Re: When is it reasonable to ask for a GAI?
ardenwood
06/18/26 08:53 PM
Was the testing done through the school? If so, there may be different rules ...
... but at least in the US, when you pay to have a private EP run testing, you typically receive at least:
- the scaled score and percentile rank for each subtest
- the composite score and percentile rank for the primary indices (VCI, VSI, FRI, WMI, PSI) and FSIQ
Spikiness and differences of 2-3 SD's (standard deviations) or more between relatively high and relatively low on the WISC-V is not uncommon with highly gifted, profoundly gifted, or twice-exceptional children (some may even say that score profile is in the majority among these populations) ... so I wonder how much experience with those kinds of populations, your EP has had?
In any case, if she has scaled scores for all of the subtests, she can calculate an FSIQ. Whether she is doing it electronically via Q-Global or looking up tables in the Technical Manual, there is nothing about the range of subtest scores that prevents an FSIQ from being calculated. She is correct that the wider the spread among the subtests the less reliable the FSIQ is considered to be. But she has already provided you with that expert overlay.
On a related note, be aware that schools have wide discretion on how they want to identify giftedness. If a school wants to stick to FSIQ and not use other indices such as GAI or EGAI, that is their call (not saying it's the right call, just saying it's their call and they don't have to change it.)
