Gifted Bulletin Board

Welcome to the Gifted Issues Discussion Forum.

We invite you to share your experiences and to post information about advocacy, research and other gifted education issues on this free public discussion forum.
CLICK HERE to Log In. Click here for the Board Rules.

Links


Learn about Davidson Academy Online - for profoundly gifted students living anywhere in the U.S. & Canada.

The Davidson Institute is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted students through the following programs:

  • Fellows Scholarship
  • Young Scholars
  • Davidson Academy
  • THINK Summer Institute

  • Subscribe to the Davidson Institute's eNews-Update Newsletter >

    Free Gifted Resources & Guides >

    Who's Online Now
    0 members (), 591 guests, and 14 robots.
    Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
    Newest Members
    streble, DeliciousPizza, prominentdigitiz, parentologyco, Smartlady60
    11,413 Registered Users
    March
    S M T W T F S
    1 2
    3 4 5 6 7 8 9
    10 11 12 13 14 15 16
    17 18 19 20 21 22 23
    24 25 26 27 28 29 30
    31
    Previous Thread
    Next Thread
    Print Thread
    Joined: Jan 2017
    Posts: 2
    R
    rstlk Offline OP
    Junior Member
    OP Offline
    Junior Member
    R
    Joined: Jan 2017
    Posts: 2
    Sorry for length of this post, I actually tried to keep it short. I'm looking for any insight/resources/help/encouragement for our situation.

    DS is currently in 4th grade. The following test scores are from last year/3rd grade. We had requested a Student Study Team meeting in 3rd due to DS's struggle's with homework (particularly writing tasks) and executive functioning issues. We were referred to our local university that provides testing and their report based on DS's testing concluded that his test scores were �consistent with a specific learning disability and ... ADHD cannot be ruled out at this time.� At our second SST meeting, the school psychologist said she never sees scores that high and because there was no way he would qualify for services she didn�t see any reason to test him further. His grades generally meet standard though his 2nd and 3rd grade teachers gave him a progress report each term saying he was below standard in English Language Arts. I just saw his first term report card for 4th grade and he got grades of 1�s & 2�s in ELA (1 is the lowest score �minimal progress to standards�). The 1�s were in Narrative Writing and Conventions of Standards english with a note saying �Hard to read and understand. Doesn�t use punctuation/caps.�

    DS attends speech therapy once a week for some articulation issues. I originally had him evaluated for speech when he was in preschool because he was difficult to understand. So he has an IEP already, but it currently only addresses his speech issue.

    I have lurked on this board for quite some time and finally felt frustrated enough to share and ask for any insight/help. I have suspected since Kindergarten that he may have mild dyslexia and/or dysgraphia. His writing currently definitely shows signs of dysgraphia, such as the lack of punctuation & capitalization and large print that doesn�t stay on the line or line up with the margin and many spelling errors and still some letter/number reversals (though they are fewer than when he was younger). He also has signs of inattentive ADHD. In the past he has complained of handwriting being painful and was supposed to be given an OT assessment last year, but it never happened and I'm trying to get that done this year.

    WISC-V
    VCI - 127
    Similarities - 17
    Vocabulary - 13
    VSI -122
    Block Design - 13
    Visual Puzzles - 15
    FRI - 140
    Matrix Reasoning - 16
    Figure Weights - 18
    WMI - *
    Digit Span - 16
    Picture Span - 10
    PSI - *
    Coding - 6
    Symbol Search - 13
    GIA - 134

    WIAT -III
    ORAL LANGUAGE - *
    Listening Comp. - 104
    Oral Expression - 134
    BASIC READING - 96
    Early Reading - 113
    Word Reading - 95
    Pseudoword Decoding - 99
    READING COMPREHENSION & FLUENCY - 120
    Reading Comprehension - 118
    Oral Reading Fluency - 134
    WRITTEN EXPRESSION - 105
    Alphabet Writing Fluency - 102
    Spelling - 100
    Sentence Composition - 118
    Essay Composition - 95

    MATHEMATICS - 102
    Math Problem Solving - 97
    Numerical Operations - 107
    MATH FLUENCY - *
    Addition - 79
    Subtraction - 94
    Multiplication - 95

    He also took:
    the Beery VMI - 118 (88th percentile)
    Visual Perception 113 (81st percentile)
    Motor Coordination 101 (53rd percentile)

    WRAML 2
    Finger window - 13
    Number Letter - 14
    Attention/Concentration Index Score 120 (91st percentile)

    Conners-3
    Very Elevated: Inattention, Executive Functioning
    Elevated: Executive Functioning, Learning Problems

    School District Tests given last year:
    CogAT 7
    Percentile Scores (district only gives the percentile scores):
    Verbal - 79
    Quantitative - 92
    Non-Verbal - 89
    -these scores qualified DS for GATE services

    CAASPP (end of 3rd Grade)
    ELA - 2510 (rank 4 - standard exceeded)
    MATH - 2504 (rank 4 - standard exceeded)


    Joined: Feb 2012
    Posts: 1,390
    E
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    E
    Joined: Feb 2012
    Posts: 1,390
    What are the stars?

    Joined: Jan 2017
    Posts: 2
    R
    rstlk Offline OP
    Junior Member
    OP Offline
    Junior Member
    R
    Joined: Jan 2017
    Posts: 2
    The stars indicate unpresented index score due to discrepant subtest scores.

    Joined: Apr 2014
    Posts: 4,047
    A
    aeh Offline
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    A
    Joined: Apr 2014
    Posts: 4,047
    I assume the stars are composites that were not presented due to the large discrepancy between the contributing subtests.

    I have definitely seen scores this high, but maybe I have been in the field longer than your SP! (Aka, I am old smile ).

    The level on which additional services wouldn't be warranted would be that his phonetic decoding skills are age-appropriate, and not impinging on either reading fluency or comprehension. Whatever dyslexic tendencies may or may not be present, he appears to be compensating rather effectively for them. As very little additional growth in absolute decoding skills is expected after third grade, that means there isn't much (if any) remediation to be offered.

    Writing is another matter. Although all skills are assessed as average, I am interested in the difference between sentence-level writing and extended writing. Was any indication given of whether the essay score represented quality, quantity, or both? Or perhaps organizational weaknesses? Given his low fine motor speed on Coding, his relatively lower motor coordination score on the VMI, his large difference between oral and written expression, and his report card comments, I would wonder about the impact of handwriting on written tasks--and, actually, on multistep mathematics, as well. (Those math fluency scores likely represent handwriting speed as the limiting factor; the same absolute number of items results in a much lower standard score on addition than on subtraction and multiplication, at this level.)

    The inconsistencies in working memory performance on related tasks definitely suggest that ADHD/dysregulated attention cannot be ruled out as a primary or secondary factor in school performance.

    I would agree with the SP that much additional evaluation may not be warranted, but more because a fair amount has already been done. The exception would be possibly some additional eval in OT, and perhaps some clinical observations in the classroom, regarding attention and what is heppening during writing activities.

    In addition to pursuing the promised OT eval, which I think is the most likely avenue to increased services, it may make sense to follow up on the ADHD front, as, if that's a factor, it can make a dramatic difference for some students. I've seen a 60 point swing in writing scores in a student of comparable cognition before. (Yes, you read that correctly; 60 points!)

    Fine motor deficits are also not uncommonly co-occurring with speech delays, as both have to do with motor coordination, motor planning, and the acquisition of automaticity for motor sequences.

    Even if no new services are offered, you may also wish to have a discussion about additional accommodations for attention, self-monitoring, organization, and reduced workload (items only sufficient to demonstrate mastery), to see if any of them may be appropriate.


    ...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...

    Moderated by  M-Moderator 

    Link Copied to Clipboard
    Recent Posts
    Testing with accommodations
    by aeh - 03/27/24 01:58 PM
    Quotations that resonate with gifted people
    by indigo - 03/27/24 12:38 PM
    For those interested in astronomy, eclipses...
    by indigo - 03/23/24 06:11 PM
    California Tries to Close the Gap in Math
    by thx1138 - 03/22/24 03:43 AM
    Gifted kids in Illinois. Recommendations?
    by indigo - 03/20/24 05:41 AM
    Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5