Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Meaning of WISC Scores

Hi I just wanted some opinions. My 6 yo son recently had a WISC-IV test done. His results are below:

GAI 112 (79%)
VCI 119 (90%)
vocab 13
similarities 13
comprehension 14
PRI 102 (55%)
block design 10
matrix reasoning 10
picture concepts 11
WMI 102 (55%)
digit span 9
letter number seq 12
PSI 94 (34%)
i dont have the subtest scores for this as they werent on the
report.

I know he is not in the gifted range but just wanted some feedback on his scores to help explain some of his behaviours.
School reports indicate he is average. In class the teacher reports he can be distracted easily, calls out and is disruptive and fidgets, stands up alot etc. In small groups and at home he is generally well behaved, but in larger groups not as much. I am not sure if that would be associated with the lower Processing scores and whether there is too much going on that he cant process it easily in larger groups.
I am meeting up with the teacher soon to show her the results and would like to provide some suggestions to her and also try to explain the behaviours for better understanding. He is generally a great kid, is very social, very sympathetic and empathetic, but I think some teachers just seem to think he fits in the too hard basket and is just a brat.
I am considering seeing a developmental psychologist soon.
Does anyone know of strategies to increase processing speed that have worked for them?

Welcome!

aeh is our local test scores expert, and hopefully will weigh in on those.

Meanwhile I will mention that ALL kids, including gifted kids, can have learning disabilities. Basically, different areas of the brain typically provide certain functions... a brain can have both weak and strong areas... recovery after accident/injury shows that improvement is possible. A kid can be "compensating" for weak areas to the degree that it may mask strengths. Did your tester specialize in gifted?

The types of behaviors you are describing are often thought to stem from:
- being extremely bored, to the degree that it exceeds the child's ability to cope with the lack of stimulation
and/or
- having a potential learning disability. Parents may want to begin reading from the websites of Understood.org and Wrightslaw.com to gain background information.

Bearing in mind that no one can diagnose your child over the internet, based on your post mentioning "can be distracted easily, calls out and is disruptive and fidgets, stands up alot etc.", you might especially want to read about ADD/ADHD:
- Understood.org - ADD/ADHD
- Understood.org more on ADHD
- Wrightslaw.com - ADD/ADHD

While processing speed is low, even gifted kids may have low, or relatively low, processing speed as compared with other scores. Age 6 is rather young to test, as IQ scores tend to stabilize around 8 years old. However many parents have their child tested earlier if there is a need. What led you to have your child tested? Was it the reported school behaviors? Did your tester provide any insight, recommendations, or tips?

Lastly, although parents do post their children's scores and circumstances, please be aware of the caution to not allow your child to be identified. For example, you may wish to edit your post to remove scores, send a private message (PM) regarding your child's scores rather than posting them, etc.

sam11,

Your DC has very nice test scores, with good consistency within the index areas. None of them are really low; even the relative weaknesses are all solidly Average. The strength area, at the top of the High Average range, is in verbal ability, which usually bodes well for academic achievement. I will note that the WISC-IV is an older test, which has since been superceded by the WISC-V, released a little over two years ago. This may result in slightly high estimates of ability, due to norm obsolescence (aka, the Flynn effect). indigo has already mentioned that his extreme youth also suggests interpreting scores with caution. Bottom line, though, is that this is a capable child, especially in language.

Regarding your concerns with inattention, impulsivity/poor self-regulation, and high levels of activity, these are indeed often considered the hallmarks of ADHD. They are, of course, also characteristic of many neurotypical six-year-olds, especially in certain settings. The WISC data you have provided is not really sufficient to establish whether some kind of distinct learning profile is responsible for the behaviors. True, those diagnosed with ADHD not uncommonly have relative weaknesses in WMI, PSI, or both, but there are many people with relative weaknesses in those indices who are not at all ADHD or otherwise learning disabled, and appear to have no marked functional challenges.

If your DC's behavioral presentation in the classroom is a cause for ongoing functional concern to you, the teacher, or your child, then it may be worthwhile pursuing a more comprehensive evaluation, perhaps including rating scales and direct measures of attention and executive function, and academic achievement, such as those conducted through the public schools by a school psychologist, or through a clinic or hospital (possibly through your insurance) by a clinical or neuro psychologist. The data you have currently, as valuable as it is, is really insufficient to "explain the behaviors".

As a side note, if your DC does have a neurologically-based disorder of attention for which stimulant medication turns out to be appropriate and effective, it may be that testing results will look different (likely higher) under medicated conditions. As a little plus, since the examiner gave an outdated test, if a re-test on meds became indicated, the WISC-V would be an allowable instrument. (Normally, 24 months wait time is required between administrations of the same test.)

My son took WISC-IV at age 6. His processing speed came in at 21st percentile IQ was high average. No GAI calculation was done. His teachers reported him to be "normal" and "typical". But something just wasn't quite right.

Behavior problems, emotional distress, anxiety, and social isolation prompted a visit with a child psychologist when he was 7, which resulted in ADHD testing and treatment.

He advanced academically with ADHD treatment and the previous testing didn't make sense then. He took WISC-V at age 8. With medication, his FSIQ shot up to gifted range and GAI up to 141.

If you see behavior problems and emotional distress becoming worse, or something doesn't seem quite right, I encourage you to investigate. If you investigate the worst thing that can happen is to be wrong. But if you don't look into it further, you might miss something important. My son's situation is probably an exception, and I would have missed it had I trusted the education professionals. You know your child best. If something doesn't seem quite right - it's probably not.

Similar experience here--my son at age 7 was proclaimed "just slow" due to his average FSIQ and processing speed at the 9th percentile.

Five years later, after remediation for his dyslexia (which, by the way, not discovered during that initial evaluation) his GAI was 140 (and his processing speed was much improved at the 34th percentile).

A few more comments after reading over your post again:

I would expect him to be achieving better than average in a typical first grade classroom, at least in reading, but should also note that many elementary teachers don't assess beyond the grade-level standards, often because they're so busy trying to get the other kids up to speed (and some of them have mixed feelings about intense academics at this age), so he might actually be described as average only because they are not assessing beyond average. I would not expect him necessarily to be ahead in writing (as fine-motor speed is involved), or in math (as this is more closely associated with PRI and WMI, which are average on his testing). Though neither would it be surprising if he were advanced in these areas.

Clearly, his teachers are experiencing challenges with him, which is bound to affect his own view of himself as a learner. In addition to a comprehensive evaluation of him, I would hope that the information-gathering includes multiple classroom observations, not only of his behavior, but of the interaction between his environment and him.

To the question of whether lower processing speed can affect behavior: yes. Especially in someone who has relatively weaker visual-spatial skills, it may be overwhelming to try to keep up with all of the nonverbal communications that occur in complex, fast-paced, multi-peer interactions. On top of that, he is a verbal-strong kiddo, which may increase the likelihood of him reaching for a verbal zinger in an attempt to stay engaged with the group, which may not always go over well, especially in a group of six-year-olds. So you have a number of possible contributors to behavior: the symptoms relating to attention, impulsivity, high activity, social skills delays, etc. are all consistent with something in the ADHD category, but are also consistent with visual spatial weaknesses (sometimes called nonverbal learning disabilities). Both can also be reflected in delays in academics.

Thank you all for your responses, your time is much appreciated.
We had considered ADD/ADHD in the past however we did see an OT and she was quite sure that it wasnt't but just that he is an active boy. At home he isn't so fidgety etc either.
Indigo - we opted to test him due to the behaviours that the teacher was reporting. Based on questions he asks at home and how quickly he picks up some things etc, we could tell that he is fairly bright, however his teacher seems to not see any of that - just sees the child who distracts, interrupts etc. So thought it may be beneficial to help advocate for our child if results did in fact show what we thought.
Sanne I agree that as parents we know our children best.
Aeh the report from the psych also expresses surprise that all reports indicate his progress is average and strongly suggested that he needs to be extended and challenged, so hopefully the teacher follows through with that and then we can see if it makes a difference. If not we will see a pediatrician or neuropsychologist to investigate further.
Thank you for your suggestion about visual-spatial weakness. I looked it up but I don't think he falls into that category but it does seem quite involved. What sort of profession could determine whether he does in fact have weak visual-spatial skills? Would something like auditory processing disorder be likely? He seems to do better in smaller and quiet groups than larger groups or noisier environments.

Visual spatial weaknesses would be assessed by the combination of an occupational therapist and psychologist (neuro, school, or clinical). His relative weaknesses in this area are already documented in your existing assessments, but might be further clarified in additional testing. Since he has already been seen by an OT, without any significant findings, I would probably wait on this until the active/inattentive behavior has been figured out a bit more.

Auditory processing would have very little to do with visual spatial skills, but might be a possible avenue for investigation with respect to apparent attention problems, as the two often have similar symptoms. The professional who assesses this area is an audiologist; you may be able to obtain a referral for this through your health insurance/primary care provider.

Regarding ADHD: an OT is not really the professional with the appropriate training for ruling this out. For this, you would want a child psychiatrist, psychologist, or neurologist.

Welcome to the forum, sam11. You've already received great advice above - I have just one extra suggestion re processing speed. I'd request a full report from the WISC that includes subtest scores. There are typically two subtests that are averaged together to give you the PSI total, and how the subtest scores relate to each other can give you clues re what is causing the relative low in processing speed. For example, two of my children have tested with relatively low processing speeds. My ds has a challenge that impacts fine motor response, hence he has a lower score on the coding subtest than symbol search, because symbol search requires the child to identify like objects among a field of random drawings (a la "Where's Waldo"), and the only mark the child has to make is to draw a circle or otherwise mark the like objects - so doesn't require detailed fine motor coordination. He scores much lower on coding which requires the child to copy a specific type of mark repeatedly, and is timed. My dd, otoh, doesn't have any type of learning challenge but had (at the time she was first tested) an undiagnosed vision issue (her eyesight was a-ok but her eyes didn't track together, causing double vision and lack of peripheral vision). Her score on coding was about the same as her other scores, but her score on symbol search was really low relative to her other scores, because she couldn't pick out the images in the crowded field due to vision issues.

You've asked what people have done to improve processing speed - I think it's really important to not think of "processing speed" as an actual "thing" but rather the processing speed subtests as ways of measuring different skills and abilities. What's important is to understand why the scores are what they are, relative to each other. My dd with the very low symbol search score saw that score improve dramatically after vision therapy, because the reason the score was low to begin with was a vision issue which was treatable. My ds has been retested and has had a similar processing speed result each time, because his fine motor challenge is related to a disability that isn't "trainable" or curable. While it's not something that he can overcome (in terms of "raising his processing speed"), it's also not something that "slows him down" or has prevented him from being successful and happy - he's doing very well in school with accommodations.

Re ADHD, as the others have mentioned, it's important to have a professional who is qualified perform the assessment for ADHD. Both of my children mentioned above were thought to have ADHD when they were in early elementary - ds because he seemed checked out at school, dd because she couldn't sit still to read for more than a nanosecond, couldn't focus, was always moving whether or not she was technically sitting down. Her teacher, her doctor, and on more than a few occasions, her parents, thought she had ADHD. All those behaviors disappeared almost overnight about 1 month into vision therapy, because the real issue had been she couldn't see well enough to do classwork or to feel like she was at equilibrium sitting in a chair etc.

Have you observed your ds in a classroom setting? If not, I'd ask to do that. I realize he may act differently than usual with a parent present, but I think it might be really helpful for you to see with your own eyes what's going on in the classroom. I volunteered in my ds' classroom in early elementary and one of the boys I worked with had ADHD. He truly had a difficult time settling down to work on assignments, and I can understand why his teachers thought he wasn't all that bright, but when you could get him sitting down and focused, he was such a smart kid. Yet it was so obvious that he couldn't sit still, and that his hyperactivity was preventing him from fully accessing his education. His parents didn't think he had ADHD because they didn't see it at home, but I think many of us here with children who have some type of challenge often don't see it at home because we subconsciously make accommodations we're not even aware of. I had no idea my dd couldn't see well, but when I thought back over how our life plays out at home I realized she really didn't *need* to see well to get along fabulously here And neither one of my kids gave us (parents) any hints of their struggles when they were in 1st-2nd grade age range - they were two young to express what was going on in a way verbally that made sense to us as parents that there was an issue. My dd had absolutely no idea that the rest of all the people around her in her world didn't see things exactly the same way she did. My ds was able to realize that he was struggling with something the other kids in class weren't struggling with, but he internalized that difference and thought it was something "wrong" with him rather than having enough world knowledge to realize it was just a small part of who he is and that the adults around him could help if they understood what was going on.

If you're concerned about behaviors at school and possible ADHD, and would also like to understand the WISC scores you have, I'd suggest talking to a neuropsychologist.

I hope some of that makes sense!

Best wishes,

polarbear