My DD was tested by a private Educational Psychologist. She sat WIAT-III immediately followed by WISC-IV
I have seen a lot of analysis of WISC but limited of WIAT-III.
The way I read her scores, they are pretty strong and she should be a high performer.
She is very bright and has an exceptional ability to just "get" skills, issues and answers when put to her (whether english, maths, social, science, music, dance etc)
But she does not exhibit any of the classic signs of a real passion for learning or knowledge, unusual hobbies etc.
- she likes playing with friends and preening in front of a mirror.
She will start up an academic of philosophical discussion with my husband or I when she wants our attention (she knows it always works) but otherwise seems pretty much like every other child.
At school I'm not sure it would even be that evident how able she is (she always comes top and generally gets 100%, but she does not have to work hard to acheive that)
We don't seem to have the same level of gifted support and focus in the UK and I am not sure who to discuss this with. (School don't see there is an issue)
Can you help me
a) understand if there is anything in the WIAT or WISC scores that would help me understand this
b) your opinion as to whether you would try and encourage her to push herself harder - I can't decide if what matters is she is happy and rounded, or if she does not stretch herself now she may regret it in later life?
c) I have added the recomendations from the Psychologist - these make little sense to me and read as if she has problems. She seems to be happy at school still and I wonder if the points re targeting concentration/listening etc. are based on her observations on the day of testing (which took more than 3 hours non stop so Im not suprised she was fidgety at times) - should I be worried?
d) anyone in a similar situation?
Thanks
Gemma
WISC-IV
Verbal Comprehension (VCI) 144 (99.8 percentile)
Perceptual Reasoning (PRI) 145 (99.9 percentile)
Working Memory (WMI) 141 (99.7 percentile)
Processing Speed (PSI)138 (99 percentile)
Full Scale (FSIQ) 153 (>99.9 percentile)
RAW Scaled Extended
SI 27 19 19
VC 34 15 15
CO 26 18 18
BD 30 14 14
PCn 23 19 20
MR 28 19 23
DS 20 18 18
LN 20 16 18
CD 65 19 19
SS 38 15 15
CA
Total 172 179
GAI Total 104 109
GAI 155 161
FSIQ 153 158
(I don't understand why her LN score changes on the extended norms scale if it was not topped out on the standard?)
WIAT-III (at age 6 years 10 months)
SUBTESTS RAW STD AGE EQU
Word Reading 103 126 10:00
Reading Comprehension 140** 125 12:00
Pseudoword Decoding 41 118 11:00
Numerical Operations 18 134 08:08
Mathematical Reasoning 44 143 09:04
Spelling 29 126 09:00
Recomendations from Psychologist:-
• Bethany demonstrated significant strength in all areas of her cognitive abilities, which suggests
that she may be an ‘all rounder’, capable of achieving high standards in all or most activities in
which she engages. Her strengths should be skilfully used to bring about greater confidence in
any areas in which she may not be very confident. School staff may, for example, use praise to
highlight when she demonstrates good problem solving skills when reasoning with words, or
nonverbally with pictures and patterns, so that she may transfer these skills over into, for example,
social problem solving.
However, Bethany’s concentration and listening skills should be targeted for further development.
These need to be addressed sensitively to ensure that her self-confidence and self-esteem are not
affected. Activities should be linked to targets on her Individual Education Plan (IEP). Bethany’s
class teacher may find the book ‘Some Well-Known Tales’ – A Listening Activity for Young
Children’ (Philip & Tacey) to be helpful. Other useful texts are ‘The Thinking Child’ – Brainbased
learning for the foundation stage by Nicola Call, and also ‘The Thinking Child Resource
Book’ also by Nicola Call (Publishers – Network Educational Press Ltd).
• Her good visual perceptual skills may be further developed and fostered by frequent opportunities
to engage in jigsaw/inset puzzles, matching activities, word searches, ‘spot the difference’
pictures and ‘Find Wally’ type activities.
