Out of Town
Consultation & Guidance When IQ Results Are Already Available

Sometimes a child has already been evaluated for intellectual ability, but the parents still feel they don’t know as much as they need to for guiding and making good choices for their child. When this is the case, I charge a file analysis fee based on my regular hourly rate. Once I know how much information will be sent to me and how long it is likely to take me to read and analyze it, I make a firm estimate of the eventual file analysis cost ahead of time. If it is decided to go ahead with a new assessment on the Stanford-Binet 5 with me, the file analysis fee is credited toward that expense. Unless this step is indicated, it isn’t necessary for out-of-town families to see me in person.

Group ability tests and some screening tests are not sufficient for me to get a good sense of the child’s overall intellectual profile, and I usually recommend further individual testing. We need to discuss this ahead of time to make sure I will have enough information to be helpful to you. It may still be possible for you to find a local assessment specialist and then send the results to me for file analysis and subsequent consultation.

The process: We email you the intake form, Developmental Milestones, which you complete and email or mail back to Educational Options (with perhaps a family photo attached). Then, after reading through the Developmental Milestones form, Dr. Ruf selects relevant readings for you – between 35 and 50 articles, and mails them to you to review prior to the phone consultation. 

If the child is six years or older, I recommend that all family members take the personality assessments I mail to your home for completion and you mail back for scoring and the printed feedback (8-15 pages depending on type). The fee is per person. The adult version is the Myers-Briggs Type Preferences®, so if the adults already know their types, there is a small fee for the same family and personally oriented information rather than the full fee. The children’s version is correlated with the Myers-Briggs Type Preferences® and is called the Murphy-Meisgeier Type Indicator for Children®. Parents may help with the completion of this inventory so long as they keep “poker faces” throughout and do not react to any of their children’s answers. This is the part that sounds unnecessary to the family just starting out trying to figure out what this will all cost and how useful will it be. Please ask someone on my website under References and Testimonials so that you feel comfortable about this. It is surprisingly valuable. 

A date and time for the phone consultation is set when the intake form is received and mailing packet is prepared. You place the long distance call to Dr. Ruf at the appointed time. The articles are numbered for you and Dr. Ruf keeps an identical stack in front of her for the consultation. This is where you receive your “Crash Course on Levels and Profiles of Giftedness” where Dr. Ruf walks you through the readings and explains what you need to know at this point in order to make good decisions and how to ask yourselves the right questions as you move forward. This covers levels and profiles of giftedness, gender differences, where your child and family "fit" in the world and on the intellectual continuum, how it affects friendships, careers, social and emotional issues and adjustment, and so on. It takes about 1.5 hours. You may also ask follow-up or afterthought questions by email after you’ve had a chance to read the articles and try some of the suggestions.

There is no direct charge for the intake form or materials, but a down payment by personal check or credit card is required before the reading materials are mailed. This is credited toward the hourly consultation fee – based solely on the time on the phone together – and the balance is paid by credit card when the phone consultation ends. Contact the office for the fee. 

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