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

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