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    Testing Questions:
    -Does DYS take into account a child’s age vs grade with the Explore? DD10 is grade skipped.

    -WISQ – I’m curious about the working memory aspect of the test. DD shortly after the test was diagnosed with ADHD inattentive type. She is doing phenomenally well at middle school now with getting school supplies and homework to home and back to school again (at home it’s still la la land – so odd). I see that the WISC–V has different working memory portions plus it is available as a traditional paper and pencil format and the new digital format. How do these changes affect a child with ADHD? Also, are the newer WISC scores radically lower than the previous version (Flynn affect)?

    -WISC and adoption issues: my daughters, many of their friends, and some of my clients were adopted. Some of these kids have guesstimated ages. If a child is months older or younger than stated is that important to the final score? Does a psych score in 6 month increments if that makes sense? Also, my DD11 came from a place of extreme emotional and physical deprivation (as were these other kids) and was adopted at 19 months. I have read studies to indicate that the early deprivation affects kids’ intellect in a variety of ways. Should a tester take a child’s history into account? I will always wonder if DD had not suffered would her IQ look different. I wonder about my clients.

    Explore – how do an Explore scores correlate with ITBS scores? For example – DD in 4th grade took the ITBS 7th grade level. I wonder if Explore will give similar results, or are the tests so different that it’s apples to oranges?

    To sum it up – I just do not know if we are “doing right” by DD and wonder if we should apply to DYS if the Explore scores are high enough. Or, do we bother with another IQ test. DD is sailing through 6th grade without having to lift a finger grade-wise but socially (as posted elsewhere) just suffering. She reports that she knows all her science and social study information already. She took the WISC 2 years ago plus the score was 2 points too low so I never bothered to apply. Her test results are always all over the place as she is not one to be bothered with testing or the inattentive part gets in the way. She did well though on the ITBS after I explained it would help her show the school she needed to get more challenging work. I sure would like some help with DD so DYS seems appealing…..

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    I thought that I remembered reading that DYS considers the grade for EXPLORE. I can certainly understand the viewpoint that it is more impressive when a child who is younger for grade does exceptionally well on EXPLORE. On the flipside, though, is the issue of exposure; that is, a child who is grade skipped had access to material or teaching that a child the exact same age, but in a younger grade, does not.

    Then again, I believe that NEEDING to be grade skipped IS evidence on the whole application (and I do believe that Davidson tries to look at the "whole picture" presented by the application) that the child may have needs that DYS can fill. So overall, a grade skip probably DOES help the application.

    I believe that the new criteria are actually much more 2e friendly (and I do not think that this is an accident).

    I wish I had more insight on the other questions you have asked, but I am sure that others will chime in - best of luck on your DD's application!

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    Working memory: the WISC-V includes measures of both auditory working memory and visual working memory (sort of--for some kids it is the visual component that is important, for others it is the concrete nature of the images, which allows them to put a meaningful name to the items they are remembering, versus meaningless numbers). The WISC-IV had only auditory working memory using semi-random symbols.

    Paper vs digital: most of the digital format is the same as the paper and pencil, as the actual paper part (coding and symbol search) is still being administered on paper, and the remainder of it is either purely oral (nearly every item of the VCI, except at the very lowest ages), or just presenting the stimulus book items on an iPad screen instead of a flip book. The blocks are still real blocks, and you still respond to the stimulus book by pointing or naming your response. The differences are mainly on the examiner side of the easel. While it is possible that some children with ADHD will find the iPad more engaging, my experience is that children with ADHD are most affected by how engaging the examiner is, not so much the materials. This includes the affect, social skills, and pacing of the examiner.

    Flynn effect: some examiners are finding the WISC-V scores noticeably lower than the WISC-IV, others are finding them higher, and still others find them to be comparable. The validation studies did not find unusual score depression, beyond that expected from the Flynn effect (about 3 points per decade for those near the mean, somewhat more for those to the right hand end of the curve, and somewhat less for those in the left hand end of the curve). I like it better for 2e children, as I think the factor structure is better at calling out their strengths.

    Adoption/estimated age: Age brackets are generally in four month increments. By the time children reach WISC age, I would not think that a difference of a few months between "real" and test age would make much of a functional difference. Early deprivation does affect intellect. But so do many other things, not all of which are very well defined, nor are they under our control. I prefer to think that this is water under the bridge. Focus instead on how much better off she is in every way, intellect included, because you have loved and cared for her.


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    Originally Posted by Loy58
    I thought that I remembered reading that DYS considers the grade for EXPLORE. I can certainly understand the viewpoint that it is more impressive when a child who is younger for grade does exceptionally well on EXPLORE. On the flipside, though, is the issue of exposure; that is, a child who is grade skipped had access to material or teaching that a child the exact same age, but in a younger grade, does not.
    I'm glad you mentioned that. It had not occurred to me!

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    Originally Posted by aeh
    Working memory: the WISC-V includes measures of both auditory working memory and visual working memory (sort of--for some kids it is the visual component that is important, for others it is the concrete nature of the images, which allows them to put a meaningful name to the items they are remembering, versus meaningless numbers). The WISC-IV had only auditory working memory using semi-random symbols.

    Interesting. I know our DD would definitely do better with the visuals. Her working memory was her lowest score on the WISC-IV.


    Originally Posted by aeh
    Adoption/estimated age: Age brackets are generally in four month increments. By the time children reach WISC age, I would not think that a difference of a few months between "real" and test age would make much of a functional difference. Early deprivation does affect intellect. But so do many other things, not all of which are very well defined, nor are they under our control. I prefer to think that this is water under the bridge. Focus instead on how much better off she is in every way, intellect included, because you have loved and cared for her.
    Sadly some kids are adopted at ages years different than their paperwork ages including children I know. Because of food deprivation they are very small compared to their real age. This is a very small subset of the population, but it is concerning. Luckily, it usually is only a few months so hopefully, as you state, by the time a child is of a testable age, it would be a minimal difference.
    The adoptive parents I work with as well as the adoptive parents I personally know deal with so many "what ifs". It's difficult not to think about how the children were affected.
    Thank you for your thorough post!!


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