Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Newbie with wisc-iv questions

Hi there! I've been lurking here for awhile and I want to start out by saying what an informative forum this is!

I've guessed that DS8 was gifted for some time and was able to confirm that yesterday with the results of his WISC-IV. Now- after reading a little bit more- I'm wondering if we got all we needed or if I should have asked for extended norms. Forgive me, I'm a little foggy on ceilings and extended norms. So I might be way off base. And I'm also not really sure it matters. It's clear that he's gifted but not necessarily DYS level gifted. And I'm doubting that extended norms would change that picture. But again- I'm not totally clear on my understanding of extended norms...

The scores:

FSIQ- 141

VCI- 134
Similarities- 14
Vocabulary- 19
Comprehension- 14

PRI- 135
Block Design- 16
Picture Concepts- 17
Matrix Reasoning- 14

WMI- 141
Digit Span- 17
Letter-Number Seq.- 17

Processing Speed- 118
Coding- 11
Symbol Search- 15

I'm also curious if I should be concerned or alarmed at the difference between PSI (specifically coding) and the rest of his scores. If anybody has an opinion, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks!!

I can't answer your question about extended norms, but you'll find someone here who can help you with whether or not they would apply to these scores.

Re the processing speed - I wouldn't worry about it *unless* your ds is struggling in anyway at school or if you feel that he's underachieving relative to what you expect him to be doing based on his ability.

FWIW, my ds12 has a similar spread in processing speed vs VIQ/PRI, with a coding score of 10 - and for him it's an indication of developmental coordination disorder impacting his fine motor skills. What's key is that you can see the impact in other places too, not just the low coding score. For instance, his achievement testing scores show an obvious dip relative to ability when he has to answer using handwriting, and he was beyond miserable in early elementary before we realized he was dysgraphic - he refused to do homework, tore up worksheets and threw them across the room etc. If your ds is moving along happily in life, not refusing to do schoolwork etc, and all the "issues" you see are just that he could move faster and use more challenge, I wouldn't worry about the processing speed scores

Best wishes,

polarbear

Hi,
I am not an expert, but the 19 score for your DS in vocabulary is at the 'ceiling' (see Hoagies Gifted website for ceilings, although you may know about them already). My understanding is that extended norms apply when you hit a ceiling. So you can ask the tester for the 'raw' score and then look at this bulletin:
http://www.pearsonassessments.com/N...C-8E4A114F7E1F/0/WISCIV_TechReport_7.pdf
Your DS's scores are a different pattern from my DD's (which I still don't really understand), but ditto what polarbear said and also our DD has some kind of dysgraphia (indicated I guess by a much lower coding score), which we did not realize for some time--her writing looks nice, but it takes her much longer than other kids. So we try to get some accommodation there if possible (e.g., hoping the teacher lets her answer in phrases rather than complete sentences, keyboarding...). Also has had difficulties with piano (specifically, the precise fingering recommended in her workbook) and possibly keyboarding as well, but not gross motor issues.
Good luck! This is a great site to figure stuff like this out, and since you've joined you can search the old threads--it's amazing (and sometimes discouraging, and sometimes reassuring) how the same issues come up over and over and over again.

FYI, from Technical Report #7 > "The extended norms are useful when a child’s score is the maximum (ceiling) on two or more subtests (e.g., obtains scaled scores of 18 or 19 points). "

What a high working memory score! If you look in GT Research forum here there is a recent thread about prodigies all having over 99.9% working memories. Your DS is right there with them.

Your child is definitely gifted.

Lots of kids who are very careful in their approach to their work score lower on Processing Speed, is that his nature? Is he beyond careful and into 'anxious' territory? Is the physically coordinated in general?

Even though the Processing Speed is lower, it isn't lower enough to be worrisome, as long as there aren't issues that you can see in his life. With that very strong WM, he can probably compensate if the bottleneck is even real.
Love and More Love,
Grinity

Grinity- good questions! I responded before I saw your post. Actually, he is careful in his approach to work. He doesn't get overly anxious too often, but there is a sense of "I don't want to jump into this until I know I can do it right" that sometimes causes him to move at a slower pace. So that makes sense to me.

He's pretty physically coordinated (rides a bike well, swims, etc...) and other than disliking writing he isn't really facing any true problems with fine motor. So I think for now we will take a break from worry.

Thanks again!