Testing for gifted children?

[Heavenly]

Has anyone had their gifted child undergo psychoeducational testing?  My daughter Olivia is almost 9 and she is going to be starting testing next Monday (October 24) for giftedness.  It is going to be a whole panel of tests, not just an IQ test, because the psychologist we are using says she likes to do a full panel to get the broad picture of the child's abilities.  Olivia is excited because she loves tests.  Has anyone else found this to be a worthwhile endeavor?  Do you feel the results are helpful?

[joensally]

My children liked it and the results have been very helpful.  They haven't proven to be the magic bullet with school, but they've helped.  IME, it's all about individual teachers and administrators in getting a child's needs met.  This year is the best year yet with DS, and I think part of that is that the teacher had DD previously so we had an existing, positive relationship, and she's an exceptional teacher.

[hergrace]

My son hated it and he underperformed due to anxiety, but the results were very revealing.  The school was unable to accommodate him, but with the test scores in hand plus results from a couple of other assessments, I could identify precisely where the school was failing him. When I pulled him out to homeschool, the test results also gave me the power to have my husband on board.

[jaylivg]

Can you just go to a children's psychologist and ask to get your child tested ??

[serenbat]

go to one that is experienced with gifted -not just any

 there are some listed here - 

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/psychologists.htm

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/professionals.htm

[Heavenly]

Of course if you are paying for it.  Olivia is already receiving enrichment in most stuff in school but she still wants to be challenged more.  We are doing the testing to see exactly what we are dealing with.  It is an extensive process - about 5-6 visits of 2 hrs each and for us the cost is $2200 but our benefits cover 90% of it so its not a big deal.

Originally Posted by jaylivg 

Can you just go to a children's psychologist and ask to get your child tested ??

[Heavenly]

The practice that we are going to has 6 psychologists.  We are going to the one who specializes in gifted children.  My son was tested through the same practice but his was for severe learning disabilities and we saw a different psychologist.