Hello, I am a 16-year-old who is trying to find answers to my intriguing intellectual profile. As a person who has always been extremely curious about intelligence, especially of gifted individuals, I have desired to know more about my scenario, but this is difficult to do when I have never found a cognitive profile like mine in my foray into studies and journals.

To preface: I was a difficult child in some aspects, and in others, a stunningly easy one. At the age of four, I was diagnosed with Asperger's due to delays in social communication and sensory issues, but I did not have language issues. Although I did not speak until the age of two, I was apparently reading at at 2 1/2 which is remarkable, even for a gifted toddler. As I grew older, I eventually lost the Asperger label (it became swapped with social anxiety disorder), although I still feel like an Aspie in many ways.

As a student, my academic achievement has always been extremely high, where I have usually been performing two to three grade levels above par in most subjects. A lot of this is because I can be pretty ambitious and even cutthroat when it comes to school. My latest accomplishment of achievement was receiving a 34 (99th percentile) on the ACT, with a 36 in math. Unfortunately, I live in an area with extremely poor funding for gifted education, and besides being selected for placement in a gifted classroom in sixth grade (they never did the COGAT, merely using my state test results to invite me), I have not been offered anything else supplementary and have had to blaze my own path with my aspirations.

When I was thirteen, I was administered the WISC-V as part of a neuropsychological evaluation. The results I got were... perplexing. Although my FSIQ was 136, upon looking at the subtests, things became more and more nebulous. A >90th percentile in all Verbal subtests except Similarities, the one most correlated with IQ? An "Extremely High" processing speed in lieu of the trope that insinuates that there is no such thing as a gifted child with high processing speed? A score on Digit Span so high that it becomes a 20 with Extended Norms, yet an average 11 on Picture Span? My psychologist never interpreted these results, especially not my relatively low GAI, and merely gave me the label of "Gifted". I was also given the CAS where I scored a 138 and the KTEA-III where I got a 140 on Academic Fluency.

WISC-V�Results:�October�2017

Name/Subtest������������SS��Percentile
FSIQ�������������������136��99

Verbal�Comprehension���121��92
���*Similarities��������11��63
���*Vocabulary����������17��99
����Information���������15��95
����Comprehension�������14��91

Visual�Spatial���������122��93
���*Block�Design��������13��84
����Visual�Puzzles������15��95

Fluid�Reasoning��������126��96
���*Matrix�Reasoning����14��91
���*Figure�Weights������15��95
����Picture�Concepts�����-��-
����Arithmetic����������19��99.9

Working�Memory���������127��97
���*Digit�Span����������19��99.9
����Picture�Span��������11��63
����LN�Sequencing�������16��98

Processing�Speed�������138��99
���*Coding��������������17��99
����Symbol�Search�������16��98
����Cancellation���������-��-

General�Ability��������126��96
Nonverbal��������������130��98
Quantitative�Reasoning�143��99.8
Cognitive�Proficiency��140��99.6


In third grade, I received the WJ-III, and received the following scores which I deem notable for context:

WJ-III Cognitive: October 2012 (age 8:5)

Name�������������������������SS��%������AE
GIA�������������������������133�99������13:2
Verbal�Ability��������������123�94������12:2
Thinking�Ability������������118�88������12:2
Cognitive�Ability�����������148�>99.9���17:1


WJ-III Achievement: October 2012 (age 8:5)


Name�������������������������SS��%������AE
Brief�Reading���������������123�94������11:10
Basic�Reading�Skills��������134�99������17:8
Reading�Comprehension�������120�91������11:4

Broad�Math������������������158�>99.9���14:7
Brief�Math������������������155�>99.9���15:0
Math�Calculation�Skills�����157�>99.9���13:7
Math�Reasoning��������������147�>99.9���14:3


Although it may appear that I am merely "Superior" in Verbal tests, I was administered a test called the CASL in Kindergarten which yielded me a standard score of 141 for language ability. However, I am more inclined to believe the more recent evaluations.

The thing which I am mainly intrigued about is my GAI being so much lower than my FSIQ, and the extremely poor Similarities score. I specifically remember being unable to describe how light and dark were similar (I thought I remember saying they were both ways to describe if something is visible, but the proctor did not continue after that). Given this information, it would appear from a pragmatic standpoint that I am not a gifted child, a storyline that differs from what I have been told my whole life, and frankly, what I have told myself my whole life. I don't want to sound conceited, but I do not feel like a 96th percentile GAI accurately conveys my achievements. A child at the 96th percentile would probably be the smartest in their elementary school class, nothing more, but I have consistently garnered the attention of my teachers and peers at a level which feels far above the 96th percentile.

I am wondering if anyone has experience or knowledge of someone in a similar boat as me, or could perhaps be able to take a stab at interpreting my test results in a novel way. Thank you!