To want to get my child tested by an educational psychologist....

[royaljelly]

Sorry quite long as a bit of backgroung is needed.

My daughter turned 2 at the end of June 2011 and she is really intelligent (may be biased).

The main factors are:

Can count to 20 in English

Can count to 8 in Spanish, (we do not speak spanish and think she has picked this up from Dora),

She recognises if you ask her to count in Spanish or English.

Often counts backwards from 10 correctly, even whilst playing

Will remember statements, such as, 'We will build a den after dinner'. As soon as dinner is done we have to build a den.

Recognises colours such as pink, purple, brown, as well as primary ones and will get the correct crayon even if the wrapping is a different colour.

Recognises shapes and can draw them if asked.

Spots mumbers in the street and calls them out.

Has circled the toys in the Argos catalogue for Xmas.... we thought she was scribbling but she has a definate view on what she wants, (quite a tomboy and has missed out the entire girly range except for a kitchen).

As parents we thought she was rather bright, but thought our own biased views made this the case. This has now been picked up by her childminder and even people at the bus-stop who think she is older than she actually is.

I have been on the Mensa website and they have said that for children under 10, their tests be carried out by an educational psychologist.

They seem to mainly carry out tests on ADHD or troubled kids and partner now thinks that if I go ahead and organise this it may label her.

I think that if we get advice on encouraging and building her intelligence then this will benefit her in the future.

I should add that we do not sit her down and command her to draw shapes or count, but do this as part of family fun time ie: sat on one parents knee as we play Trivial Pursuit with her much older brothers, (she gets to move the counter).

Do I go ahead with the tests or not. I am afraid of becoming complacent with her intelligence and not allowing her to have the best opportunies in the future.

OP, I am embarassed for you. I seriously thought you were a troll and a very funny one at that. But evidently not. You are actually like a caricature of the insufferable boasting pushy parent that everyone avoids in the playground.

Cop yourself on. Firstly your child is not exceptional. My child could do all that and more at 2. She walked early, talked early, taught HERSELF to read... I could go on but I'm already embarassed. Boasting is pathetic.

You are doing your child no favours. She will find your pushy attitude a liability in years to come. You talk about 'securing her place in the jobs market' -can't you realise how ridiculous you sound? What if she wants to become a nun or a SAHM or has no interest in the life you have planned in order to stroke YOUR ego?

You are the stereotypical pushy Mother whose kid is bright but no more.

Oh and it's savant not sauvant.

but dont forget she cant be labelled with autsim, so no savant

PosiesOfPoison, you're welcome to pick my brains.

pebbledasher Out of interest, how reliable are the tests at 4 years?

DS1 was tested then and I was because his speech was mainly conspicuous by it's absence. He came out with a high result, but I think maybe IQ tests are geared for Aspie types - they're very visual activities.

Anyway. OP. I have a reasonably high IQ. I am also incapable of organising tasks, of concentrating on anything outside my area of interest and left school at 16 with 5 GCSEs. IQ in an of itself indicates precisely nothing other than potential.

"the difference in ability evens out as kids get older."

Not always, of course. There will always be a range of intellectual ability, we don't all end up 'evened out'!

OP, I have two children, both were bright and one 'gifted' by some definitions (First at Oxford last year in a science subject, now stretched a-plenty by her DPhil) and my best advice to you is not to bother with testing; ensure your DD is surrounded by enrichments - books, paper, pens etc; keep playing those board games and having family fun; give her all the support you can in the interests and passions she displays; give your daughter's teachers a chance to work her out when it comes to school, and trust them - most teachers are on the look-out for talents to nurture, and are delighted to find a bright, curious, able spark. I never had to tell anyone DD2 was bright, or offer up an IQ slip as a hint they should be giving her the right sort of teaching!

Possibly consider a musical instrument or two when DD is old enough - the discipline required for this, plus the lessons learned in failure overcome by persistence is very useful for children to whom everything else comes easily (and the ability to play an instrument is a lifetime gift, if they take to it.)

Whatever her IQ is, these things will "allow her to have the best opportunities in the future" and will "encourage and build her intelligence" - plus you giving her all the support you can with her own interests and passions, as, in the end, what comes from inside DD herself will be what motivates her most.

Good luck and have fun with your bright little spark.

See? Htf did that number get in there? FGS. I need a PA to MN for me.

Oh. my. lord

can't belive this is for real. What the op describes is not even exceptional!

The best predictor of child iq is parental iq, and we can clearly see that op is no genius.

I just saved you five hundred bills, op, no thanks necessary.

She sounds bright but not exceptional and not within the remit of 'the gifted'

Some genuine examples of early 'giftedness' that are on record include at 8 months old turning the pages in a picture book in the right direction and working from the first page to the last (I shit you not) and with regard to maths at an early age (eg earlier than 2) grouping numbers...for example having 21 bricks and putting them into 7 groups of 3, and recognising number patterns.

With older siblings and a stimulating home environment MOST 2 year olds will appear to be advanced in some areas. But true 'giftedness' requiring input from an ed psych is a different ball park.

I do understand where you are coming from, when my DD1 was 11 months old she used to start crying when she got down to 1 or 2 chocolate buttons. I took this as a sign that she obviously grasped number and quantity and was convinced that she'd be at 'oxbridge' by 4 Thank god mumsnet wasn't invented then!!!

If anyone is reading all these posts about 'my dc was exceptionally bright as a toddler and it turns out they're autistic' and worrying about their child because they are bright it's worth remembering that one doesn't necessarily imply the other.

I feel very sorry for your DD.

Our 2.4 year old is streets ahead of his peers verbally, though seems not that interested in counting other than as a fun "nursery rhyme". But, so what? I studied physics at Cambridge and was always top of my school, so would expect him to be above average.

oh, ick.

herd who was it? I genuinely don't know! LMAO.

People with a high IQ are statistically more likely to have a kid with an average IQ. It's all in the bell curve.

OP, some things glare out at me from your initial post:

My daughter turned 2 at the end of June 2011 and she is really intelligent (may be biased) you are, but you are her mother so you are allowed to be

Can count to 8 in Spanish, (we do not speak spanish and think she has picked this up from Dora), This may be directly related to length of time spent watching said TV show

Will remember statements, such as, 'We will build a den after dinner'. As soon as dinner is done we have to build a den. Completeley ordinary.

Recognises colours such as pink, purple, brown, as well as primary ones and will get the correct crayon even if the wrapping is a different colour. What kind of freaky mess-with-your-head crayon shop do you buy from, wrapping them in the wrong colour, or did you do this to test her??

Has circled the toys in the Argos catalogue for Xmas.... Exceptional brightness would have been writing her list, creating a montage of images all categorised. Circles drawn around a picture of a toy she would like?

This has now been picked up by her childminder and even people at the bus-stop who think she is older than she actually is. How long do you loiter around bus stops in order for randoms to get a view on your daughter;s intelligence? Also, other adults are allowed to say "oooh, isnt she bright"...it does not make said child a genius.

They seem to mainly carry out tests on ADHD or troubled kids and partner now thinks that if I go ahead and organise this it may label her. It will label her. TBH though, you sound like the kind of mother who would LOVE a label, any label, on their child, in order to differentiate them from mere mortals.

Do I go ahead with the tests or not. I am afraid of becoming complacent with her intelligence and not allowing her to have the best opportunies in the future. in short, no. NOT testing her will not prevent her having opportunities to grow. Testing her will eentually set a barrier for her to feel she has to work above.

In my opinion, we all excel at something and are equally shit in another area. Do not presume that she is an all-round wonder. Eventually, there'll be something that she's just not very good at. For the love of god, please don't make her feel bad for that!

Reliability of tests is a massive topic but, at a basic level, the tests provide a sample of the child's knowledge and ability to do the test given on the day. For children who are developing typically, their score gives some indication of their future trajectory of development. However, it is possible to get normal scores at 4 and have completely abnormal development because so many of our adult skills only really start developing in later childhood and teens.

So basically, a low IQ score at 4 is usually a sign of problems, e.g. maybe with global delay or a problem with attention and compliance. A good score is usually good but by no means a guarantee of future normal development.

OP she sounds like she is within the normal range for her age

I completely agree! My son was doing all you describe at 2 and more, it didn't cross my mind for one minute that he was exceptionally gifted. I thought it was slightly unusual that we were having a conversation about the difference between 'crowd' and 'audience' but he had a massive learning spurt and then regressed a bit, then another learning spurt...

Wtf will you do with a bit of paper that confirms your dd is 'above average' at 2?

What did the midwife say? I NEED to know

Doesn't everyone think their 2 y o is a genius?

Agree that op's daughter sounds fairly normal. My ds could do all that at 2, except for the Spanish because we didn't watch Dora. My dd, otoh, does watch Dora and knows heaps of Spanish. Is she going to be our family rep at mensa, then?

Oh and x posted with candle but I agree!

larry I don't think it is a socialist concept of intellect. IQ distribution is a bell curve so the large majority of people will be somewhere in the middle even if they start ahead. So most do level out even out and those that stay ahead are the exception rather than the rule.