Thanks, everyone, for all your thoughts and suggestions. I think I'll start with having his hearing checked, as my insurance will cover that and it should be a simple enough process. I don't know what to do with the school. We only had 30 minutes in the meeting and there were 7 people there, including his current teacher, who spent a lot of our time defending her work with him and telling us "he is young". Yeah, well, duh! Maybe a one-on-one with the principal is next.

I will ask the doctor about his OT when we have his checkup this summer. In the meantime, I'll try to encourage more biking and swinging.

Okay, I feel really silly asking this next question, but I'll do it anyway. I read the Davidson Young Scholars thing and the minimum on the WISC-IV is a 145 score. Mine is nowhere near that but since he was so low on two of the subtests, might it be worth applying and asking them to take that "9" into consideration? Or would it be a complete waste of time because they'd just toss it out?

They do pretty much insist on one set of scores, which you do have, with the achievement testing, albeit only in the math. So it is possibly worth the "portfolio" route. There are links there about what sort of thing they are looking for with those submissions, and since we didn't really go that route, I can't share much from personal experience.

Unfortunately they won't give much consideration for the IQ testing as is. They'll probably tell you that they get plenty of applications that meet their criteria. That does NOT meet that your son isn't a possible candidate....just that the IQ testing on its own (even with the achievement scores) probably won't get him in.

When we submitted a portfolio, they asked for a writing sample in my son's own handwriting--something that my child with motor dyspraxia and hypotonia would definitely have trouble doing, so we decided to wait and have him take the Explore test. When we found out that it was on the same day as one of his Cub Scout races and he didn't want to miss it, we decided it just wasn't worth it. I will not make my son miss something fun with other kids just to take a test. I would like for my son to try the Explore test next year though because I think he would do really well on it if therapy helps with some of his 2E issues.

You might want to skip right over the Explore Lori and try the ACT or the SAT. Both of those have a greater selection of testing dates, and both have MUCH faster results. DYS doesn't have criteria before 7th, but I'm sure they consider "close" scores at a younger age. It's a bit more of a marathon though, and might not work from that aspect.

My DD6 had testing last week and I will have similar questions to yours soon once I get results back. Cuirious, what is your tester doing about the social judgement area? I think DD6 is rather weak in that area compared how I see her other abilities.

Hi, momofonegirl,

I posted a new thread under advocacy called "social judgement" on Friday night. You might see that for ideas. I'm not sure what to do and the tester hasn't been all that helpful. He is attending some counseling sessions to help him express feelings, make decisions understanding the consequences (addressing some poor behaviours we have seen), and coping skills for stress. All her words, not mine. It's hard to tell because it's only been a few weeks, but I'm not sure it is helping. Check out the other thread and you can PM me. I'd love to have someone to exchange ideas with.