Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Where does she fit? Low working memory

DD6 is in an accelerated gifted school in 1st grade (she went there for K also). She has been doing well in their opinion, apparently, as she has received straight A's on report cards. However... DD does *not* have a firm grasp on her basic math skills (counts on fingers & draws number lines to compensate), has problems retaining information, has spelling issues (aces tests but doesn't apply or make the connection when writing) This week she had a test and did poorly (Language Arts) but the strange part was the inconsistency. She would capitalize properly in one case and not do it in the next sentence, she'd use the correct pronoun here but not there. It really looked weird. She got the extra credit bonus points.

Ok, so - recently she took the WISC IV and scored very low in the WMI w/ a 34% score. (compared to her 99.5% in PRI)anyway - i am wondering if the low working memory score is reflective of her probs in school and if so what to do??

I don't know if we should take her out of an accelerated program. The psych. said it seemed like an auditory processing issue. I don't want her to start sinking and get overwhelmed at school but she seems to be a little lost. I should add she loves music and is very artistic. She doesn't STOP drawing and creating all day long. Also, she is very clever, witty and solves problems in very unique ways. She amazes me daily with her ingenuity!

We are trying to work out schooling for next year and I have to accommodate her PG DS8 as well. Even though her test scores qualify her for the gifted programs I don't know if it's too much for her. I wish they had a Gifted in Art School for her (rather than academics!!)Maybe if she skipped a grade in public school and did the pull out gifted enrichment? or just enrich with art/music lessons/dance etc?

My younger dd is lower in WMI too although closer to the 50th percentile. Her PRI and VCI were higher than her older sister's, but her older sister presents as more obviously HG and fits in well in accelerated classes with a grade skip.

We've seen some of the same things you mention with dd9 -- spelling and writing inconsistencies especially. She'll use the same word correctly in one sentence and then wrong in the next (their and then there for the same word, for instance). She was able to read difficult words in context, like superfluous, before consistently reading words like "for" correctly. We don't think that she is 2E -- at least the psych who tested her last assured us that she is not.

I would lean more toward supporting her weaknesses in the context of a GT program than taking her out of GT due to weaknesses. Can they write her a 504 or IEP that would allow for some special ed support to deal with her lower memory?

Thank you both!! Very helpful Dottie, you are SO right about our faulty yardstick but it's all we have!! It's unfortunate for her sometimes and we try so hard not to compare of course!!My kids are really apples and oranges. I just want to avoid doing her a disservice my missing an opportunity to help her or by pushing her.

well, sometimes a mom needs perspective! thank you. It is *so* great to hear "i have a kid like that too" from all of you! gratifies3: I keep suspecting dyslexia too!! poor kid is probably just doing what 6 year olds do. DS was the super early reader, existential toddler, immediate grasp of grammar, perfect speller, math monster, etc . I must have PG-goggles on when I deal with DD sometimes lol

Our dd9's writing and reading errors do seem to be getting fewer with age as well, but she still doesn't write or read anywhere near as well as her sister did at this age. It is good to have the perspective for me too as our older dd's reading and spelling were nearly perfect at a very early age as well.

I'm not sure if this will help at all, but FWIW...Writing relies heavily on working memory. This was a major issue with my son, unable to get even a couple of words on the page without crying. Certainly wasn't able to write down novel thoughts; mostly copy work, and even that was torture.

He was recently diagnosed with ADHD and started on medication. Within a week, he was writing almost as well as the other students in class, only falling behind in spelling. After a month, he is currently writing a novel at home on his own, writing short stories at school, and making A's on all spelling tests. He's still got a little catching up to do with neatness and spelling unfamiliar words, but it's like a switch was turned on. People with ADHD usually have poor working memory and visual processing skills which makes it difficult to hold ideas and info in their minds while simultaneously trying to get them on paper.

I'm not saying at all that this is the issue with your child. I'm just making the point that writing and working memory are connected, so anything you can do to improve working memory should also help writing. There are exercises to stimulate working memory and executive function, which, in turn, would likely improve writing and spelling skills.

interesting but wouldn't ADHD kids have a lot of other symptoms/behaviours? my PG DS8 also had a lower-compared-to-his-other-scores working memory and he HATES to write. He gets all jammed up and won't put the pencil to the paper, smoke starts coming out of his ears. He used to spend an hour freaking out over a writing assignment that would take 5 minutes to complete but I wouldn't medicate him for it. I'm glad it worked out for you. What other things led to ADHD diagnosis? My DD6 doesn't mind doing the writing she just makes inconsistent errors. Actually, she draws "graphic novels" all the time. She will do a few pages of a story told through pictures, sometimes a few speech bubbles, bind it up with glue/tape/staples and lately she's even been doing a little "about the author" section on the back.

sound so lovely!
Your daughter could have ADD and no other symptoms. Girls who are basically compliant tend to get overlooked. In a way, ADD and CAPD would be the exact same thing - She doesn't hear/process some random 15% of the information that other kids are catching. My overall guess is that she is just very young, and equally gifted in less of a 'party trick' way than your son. Or she may be still plenty gifted, and a lower LOG than your son. (Even amoung YSP kids there is a huge variety of LOG.) Working memory is something that can improve with practice. If it says low, she can use technology to work around it.


In fact, low-average working memory alone would account for all the inconsistiencies you are observing. The physical act of writing AND the rules of grammer AND figuring out what you want to say AND remembering spelling is a lot for anyone to do at one time. Interesting that her achievement scores in writing are so impressive.

The good news is that you are aware and alert early, and can be ready for any opportunities that fall in your lap. The bad news is that you get to worry a lot more over things that would have worked themselves out over time anyway.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

This thread has been very helpful to me. I just had a look at DS7's WISC IV report done last year (when he was 6) - his WM is at 150 or >99.9%. I'm so puzzled because he can't seem to remember about capitalizing or writing full stops, and he has some problems with remembering instructions, at least with me.

Recently, he did a cognitiveMap test and his Auditory Memory score was very good too. And then the tester told me what he did - he'd drum out the digits with his fingers and keep repeating so that he could sort them out. He has some system to keep short term memory for numbers! I think it's because he hates to write math workings down and he's therefore compensating (?). But with daily verbal instructions or things he doesn't care for, the underlying capability shows through. So despite the scores, he does have issues.

Would anyone know of how to improve auditory memory?

Joanna,
I came across your post in a recent search and signed up for this site. I am beginning my doctoral dissertation regarding the use of graphic novels in the classroom particularly for students with low subtest scores involving working memory issues.I teach 6th grade in CT and was curious about your child's creation of graphic stories. It sounds fascinating and quite relevant to my research. COuld you tell me more..?