AboutCarol Bainbridge Expertise I can answer most questions on parenting gifted children, from infants on. Questions can be about parenting, advocacy, and support and I can provide suggestions for toys and books gifted children love. I can even help you determine whether your child is gifted or bright, and I can point you to more information you might need. I can answer some questions about programs for gifted children, but can`t help much with information on colleges. Visitors wanting to know if their children are gifted might want to read the article "Is My Child Gifted?" before asking a question.
Experience I am the parent of a gifted child and have been working with other parents of gifted children for 13 years, helping them find support and providing them with information. I founded a local gifted organization and helped organize a parent day for a national gifted conference. I have been an active member of my state's gifted association since 1999 and created and maintain their Web site. In addition, I have created a website for parents of gifted children who are looking for toys and books for their children: www.giftsforlearning.com.
I am also the Guide About.com Gifted Children Site.
Organizations National Association for Gifted Children. Board member of state gifted association.
Expert: Carol Bainbridge Date: 5/27/2008 Subject: testing for giftedness?
Question Hi Carol. I sure that my daughter is verbally gifted but I'm wondering if I could/should have her assessed. She is 22 months and has a vocabulary of at least 500+ words. She speaks in complete sentences (May I please have some more crackers), uses verbs properly, reacts very instinctually to others with excuse me, sorry, bless you, please/thank you, are you OK?, as well, she knows all of the alphabet and words that start with that letter (except about 5). She can clearly say words like "crocodile, elephant, batteries, ladybug". She can count to 10 and can differentiate different species of birds on sight and by hearing their songs. She knows the names of various plants and insects in our yard as well. We did sign language with her as a baby and she knew probably 100 signs before she could talk and she would make sentences with her signs too (more milk please). She has a great sense of humour and is very patient for a 2 year old. She takes turns, shares and is very empathetic. She has her share of meltdowns (usually if she is tired or hungry) but she seems to be able think well beyond her age. If she acts out, she says Time-out and goes and sits on the stairs. She clearly understands the house rules. She also (since infancy) taken things apart or at least tries to. Evey toy would be flipped over and examined from all angles. She loves tools and fixing things.
I knew she was smart and could verbalize better than other kids her age but when I heard some milestones on the radio for 2 year olds and she is mile and miles beyond that so I thought I'd look online. My question is, should I have her assessed? Should I just keep up with what I'm doing and do nothing? I would love to know where she sits with her verbal skills and if it might spill into other things like math, music, or writing.
Answer Hi Janice,
I understand your wanting to know more about your daughter's abilities, but testing at 22 months is not worth the money and effort to get it done. IQ scores really aren't stable until a child is 5, or at least 4 for gifted kids.
At this point, you want to ask yourself what difference it would make if you got a number attached to your daughter. Look at your own question: "Should I just keep up with what I'm doing and do nothing?" That is an interesting question in itself. Are you actually doing *nothing*? What would you do if your daughter had a test score that put her in the gifted range? If you would do something different, I'd have to ask why you aren't doing something different now? What difference does a number make?
Even if testing was a good idea at this point, it wouldn't tell you anything about your daughter's potential in music and writing, although it might tell you something about math. However, you can find that out yourself by exposing your daughter to music and to math concepts. You don't need testing to tell you it's a good idea to expose your child to different ideas and opportunities.
