Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Trying to Learn From Test Results

I received DD6�s scores on Tuesday and it has taken me this long to come to peace with them. So disappointed in myself for this. But, all week I have been thinking �what if I had continued breast feeding beyond three months?� Would the 10 points have made a significant difference?

Anyway, my child is so much more than her score. She is still very intelligent and gifted. She has many, many strengths and how those strengths are continually developed will ultimately make the difference in her life rather than a number.

I still plan to talk to her school about math acceleration. I am mailing my letter in the morning.

The verbal comprehension score was low. This brought her overall score down a lot. She scored high on vocabulary, but the others were low. This does not make much sense to me since DD6 is a highly verbal child and explains concepts precisely. What are the tasks in this area?

The vocabulary age was 8.2, so would this mean that a grade skip for the math would not harm her in the language arts areas?

She ranged from the 79th percentile to the 98th percentile everywhere else. Would the lower verbal comprehension score imply a 2E issue?

((Hugs, momofone))

Those sound like good scores to me... certainly better than my DD's and I consider her to be MG. By the way, I nursed her until she was 3 YEARS old. She must have started out dumb as post

I'm not sure how useful those age equivalents are--a better way to figure out if she's a good candidate for a gradeskip would be to look at the Iowa Acceleration Scale now that you have test data.

Momofonegirl,
Please don't put all your hopes on one test. One test is not going to tell the whole story. If your gut is telling you something different than the score, then your gut may just be right. Wait, watch, and think about trying another test later.

I agree with acs. Please remember the test is just one data point. You have known your daughter for more than six years. Trust your intuition.

I know it's hard to look at those numbers ... it's quite nerve wracking for some reason but as the others have said, it's just one number on one day. I know of a friend whose DS didn't make the gifted range in K or 1st grade but scored PG+ in 3rd grade on the WICIV. She trusted her instincts and had him retested and those scores explained everything. listen to your gut.

What test did your DD take? With the WISCIV, you can remove WMI and PSI to calculate the GAI if those indices pulled the score down. I think you need a 23pt difference between indices to use that calculation.

I personally don't like that breastfeeding I.Q. assertion. I think it puts a lot of guilt/undue pressure onto moms. With that being said, I could't breastfeed DD8 for a variety of reasons, but was so happy I had the chance to breastfeed DD5.
DD8, the formula baby has FSIQ 148 and higher than breast fed daughter.
Your daughter is very, very smart.
I only use their numbers as a prompt to investigate what they need for appropriate learning/educational experience.
DD5 "shouldn't" be able to do the math she is doing now, yet she is........just do what you need to concerning providing appropriate education for you child.

peace,
Neato

Mom of One-

The IQ points associated with breastfeeding are still in a gray area. I'm a newly retired La Leche League leader and though I think there are many wonderful and amazing benefits to extended nursing, the *possible* enhancement of IQ is not one of the primary reasons I encourage it. I believe most studies have shown a more modest advantage of 5-7 IQ points, and that has been disputed as the studies haven't always looked at the intelligence or education level of the mother. More intelligent and/or educated women tend to choose breastfeeding and stick with it for a longer period. Obviously, if you don't factor in these sort of details (and I haven't even heard anyone ask about the father's IQ, as if that doesn't matter?!) it makes it tough to see what's the actual cause of the slight edge in the smarts department. So please, don't beat yourself up over this.

I also agree with other posters here. If those scores don't seem to represent the level of intelligence you observe, don't sweat it. Parents know their children best. I really like the snapshot analogy-even a supermodel will sometimes look bad in a photo. But if your child consistently seems to underperform or do less well than you expect on tests, then maybe you need to look at 2e issues or readjust your thinking.

I am certainly not an expert in this area but I think I can offer a general answer to this and hope that someone else steps in to correct it or add to it. I think that the comprehension part tests knowledge of social standards of behavior and common sense reasoning skills. I don't actually know of any examples or anything, so I can't help you there; I'm sorry. If your daughter was uncertain or anxious about this subtest because it asked about unfamiliar situations, perhaps that could have affected her. You may want to ask the tester about her answering style. Did she shut down if she thought she was wrong?

I totally agree with all the other posters; you know your daughter best. If your gut tells you "this isn't my daughter," then it's probably not. I know it's hard to shake the numbers, but you will. I'm so sorry they weren't what you were expecting. Go back and look at her WJIII scores (don't you have some?); aren't those more in line with what you see on a daily basis?

Lastly, I'm going to look at my notes from my recent phone consultation with the Gifted Development Center about my DD6. We did talk about some auditory processing issues but I can't remember all of the details. I'll PM you; be looking for it in your messages!

Amy

I can relate to being frustrated and confused by scores. My son scored "9" on the comprehension, which really depressed his VCI. A couple of examples from the test that the psych told us: why does a policeman wear a uniform? and how does a bank work? She said it is "knowledge acquired from the environment" and "why we do what we do".

Seems to me that these things are more an indicator of what you have been taught than of innate intellectual ability, so I confess I don't understand it. Years (and years) ago when I had an IQ test (don't know which one), I remember one of the quetions was "who wrote Dr. Faustus". I guessed "Christopher Marlowe" but remember thinking that it had more to do with education than intelligence.

Amy - would you please pm me the info about CAPD as well? I'd like to read more about it. Thanks.

Hi Momofone,

I read somewhere that the optimal testing age is 7.9. Consider testing again (or with a different test) in a year. I have seen 2 cases of friends whose children tested a standard deviation above their first test, administered at a young age (about 6). You never know what goes on with the tester-student (is the student un-interested? is the tester impatient or intimidating? is the time of day that sleepy time? All kinds of things). I distinctly remember my testing experience as a high schooler and being self-conscious & shy (not a good thing when your responses are timed!)

All,

Thank you for the reassurance and confirmation. I meant the whole reference to breast feeding as my coping strategy. Amy, I look forward to getting any info you may have about auditory processing issues.

The tester called me back early this morning to answer some of my questions. I was looking for this response several days ago. Anyway, like CFK mentioned, it seems that a lot of time was lost because DD kept asking for reassurance that her answers were correct before moving on. Seems like that section was the first section tested and then she got it: no asking questions, just do the test!

The tester was wonderful and her feedback was great though a little late. My goal for testing was never the YSP program, but the tester said that if DD could just do the test without seeking reassurance, then her scores would have been more consistent.

well said cfk!!

Amy, please pm me on CAPD as well, comprehension is my DD's weakest area repeatedly, also spelling was lower than expected is that a concern for auditory processing?

I feel your pain...we are going through almost the exact same thing that you are with my 5 year old son. He took the SB about a month ago and scored literally just a handful of points from the required score for the gifted classes in our county - he was in the 98 and 99% on many areas but then scored really low in a few sections that go hand in hand with problems associated with his sensory disorder.So our assessor said that basically his really really high scores were knocked out by his lower scores...she said without his sensory disorder his scores would have been much higher. The sad thing is that when he has to do tasks that are a little more difficult to do because of his SPD, it is not that he can't do them it is that he just takes longer to do them because of fine motor problems and then being in a strange testing situation just adds to the mix.
This past week we tried again by doing the Weschler preschool and the tester said the exact same thing that his sensory disorder was masking his giftedness - she said that my son also did the same thing with asking if he was right and being very hesitant to continue until he got validation that his answers were correct - he is a 100% perfectionist - she said that also affected the scoring....so all of his teachers, his OT and Speech teacher and the family all know that he is extremely bright and several grade levels ahead of where he would normally be and we have no way of officially showing it on paper. So we came to the conclusion that we may never be able to "prove" it on paper as far as an IQ test but in doing lots of research and speaking with other psychologists, I have learned that the IQ test is not the end all of everything and that just because you don't score the determined point it doesn't mean your child isn't gifted - there are lots of other assessments that can show how bright a child is such as achievement tests and making portfolios of their work/activities. So hang in there and know that others feel your pain!!!

Belle, 5yr old is a bit young. He'll probably test much more accurately when he's a bit older. I know a couple of kids who scored low at that age but then scored very well 1-2yrs later. But you are totally correct, some kids don't test well and keeping a portfolio of work, books read, interests etc is a great idea.

Dotty

Yes, achievement testing was done over two years ago and I remember she was in the 99 percentle and that was without any formal instruction. I know I cannot show the school those results since they are more than two years ago, so I am going to show them samples of what she has been doing.

Here is the breakdown of the WISC IV:

Verbal Comp: 79 percentile
Perceptual Reasoning: 98 percentile
Working Memory: 95 percentile