Gifted Assessment

Could Your Child Be Gifted? What You Need to Know

Giftedness describes children who display advanced abilities and skills compared to their peers. While giftedness can manifest in various domains, such as the arts or athletics, in an educational context, it generally refers to children who rank in the top 2-5% on cognitive ability assessments.

How to Recognize Giftedness in Your Child

If you're wondering whether your child might be gifted, consider these possible signs:

• Early Language Skills: Your child started speaking earlier than most children their age.
• Keen Observation: They notice details and make connections between different pieces of information.
• Advanced Language Use: Their sentences and vocabulary are more complex than those of their peers.
• High-Level Problem Solving: They excel at solving puzzles or other cognitive challenges beyond their age level.
• Strong Memory: Your child easily recalls facts and information.
• Curiosity and Problem-Solving Drive: They have a natural curiosity and enjoy exploring and solving problems.
• Independent Learning: They are motivated to learn more about topics that interest them, often without being prompted.

What Happens During a Gifted Assessment?

When assessing for giftedness, a cognitive evaluation, commonly referred to as an IQ test, is typically administered by a psychologist. This standardized test involves a series of tasks and questions that measure your child's cognitive abilities. Your child's performance is then compared to other children of the same age, with gifted children typically scoring in the top 2-5%.

Assessment involves meeting with parents, reviewing report cards and any available reports, cognitive testing, and feedback with parents. A copy of the final report is provided to parents. Sometimes other assessment measures are used if other concerns arise during the course of the assessment that Dr. Lisa thinks would be helpful in better understanding your child. This is always discussed with you first.

Costs for gifted assessments start at $1380.

What is the Benefit to Having My Child Identified as Gifted?

Understanding whether your child is gifted can help you and their educators create a learning environment that caters to their unique needs. Gifted children often require a different approach to learning, as they tend to grasp concepts more quickly or with greater depth than their peers. Without appropriate challenges, they may lose interest in school, develop poor study habits, or struggle when faced with more difficult tasks later on. Identifying giftedness allows for the development of a tailored educational plan that helps your child reach their full potential.

Some schools and programs (e.g., Westmount Charter School, CBE GATE program) require a gifted or cognitive assessment to be admitted into the school/program.

Contact Dr. Lisa to discuss whether a gifted assessment is appropriate for your child.