Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Very high working memory!

Doesnt know meaning of many words (although read at age 2). Examples- doesnt know meaning of 'contains' or 'scarlett' 'recognise".

Doesnt know meaning of many words (although read at age 2). Examples- doesnt know meaning of 'contains' or 'scarlett' 'recognise".

Doesnt know meaning of many words (although read at age 2). Examples- doesnt know meaning of 'contains' or 'scarlett' 'recognise".

I'd more trust the spiked results and find the overall results suspect.

Speculation:
With known perfectionism, I wonder if he answered the tester with frequent "I don't knows" which internally translated to "I'm only 98.32% confident in my answer."

IQ tests require a certain number of failures to discontinue a section, which is a nasty trap if someone tends to clam up once their confidence is undermined.

When my eight year gets into that kind of mindset, I have to ask very soft, open-ended probing questions. Like, "are you familiar with different meanings for the word 'contains'" vs. "What is the meaning of 'contains'?"

Obviously, I don't know if that is what you are facing.

lollymum, I can see it! I am guessing you are on moderation for a short period of time simply because you're a new poster.

I didn't see your reply earlier that mentioned issues with comprehension. That might fit with the ups and downs you are seeing on the various subtests of the WISC. Definitely an issue with my dd who has a reading challenge - it's not that she can't comprehend deeply, but taking information in via written word doesn't work well for her - at all. If it's reading comprehension you're wondering about, have you tried looking into how your ds does with audiobooks? If it's something else, ignore that suggestion!

Best wishes,

polarbear

ps - did your ds have any type of achievement testing along with the WISC, such as WIAT or WISC? If he did, were there a lot of highs and lows in the results? If so, it might help to look at the subtest scores grouped by the type of prompt (visual, reading, spoken) and type of response (written, oral), and was the subtest timed vs untimed. Sometimes patterns will pop out when you look at the subtests that way that will give you a clue re what's up.

OP, it sounds like your DS has some autism traits, not enough for a diagnosis. I would also say a lot anxiety traits.

I found with my DS that he had a lot of traits at an early age, and in a year or two it may be enough for an ADD or ASP disorder. Not so at a younger age, because it's mild. I notice more issues as he's aging. Kids are developing where he is not.

I think that you may keep in mind that ASP is a spectrum disorder. It's not a "yes" or a "no." It's possible that your DS may exhibit some of the characteristics and these may become more debilitating as he ages.

I would suggest (at least) some social skills therapy and then some group therapy to assist with social skills etiquette. This will at least help him interact with peers and may mitigate his need for approval. Executive skills therapy may help with the perfectionism and flexibility.

If you have a speech and language facility in your area, I would consider it. It's possible as other posters mentioned that there may be a variety of issues driving the scores. However, when you provide the comprehension score, the issues with social interactions, and inflexibility it's resonating as a language issue that may be tied to global traits of HFA. I don't know better than trained professionals, but I wouldn't necessarily delete it from your radar.

ASD, not ASP. Apologies.

My DD6 has a high working memory (141 on WISC IV) although not as high as your son's. However she had a very "unspiky" profile overall. She is very mathy even though her VCI and PRI were almost identical. She's intense and focused but socially very normal.

You are right. Ds does clam up & becomes anxious if he thinks he cant do it. This leads to him not being able to do it! However he can do things well when there is no pressure

Hi we are in the UK and the tester had not even heard of extended norms. What hope do we have