, give son as many breaks(mental health days) from school as he needs and you can get away with.

This is just a test of your metal. You can do this.

I would just like to add that you may want to initiate testing with the school district as well since they are not obligated to use your outside results and you do have such a time lag from request to results.

I would also like to suggest that you look at the Wrightslaw website. Based on what your saying, especially the part Passing Grades, IQ scores & evaluations of students with learning disabilites: Letter to Lillie/Felton. This is a letter about special ed eligibility published by the Office of Special Education Programs in 1995. My understanding is that these requirements apply today with IDEA 2004. This gives more information about how each child must be measured against his own expected performance and not against an arbitrary general standard. It discusses how none of the seven area listed to determine disability can be excluded in this determination. It also gives information about eligibility and placement decisions. The website on a whole is very informative about what is actual law and how it can be interpreted.

Armed with information from the website I was able to insist (in a not so subtle way after many really "nice" conversations) that my daughter be fully tested (she had been partially tested before). Her private evaluations show she is 2E. The school was insisting that she be placed according to her weakest subject and with Aspergers and Dysgraphia that is LA, while not taking in to account her abilities in every other subject. At the same time they wouldn't even consider a disability or even giving her added help in writing because she "isn't failing" as they put it. We are still waiting on the schools testing... Once you are armed with and understand IDEA you can become a fierce advocate. You might also request your schools written education policy so you know what they do or don't have documented in this area as well.

Hi MON,
Glad you are going to JHU for testing. And I do like the idea of simulaniously getting the school to test also - because my son really loved being pulled out of class for 1-1 interaction that was challenging and interesting.

I call it "Testing and Accomidating" all in one.

I think it's worth spending the cash on private testing so you know what your child might need from the school. As for getting the school to 'accept' what the tester said - lets just say that we BTDT parents have met with a variety of results.

I don't know if this is true, but I remember one of us saying that a school admin told her, "I really hate it when the parents go for IQ testing, because then when the numbers are hight, the parents think that their child is gifted!"

I would guess that lots and lots of school folks distrust the IQ numbers because what they are looking for in a student just isn't well measured by an IQ test. In our district an Admin tolds us during elementary school, that 'in the middle school we have handfuls of kids just like yours.' That tells me that our 'very-high-up' District Administrator doesn't understand much about gifted or about Math.

In elementary school it's all about concrete learning, and many highly gifted kids will look 'just like' bright kids or average kids when it comes to penmanship, spelling, math facts, and taking turns on the playground. If elementary schools believed that children could process abstract information, then elementary school teachers would be in a much better position to 'see' what's different about our kids. Some 'gem' teachers do anyway, but they tend to be few and far between.

Best Wishes,
Grinity