Older children may be able to understand means and SDs, but they cannot understand the nuanced interpretations of subtests on an IQ test. They cannot grasp that a fine motor deficit, for example, could lower the Full Scale score significantly, or how asynchronous development can affect social judgment, and result in a lower subtest score. They cannot understand that motor speed really isn't THAT important compared to spatial skills (even though it carries equal weight as a score), and that their mood, hunger, and rapport with the psychologist on the day of testing can impact their score.
Gail, do you feel that older children can't understand the nuances re how fine motor skills effect scores etc? How "old" - are you talking about teens or younger? I am just curious, as our ds13 has recently shown an interest in seeing his IQ scores and we did make the decision to share them with him - not because we felt he needed to know his FSIQ etc, but because we felt he is capable of understanding, and also because as he enters his teens it's time for us as parents to move from being his strong on-the-front-lines advocate to being his quiet support from behind the lines so that by the time he's on his own at college he's independently advocating for himself. Knowing what his IQ profile looks like and understanding how his disabilities impact scores is a key to advocating any time those set of scores are used for any types of educational decision. His interest in knowing his scores came out when we read a document that was put together to help children and teens understand LDs as a first step in learning how to become a self-advocate. At his age, for a high-IQ kid (with a challenge), having that talk and looking at discrepancies in scores etc and explaining how different types of disabilities impact the scores was something he really could understand. We've also had many discussions through the years about relative importance (in the grand scheme of things, as well as in daily life) of fine motor skills vs visual-spatial skills (he's challenged in fine-motor and very much a visual-spatial thinker)... but the reality is that even though the fine motor doesn't define him, it is a part of who he is and a part of what he lives with every day.
Anyway, I just mostly wondered if you meant to refer to young children when you said that the children can't understand the nuances of how disabilities are reflected in the scoring.
Best wishes,
polarbear
