"What a school psychologist says..."

by Phoebe Fong-Smith

Public school students are constantly referred to school psychologists from different referral sources and for a variety of reasons. These students include those with learning disabilities, behavioral problems, attention deficit disorders and physical disabilities as well as those at the top end of the scale.

A senior school psychologist with the Education Department, who assesses an annual average of about 250 students, says, "Most of these students are primarily school referrals. Some are from doctors to us via the parents. That's in consultation with the school.

"There are also referrals from psychiatrists and other professionals like the Child and Mental Health Services. Others are by special requests from parents who want to know what to do with their children, and early-age enrolment applicants referred from the Department."

The psychologist averages that out of the 250 students referred to him for assessments each year, about 20 would be requests for identification of intellectual giftedness. However, he points out that not all the 20 come through as intellectually gifted. Some are just bright children or can read well.

He adds, "Since the launch of the gifted policy, requests for IQ tests to identify gifted students have increased dramatically. More teachers and parents are thinking that maybe their children are intellectually gifted.

"Many parents see their children as exceptionally bright or at least brighter than the next child. They want to believe their children are gifted. The fact is, not every child thought to be highly intelligent is even brighter than the average child.

"Gifted children are different. They exhibit certain traits and characteristics that a regular child or a bright child will not. And that's when an IQ test can clearly identify the ones with very high or superior intellectual potential."

Indeed, quite the opposite has been known to happen. A small number of children whom their class teachers have consistently described as 'slow workers', 'disrupters' and 'ADD sufferers', have since been identified as intellectually gifted through IQ tests during their psychological assessments.

The psychologist recalls, "Two years ago, I had this Year 7 student referred to me for integration. According to her referral file, she wasn't doing any work, she was dirty, she wasn't organized, she was unkempt, she didn't have any friends, she sat by herself and didn't even bother talking to anyone.

"But when I assessed her, her verbal comprehension area was stretching to 99.6%. That's 135-plus. I'd ask her a question and she'd take her time thinking out aloud, 'Um, the answer could be this or could be that ... may also be this.'

"I'd watch her sitting there mentally processing her own 7 or so answers for a flat question. I finally suggested that she just gave me one answer so I could get her score. That was so fascinating because she was actually thinking on different lines of thoughts and reasoning.

"And there I was - fully expecting to be assessing someone down the other end of the scale. My biggest difficulty was convincing her teachers, who had written her off, that we were talking about the same girl. I told them her IQ was so high she could do a university course then if she so chose.

"During her assessment, I found out that she used to stay up very late at night reading. I asked her when she would stop reading. 'After half an hour? One hour?' 'No - not until I finish the book.'

"So it could be any time and that's why she was so tired coming to school. Her mother used to battle with her every morning about how many school books she should have in her school bag. It would take her 5 minutes just to get the right number into her bag. Obviously she was not interested in school work because she was so bored.

"She wouldn't do her homework so she wasn't prepared. Her teachers, in despair, would just send her off to the Integration Co-ordinator's room where she could sit and read all day. It was fascinating how she tricked the system, tricked her teachers into doing exactly what she wanted to meet her own needs.

"So I suggested to her disbelieving teachers to let her do Year 10 Physiology. She actually started doing her work then because she was interested. But her teachers said she still had to pass her Year 7. The school has since become more flexible.

"It could have been such a waste. She would have left school - badly, too. I've no doubt about it. And to think she was referred for integration when she was right up there. My job was to convince the teachers and the school. That was pretty challenging."

When asked what advice he would have for those parents who seem to be constantly battling with their gifted children, the psychologist says, "I know it's extremely difficult to keep these children stimulated, to keep them occupied positively at home. That's the challenge to parents to meet their needs.

"Parents have to realize that even though their child has such a high learning capacity, the child matures the same way, emotionally, as that of a regular child of the same age. They have to keep reminding themselves that although the child is very articulate, he is still a seven-year-old or a ten-year-old. That's the challenge.

"Parents, with all good intentions, would treat these kids a little more 'adult' than they really are. They have to remember these kids, irrespective of their high IQs, still have to go through their normal developmental stages in many ways."

© 1997 Phoebe Fong-Smith

 © NSWAGTC 2007

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