G&T / ed psych testing - recommendations and experiences?

[Hiddeninplainsight]

To start with, the reason why I am considering testing for DD is because there are issues at school and I am thinking that objective evidence that DD is a high potential learner/gifted might be useful (if she is). I have said before but just to reiterate I am sure she isn't profoundly gifted, and I would be surprised if she was highly gifted. I am not looking for her to be labelled (I wouldn't give her any label), but I am hoping it could help the school to provide differentiated work. I don't imagine she is the only gifted child in her class, but she is bored and under stimulated and because she is so quiet, I thought this might be helpful.

I will also add that I am dyslexic and I worried DD would be when she was little (she has lots of risk factors), but she learnt to read very fast. But she still has some features of a dyslexic brain (I'd say!),

With all that in mind, does anyone have any recommendations for or experiences ofEd psychs or the high performance assessments? Did they help you work with the school? DD is 7. I have looked at some stuff on here and have come up with a couple of names, but it is all a little old so I would be very grateful for any advice.

Our experience was that school didn't really know what to do with an Ed Psych report and it didn't make enough difference to be worth the cost for that reason alone. They were much more responsive to achievement testing showing how far ahead she was working - that they could process much more easily.

All of that only applies though if you're only testing for ability: if you think there are processing or dyslexia issues, then I'd do it in a flash.

What is achievement testing?

I should expand on that question. My experience was with school that any test dd did at home were disregarded. They would not test to her level as it was done by teacher assessment in class. They did not teach to a higher level. So they did not assess her at a higher level. So they had no evidence that she was at a higher level. So there was no need to teach her at a higher level. ...
So, do you mean independent achievement testing outside school? If so, where and how do you get this done?

Yes, it was done by the Ed Psych at the same time, and expressed in terms of years ahead in the report, so school could not ignore it as they could the IQ testing.

School then did their own proper achievement testing and then, for a while, provided some differentiation. Then it all went tits up and we moved school to one that was prepared to read an Ed Psych's report properly. Hurrah for that.

Chopchop thanks for explaining. It is useful to know. And your final approach of moving, made me laugh. I hope that it is all going well now.

If you don't mind me asking, who did you use? I am keen to find the right person, and so any recommendations would be fantastic. I saw an Ed Psych when I was a child (dyslexic) and she was terrifying and I spent years with an incorrect report because of her (was re-tested as an adult and the results were VERY different).

I should say it wasn't your approach that made me laugh, but the way you described the experience, and the fact that your new school knows how to read an Ed Psychs report properly. It was the Horrah for that which made me laugh. I'm a little anxious doing this will make the school free threatened and defensive, but it is so hard to be able to advocate for a child without knowing roughly what you are advocating for.

Hello, I would highly recommend Potential Plus. We paid (a lot) for their full day-long assessment and I firmly believe it has changed DS's life. We received an incredibly detailed report back about his sensory issues / behaviour / abilities which went way beyond the NHS psychologist's 2-sided report...I feel quite emotional writing about it now, because to see everything in black and white - not just about his abilities, but how these were affecting his behaviour was so helpful. They gave us strategies and suggestions to help him and work with the school and a long follow up conversation after the assessment. In short, it was brilliant - I come back to the report again and again to remind myself about what it said....eg he is acting up at school at the moment, so I am going in to see his teacher and will bring the report with me. Feel free to message me privately to ask about it and I will be happy to answer any questions. I should add my son was not an easy child to assess - he finds it v. difficult to sit down and concentrate, but after a difficult beginning he absolutely loved the day and still, 6 months later, talks about it and the assessor. The staff were kind and understanding and made us both feel completely at ease.