If your child exhibits any of the symptoms listed in the introduction, you may have a gifted child. More importantly, listen to your gut--parents know if something is going on with their child.
Listen to how your child does in school. Is the school complaining about your child's performance and behavior in class? Is your child distracted, bored and acting out by bothering other children in class? Academic achievement does not always equal giftedness, but many gifted children are bored and fidgety in class, which can often be mistaken for ADD.
While you may opt to allow the school to test your child, be aware that schools are often under-funded and ill-equipped to properly handle gifted testing. It is strongly advisable to do your own private testing as a second opinion for peace of mind.
Talk to your pediatrician about recommendations for clinical psychologists. A clinical psychologist evaluation is helpful to evaluate the child's whole emotional well-being and identify or rule out any conditions like ADD, anxiety or bipolar disorder.
The clinical psychologist will meet with the parents, without the child present, to hear their perceptions about their child. At the conclusion of that interview, the psychologist will send the parents, teachers and caregivers detailed evaluations to fill out about the child's behavior and temperament.
Once the evaluations are completed and returned to the clinical psychologist, she will quantify and plot the data on a chart for behavior and temperament to determine if the child shows any signs of a clinical disorder.
The clinical psychologist will then meet with the child and conduct an interview to assess the child. The parents may be present for the interview if the child wishes.
At the end of the interview, the child will be sent into another room to play or read, while the psychologist reviews the evaluation findings with the parents. If the psychologist feels it is warranted, he/she will recommend the child for further giftedness testing by an educational psychologist.
The child will go for gifted testing with an educational psychologist. Depending on the child's age, the most common tests used are the Wechsler Intelligence Scales, which are geared for different age groups, the Woodcock-Johnson III, and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales. These tests are often fun for the child, as they involve matching, quizzes and play. Children don't often realize that they're being "tested."
Once the gifted specialist completes testing, she will need a week or 2 to complete the assessments and write up the results. She will then make an appointment with the parents to review the tests and make recommendations on the child's course of learning.