The purpose of intelligence testing with children.

What is the purpose of intelligence tests in children? They help

doctors, teachers and psychologists diagnose numerous learning

difficulties such as cognitive deficits, learning disabilities,

processing disorders, attention disorders and mental retardation. To

accurately identify any of these, the tests should be conducted in

conjunction with other psychological evaluations as well as physical

testing. Combined, these tests help professionals build strategies best

suited to help these children function and progress in learning. An

individualized education plan (IEP) can be set into place to address

dysfunctions or disabilities.

What value do I place on these tests? I place a lot of value on these

tests for without them my daughter would have not been provided the

early intervention and education plans to help her achieve to the best

of her abilities. My daughter, whom we adopted at age 1½, was tested at

age 3 and diagnosed with a cognitive delay.

education

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At age 7, she was diagnosed

with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Then at age 11,

she was diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing Disorder. All these

were the result of extensive intelligence and psychological evaluations

utilizing a wide variety of approaches to be certain accurate results

were obtained. They were valuable in that they helped the professionals

all along the way to develop IEPs to devise a plan within her learning

capabilities. If it were not for these tests, my daughter would have

fallen way behind and would have never had the chance to reach her

potential. As you can imagine, I place high value on intelligence tests

when used as intended.

Are intelligence tests are biased? I don't believe they are. I know

there is a lot of reasons why people would think they are biased, but I

don't believe they are valid reasons. For...