My DS7 has took the DAS II score last summer. Originally I though it was pretty cut and dry, but now I find I have some questions.

His scores were
Verbal 140
Non Verbal 126
Spatial 118
GCA 135
Working memory 113
Processing speed 104

My questions come up with 2 of the sub-groups, Verbal and non verbal.
t-score percentile
Verbal Similarities 83 >99
Word definitions 65 93
Matrices 56 73
Sequential and Quantitative Reasoning
77 >99
I wonder exactly what the greater than 99 percentile means. Does it mean that there is no further differentiation, so it could be 99.1 or 99.5 percentile?
Why would there be such a gap between Matrices and S&Q reasoning?

Thanks, Rocky

The DAS-II uses T-scores. A 77 is a 99.6th percentile. An 83 is >99.9th. Both are indeed >99th.

Hope that helps, can't really comment on the meaning of the scatter.

That does help. Thank you

What do you think about the processing speed? Is that what you've been living with for years? Do you think he was taking 'slowly and carefully' to an extream?

I'mnot familiar with the DAS II, but my guess would be that the dip in processing speed and the dip in matrices is related, perhaps to fine motor speed. If you can find a chart that shows type of prompt and type of response then sort the subtests based on each you might find a meaningful correlation.

polarbear

ps - just curious what prompted the second look at scores - is there something going on at school that's a concern or question?

The processing speed was not a suprise, except at how high it was. Though I have to say he has improved a lot in the last year, I don't think he is ever going to do anything quickly. That is just part of his charm I guess.

PolarBear, I had the test done because he was so unhappy his first grade year, and he was asking for more math. Everytime I talked to his teacher, "Oh he's happy, he's fine, he's on level." But he felt like he was struggling with reading, and because of that he wasn't smart. I kept asking the teacher if there was was another way to test the reading, and she would say he has as much time as he needs (within the 15 minutes). So his assessed reading level was just under the first grade reading level while at the same time months after he had read Wayside school stories he could tell you all about it.

Sorry about the rant. Last year was very frustrating. I looked at the scores again because I remembered the nonverbal as being lower than the verbal, and he is starting Singapore 3a (the school still won't accelerate his math). I was just wondering how it all fits together. He really doesn't like to read, and loves doing math. Possibly because the Sequencing score was so high.

Yes, the tester noted that he had some fine motor issues that possibly lowered his spatial score.

Rocky, I have two 2e kids - my oldest has dysgraphia and has a very similar dip in processing score (but was assessed with different tests). Even though my ds seemed to be perfectly capable of functioning in a regular classroom environment from his early elementary teacher's perspectives, he was soooo unable to show his knowledge fully when he had assessments given via handwriting, especially if it was a timed exercise. If there's anyway you can get a private eval done through a neuropsych I would - it was extremely helpful to us in understanding what was up with our ds, and it has been essential information to have in advocating for appropriate placement for our ds in school. Without the data and knowledge we gained through the eval, we would have had an extremely difficult struggle convincing any of his teachers that he needed more challenge in school - they only saw him through the lens of his output speed.

Best wishes,

polarbear