We frequently receive calls from parents enquiring about IQ testing for their child. There are different reasons parents may want to obtain this information. The most common reason we encounter is to meet the admission requirements to enroll their child in a school for gifted students. Often, such schools will want a formal assessment of a child’s intellectual potential using specific standardized tests as part of the information they collect to make an informed decision about whether the child would be a good fit for their curriculum. These assessments are often performed by a psychologist with the appropriate training and knowledge about how to administer and interpret these measures. Depending on the child’s age as well as other factors, such assessments usually take about 1.5 to 2 hours. While IQ testing can be performed as young as 2 to 3 years old, testing is most often performed on school-age children beginning at 5 or 6 years old.
IQ testing provides information about a child’s general knowledge and ability to reason and problem solve when presented with various types of tasks. It also looks at their memory and at the speed with which they process new information. Most children will obtain results within the Average range on IQ tests, which means that their intellectual skills are commensurate with what might be expected in most others their age. This is great news! A small number of children will obtain an IQ score in the intellectually gifted range, which means that they performed two standard deviations above the mean, or at the 98th percentile or higher. For children who perform in that range, they might benefit from access to programs or academic curriculums that are tailored to the characteristics and learning styles of very bright students. If you have questions regarding IQ testing or would like to schedule an appointment with Dr. Beaulieu, please call our office at 248.644.9466.
