well, I feel I may have wasted everyone's time. I talked to DS about the test today, and asked him if he thought any parts were harder than others.
He said he didn't like the timed parts, because they made him feel nervous, and that one section at the end, he went slow on purpose because he wanted me to be mad at him. I asked him why he would want me to be mad at him, and the said, "I wanted to see what it would be like to be a "bad kid" like the bullies in the Big Nate books."
He does have issues with handwriting, so I don't know what to think anymore! I'm going to let this all simmer for a while. Thanks everyone for your help!
Well, that would just make the handwriting difficulties even more marked, because the last subtest is not coding, it's symbol search. So if we take what he said at face value, that means his fine-motor reduced processing speed is at least above average, while his fine-motor-laden processing speed is in the extremely low range.
Among the core subtests, there are only three subtests which are timed, and he did well on the first, horrible on the second, and adequately on the last (but he claims that that was an act of deliberate sabotage). Is it possible that he is picking up on your concern with the timed tasks, or simply already aware of his relative weakness, and is attempting to mask his actual weaknesses by disguising it as being "on purpose?" A lot of LD kids, gifted and otherwise, do this. 'Cause one would rather be perceived as being unwilling than unable.
