Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional *NOT* adhd?!?

So... yeah... we finally got the results back from the computer-based testing my son did back at the end of October. It was the IVA+Plus. And apparently, according to this, my son does *not* have ADHD. At all. What the test did show was a Mild to Moderate Impairment in Visual Prudence, and a Mild Impairment in Visual Sensory/Motor. He showed zero signs of hyperactivity during the test, and the rest of his results:

Auditory Attention - Exceptional Range
Auditory Sustained Attention - Superior Range
Auditory Dependability - Superior Range
Auditory Stability - Superior Range

Visual Attention - Superior Range
Visual Sustained Attention - Above Average Range

From her report "(DS) showed a superior ability to respond reliably to auditory stimuli. His response times did not excessively vary under low demand conditions. In respect to recognition reaction time, (DS) was able to respond in a reliable manner. He demonstrated superior ability in comparison to his peers in maintaining his speed of responses to auditory stimuli under high demand conditions."

Her conclusion "Based on the testing results of the IVA+Plus Assessment, I believe that (DS) would benefit from non-verbal IQ testing utilizing the Naglieri Abilities Test. <explanation of the NNAT> This test can give us the information we need to make sure (DS) is placed in the appropriate academic program and to determine if he should be placed in advanced learning classes or classes for gifted children."

She also recommends doing some more testing for anxiety and working on that and social skills in counseling with her.

Honestly, I am pretty amazed by these results. I want to be relieved, but I am mostly just confused, lol! Has anyone else had this test administered to their children?

I'm a little puzzled as to why anyone would recommend the Naglieri, a purely visual, non-verbal test, to assess someone with visual deficits and auditory strengths for giftedness. Is it simply that the Naglieri is the usual test that that tester administers or that the school district uses? Or is it that the WISC-IV and the SB-V both have high visual-motor demands on some subtests, and the Naglieri doesn't require as much visual motor coordination? You might ask your tester about the RIAS, if the lack of visual-motor demands is the reason for choosing the Naglieri. It has verbal items as well as non-verbal, the visual items are clearer and less visually cluttered than the WISC-IV, and there are no or motor output requirements. It worked reasonably well for my highly verbal son who has problems with visual processing, including visual attention, and with visual-motor integration.

From what I've gathered, the Naglieri is what she typically administers, I'm assuming due to the high number of ESL folks that live in this area. She did say she could administer the Woodcock-Johnson as well.

ETA: I believe the time is a factor as well. The NNAT typically takes around an hour, from what I understand, whereas the WJ-III can take up to 3 hours.

In that case, I'd still ask, gently and politely, about the relative merits of Naglieri vs. the RIAS vs. the W-J Cognitve for someone with your child's particular known issues and strengths, and whether it might be better to assess someone with auditory strengths and visual deficits on a measure that at least includes some items that aren't purely visual, KWIM?

Will do! She is very open already mentioned she'd do whichever test. I'll ask her about the benefits of each when we talk next. (We have an appt with the ped psychiatrist on Friday. I'm interested to see how that goes after this - he'll have a copy of the report.)

My DS11 was recently diagnosed with ADHD-inattentive. Our neuropsych. did not use the IVA+Plus.

The evaluation included: a behavioral rating survey (Connor's), history (as described by us), WISC-IV, WIAT, and certain sub-tests of the NEPSY (attention, inhibition, executive function, visual-motor, and a few others). From what I understand (but maybe I'm wrong), there is not one test that can diagnose ADHD, and the diagnosis is based on a whole combination of factors.

I'm not familiar with the IVA+Plus, but it sounds maybe a bit similar to the attention/inhibition parts of the NEPSY (although the NEPSY isn't done on a computer).

Has your DS had other testing besides the IVA+plus? If you do have concerns about behavior or attention, you might want to consider a full evaluation by a neuropsychologist.

This is the only actual test he's had. He was diagnosed based on a history given by us, the parents, and input from his teachers. The key factor was that he exhibits an inability to control himself in all settings - home, sports & school. School is (obviously) the worst, but he has tantrums and age-inappropriate reactions to things in all settings. Honestly, we don't see much in the way of attention problems, more-so the complete lack of self-control and inability to consider consequences.

I think you won't really know what's going on without doing more testing. There could certainly be other reasons for the tantrums and lack of self control that aren't ADHD. Full neuropsychological testing would give you the most information, but an IQ test could be a start as well.

In the meantime, are you working on ways of dealing with the behavior? I learned a lot from "The Explosive Child" by Ross Greene. He also has a website www.livesinthebalance.org/. The "collaborative problem solving approach" has worked well for us. I think the talking it out, problem-solving approach works well for gifted kids.

Another book often recommended on this site to help with difficult behavior is "The Nurtured Heart Approach".

The ETS/office of disability policy statement on diagnosing ADD states that, "Cognitive and achievement profiles may suggest attention or information-processing deficits. No single test or subtest should be used as the sole basis for a diagnostic decision." They do include the IVA+ as one possible "attention, memory, and learning" test but I'd take their statement to hold the converse as true as well: if no one test can absolutely diagnose AD/HD, no one test can absolutely rule it out either.

http://www.ets.org/disabilities/documentation/documenting_adhd