Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Scores a surprise

I just got the written report from the tester for dd age 10. I am letting it sink in and wondering what, if anything to do with it.

FSIQ 147
GAI 163
VCI 166
PRI 139
WM 126
PS 109

These were much higher than I ever imagined they would be. She didn't hit milestones particularly early, though she was a very verbal toddler. She didn't learn to read until she was seven, though she did love to listen to long books as a toddler, and novels by age 3. Still, I never really thought in terms of "giftedness" until a DYS parent who knows my daughter suggested that she was gifted and I started reading about it. Even then, I wasn't sure if the label fit.

I think personality has played a role. She is a somewhat introverted, perfectionistic kid, so she doesn't dive into things fearlessly. She is very anxious about not being "good enough" at things, and so is uncomfortable when she is being too challenged because it seems to confirm her fear that she in inadequate. We are very relaxed homeschoolers, so this hasn't been a major problem. She has always done well with the academic work we have done, but she hasn't really taken to something and gone after it with a passion. She is a lovely, dreamy child whose favorite thing is to read fantasy or sci fi.

She claims she likes to "blend into the wallpaper" but I know that is not the whole story. She is quiet and "hides" in her choir, but then complains that the conductor doesn't seem to recognize that she always knows all the songs. She has a beautiful voice and sings ALL THE TIME around the house. (It drives us nuts!) But she says that she won't sing like that choir because it sounds too different from the way the other kids sing. But then she feels badly that she is so invisible.

And poor her, she has a super-extraverted younger brother who really is fearless. He goes to chess tournaments and is totally unfazed when he loses, and cocky as anything when he wins. It drives her to distraction when he comes home preening with a new trophy. But she would NEVER put herself out there in a competition like that. She would be too afraid of failing. And yet it makes her very unhappy not to be recognized.

I am glad we tested. One of the few things about homeschooling that I think is really hard is that you have know idea how you stack up against other kids. Well, now we know. I can see that this has already given her a huge confidence boost. (I saw the same after she tested into JHU CTY last spring, but this even more so.) We were looking at the program for her up-coming harp ensemble concert this afternoon. "One person has a solo!" she noted with horror. "I would be terrified if I had a solo!" A week ago, that would have been where that statement ended. Today, she continued. "Then again, one day I probably will have a solo, and I'll probably be okay with it!"

I'd love to hear any feedback, especially from others who have a kid who doesn't fit the typical high achiever HG pattern. Any thoughts? Things to be on the look-out for? In general she is a happy, easy-going kid. Thank goodness, she has a small group of wonderful friends who are all equally bright. But I do wonder about how to help her not hold herself back.

Thanks in advance for any in-put.

HG and high achiever don't always come together. Maybe not even usually.

My HG+ 6yr old is HG at dress ups, sand pit and making stuff out of boxes. And then she looks at sun rise through the winter trees and says "look mum, it's like art in the sky"... She learns anything pretty fast, she asks amazing questions at times, but she's not shown any signs of being academically driven.

Yes! That sounds like my daughter!

So true!! (lol - sigh). <-- (me ;))

Her score on working memory is low (not low in general but low in comparison to other scores). This might make her not appear to you and others as bright as she is. Perhaps this is why you totally were surprised by her scores. It does not mean that she is not bright, smart or highly gifted. She just might not appear to be like that to you or others.

Working memory is what allows one to see connections where others might not and draw inference where others would not. As you probably have experience, those are the people who appear brilliant or gifted. These are the kids who can randomly bring in mozart to a discussion of math and make it seem to connect. Others who have these gifts might not be able to express them outwardly such that others would be able to pick up on it right away.

Also her verbal IQ is very high and a significant difference between her performance IQ (27 points between VCI vs PRI). Not to scare you or anything but this is sometimes a huge red flag for learning disabilities. I would press the tester on this now and ask her what she thinks this discrepancy means. Even if you homeschool, she may end up in school eventually (maybe not until college) and this might be an issue.

Thanks for that perspective. Wow, I hadn't even thought about an LD. But that is a pretty huge spread between VCI and PRI. What you say about working memory fits. I'm going to do more reading about that spread and also ask the tester. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

Thank you so much, Dottie. I was wondering about that too. After all, the PRI is pretty high, though I'll still probably run the question about the discrepancy by the tester. I am hoping to apply to DYS after we get achievement scores.

I did have one more question come up. With such a big discrepancy between VCI and PRI, should the GAI have been calculated? Or are neither the FSIQ nor the GAI valid?