We (DH and I) had been vascillating on whether to contact the psychologist regarding this issue. He did say that the lower GAI was low enough that it would technically be considered an LD, but that we would be very unlikely to receive accomodation because of it. He suggested we work on things that don't come easily to DS like soccer or baseball to help develop that part of the brain. He said sometimes he will see improvement in that score when the brain is challenged. I reveiwed the psych report and there was no mention of maturity issues.
This, combined with having two teachers who've noted issues with distracted behaviors, would lead me to want to dig just a bit deeper into understanding what the testing showed, why a GAI was calculated, and follow-up on the psychologist's comments re the "GAI technically considered an LD". While it's true that it's not always straightforward or easy to get accommodations for students with high GAI, not understanding what's causing the discrepancy in scores that led to needing to calculate a GAI is leaving open the possibility that an undiagnosed challenge will cause frustration and underachievement in school, and oftentimes undiagnosed challenges *look* like a misbehaving or distracted or lazy student to a teacher who isn't familiar with either the diagnosis or the full picture of what's going on with the child.
According to DS, the reading time is one of the bright spots of his day. He works with the highest level reading group in the class he goes to. He has NEVER had a reading group to work with, he has always been the only child in his reading level. He loves the third grade class because he reads at his level with other kids.
I would want to know more details from the teachers re when he's acting distracted - look for clues in the type of work he's being asked to do. "Reading" class isn't just about reading - is he having to answer questions about a book on a worksheet? Is he being asked to read out loud? Is he working in a small group? There are many different activities going on in even a small part of the school day like reading, any one of which might be requiring a skill that's a challenge - but the only way to really see the challenge is to observe over a period of time and look for connections.
I have seen the same behavior, but not when he is engaged in what he is doing. One example is while sitting on the bench during a soccer game, he is known to fool around and not pay attention to what is going on in the game. We saw it to a lesser extent when we were trying to work with him on his 100 question math fact tests. He knew the facts, but could not concentrate to do all 100 problems in 10 minutes. But if it's a Wimpy Kid book or Minecraft, or more recently learning to program Scratch or Java, he can concentrate like nobody I have ever seen.
This is an example of why observing where behavior issues occur over time, and then looking at that in parallel with understanding what the results of testing are telling you is really key - it's not uncommon for kids to be distracted while waiting to play in a game, as well as other situations. So there's no doubt you'll see situations where you know, hey, this isn't a challenge, this is just a kid being a kid. Other situations, like the math facts, are not so clear. The skills required to play Minecraft or read a Wimpy Kids book are different skills than the skills needed to name math facts. It's possible that a discrepancy in testing might correlate to a situation you see where there are repeated challenges with behavior.
I have spoken to both his Sunday School, Junior Church and AWANA leaders, they say he is the best kid in the class.
Which could mean there isn't an issue, or it could mean that he's not required to use the skill sets that are a challenge in those situations.
This is just going to be a complete guess (TOTAL guess lol), but the psych report you have mentioned
I doubt we have a 2E situaton mainly because the reason we had him tested was because of the behaviors we saw during soccer bench time and during the math tests the psych said there was no concern for ADD or ADHD - he tested as a normal 7 year old.
There are a few red flags I see here - first, you had a need to have him tested. This isn't a typical situation - most kids don't exhibit behaviors that lead to parents feeling they need testing. Second red flag - noting that there is no concern for ADHD. ADHD is only one of *many* reasons a child may be challenged and considered to be 2e. According to most of the private professionals I've spoken with, it should also be a diagnosis that is only arrived at after other diagnoses with similar symptoms have been considered and ruled out. Having a discrepancy in subtest scores on a WISC that is large enough to calculate a GAI (given that the test is an accurate reflection of your ds' functional levels), is *not* a typical situation. You've also had two teachers note issues in the classroom. The teachers may be off-base, but it's going to be worth your while to dig deeper into the situation.
It's possible it's just boredom, but fwiw, I would at least start by reviewing the report you were given post-testing by the neuropsych.
Best wishes,
polarbear
