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.
First, I very badly phrased what I was trying to say,,,,I suppose I should have actually looked at the report when typing instead of going from memory...
DS had very high (99th percentile) scores in all areas except Working Memory and Processing Speed, which were average (61st and 73rd respectively), thus the need to calculate GAI. What the psych actually said was that the difference between WM/PS and the other metrics because it was in excess of 30 points would "technically" constitute an LD. The psych said that these scores (WM/PS) were likely lower because he hasn't been challenged yet, and that part of his brain hasn't been developed. Hence the suggestion of working on something that doesn't come easy to him.
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.
Very good advice! I think an email to the reading teacher may be in order, at least as a start!
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.
There was more to why we had him tested. The behavior was simply the "last straw". We knew DS was advanced in reading, but we had no backup to that claim. His 1st grade teacher was holding him back horribly and we got nowhere in getting her to budge. My idea behind testing was that it would show that he is ahead of a typical child and we could lobby for change. We just didn't expect the scores to be as high (or as divergent) as they were.
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.
I think my lack of proper phraseology (to quote Mayor Shinn) is the explanation to this one. Mea Culpa.
