Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Testing, Speed Reading and possible Dysgraphia

Hi all,
Background
I posted back in October after finding this forum while trying to understand our DD7's Scantron Performance Series test results. She's a young 2nd grader, born in August (currently 7.5yo). Prior to taking the Scantron test, she had never been in a "real" academic setting. She was in a preschool program that extended through K/1st without a lot of rigor and more emphasis on social/emotional growth. We were shocked to find her school intake scores as 99% for reading, 90% for Language Arts and 93% for Math. We knew she was an avid reader, but she's our only child and we never considered the possibility she was gifted. (A real "duh" moment for us).

Now the shock/imposter syndrome seems to be wearing off, we've read a few of the recommended books on Hoagie's page for understanding gifted kids, etc. Our daughter was evaluated last week by a neuropsychologist and we're awaiting the results. Specifically, they are looking at IQ (WISC), and gross motor, fine motor, etc.

This week we also got back her 2nd round of Scantron Performance scores from Winter testing (taken 4 months after her initial test). Here's the results from that:

Sept Test:
Reading: Scaled Score 2871, 99%, GLE 6.0, SIP (Standard Items Pool Score) 97
Reading rate: "NM" - not measurable, too fast for computer or less than 5 sec per passage

Language Arts: Scaled Score 2344, 91%, GLE 3.4, SIP 74

Math: Scaled 2268, 93%, GLE 3.4, SIP 75

January Test:
Reading: Scaled 2960, 99%, GLE 7.6, SIP 98
Reading rate: 850 Words per minute

Language Arts: Scaled 2607, 99%, GLE 6.6, SIP 90

Math: Scaled 2414, 96%, GLE 4.4, SIP 85

Questions/challenges

1. Speed reading? We're glad to see this much growth in a short period of time. It was also interesting to see a reading rate for her since we didn't get one last time. We blinked a few times to make sure we were reading it correctly on the score report - 850 seems awfully high? I'm assuming that means she's reading 850 WPM on this 2nd grade level test, but surely that doesn't necessarily mean she reads 850 WPM for all texts? In my original post, we suspected she was a speed reader, but now I'm trying to understand what, if anything, we need to do in response? Her comprehension doesn't seem to be suffering - so I'm assuming its fine?

2. Handwriting, dysgraphia, etc.
Also in our original post was a note about how DD7 doesn't have grade level handwriting. It's often illegible and runs together. There are many times she can't read her own writing.. She *can* write neatly when pressed, but its rare. So far it hasn't hurt her academically, but I'm concerned it will discourage her from getting ideas onto paper. I thought it might be a fine motor issue, but the nueropsychologist thinks (prior to testing) that its likely dysgraphia. Is this a common issue with gifted kids? Any suggestions for what we can do to help?

I'm sure we'll learn more as we get the results from her testing in another 3 weeks or so, but in the meantime, are there any good resources you'd recommend to us as newly identified parents of a possible 2E kid?

We're lucky she's in an innovative private school environment where each student tackles core subjects at their own pace and then collaborate together on bigger projects. Thus, she's raced ahead in Language Arts into 4th grade work. For now its a great fit, but we're wanting to make sure we can continue to educate ourselves as parents.

Nice to hear from you again!

1. This isn't an absurd speed for comprehension (though it is, of course, normatively extremely high). Two of my siblings were measured at that speed in childhood, and they both retain about as close to everything they read as one can get. And yes, this is probably her speed for second grade texts, though since the test is supposed to be adaptive, it is possible (depending on how the item pool is developed) that there were higher-level texts administered. Note it is possible that the winter scores are more accurate, not just demonstrating growth, if the adaptive testing software made an adjustment in her start point based on her fall scaled score. The fall test probably used the default second-grade-level start point (unless her teachers knew to make an adjustment), whereas the winter test could have been set to use her previous testing to determine the appropriate start point.

2. I don't know of any data that indicate that dysgraphia is more common in GT kiddos than in others, but it certainly is more asynchronous when it occurs. The gap between reading comprehension and written expression generally becomes more and more noticeable as the assessment products used by teachers become increasingly written ones. One hopes that some access to school services or accommodations will emerge from the eval results, if she is indeed dysgraphic, but even if they do not, you can support her continuing written expression development and enthusiasm at home by giving her access to scribing and speech-to-text for generating written products of her choosing. (Our DC uses speechnotes.co, which is free speech-to-text/text-to-speech webware, in addition to native voice-to-text apps on smartphones and tablets.)

There are quite a few families with 2e dysgraphics on the forum. I'm sure some of them will chime in shortly.

Hi Beatnik, My older DS is now in high school. During the turning 5 process, it was discovered that DS had OT issues. The NP results when DS was 11 showed his fine motor difficulties were specific to graphomotor. DS finally had another OT evaluation last month that determined dysgraphia in his handwriting (only fine Motor integration).

I played Jacks, Perception, pool, etc when DS was your DDs age. I wish that DS had started earlier with his iPad, but he was attending a very pro "old school" school that values pen-to-paper and anti-technology. There are plenty of typing apps and different note taking apps. DS prefers goodnotes. My younger DS was just given WordQ as a speech-to-text app that integrates with Inspiration to help organize thoughts.

Hi Beatnik, our son had a similar issue with illegible handwriting K-3. He's now in fourth grade (and is still a terrible speller). For awhile it was difficult for the experts to tell how much of the illegibility might be OT vs other factors; we worked to get the right tools in place step by step. I had to do a lot of advocacy. He was in a gifted program last year that used voice-to-text; apps for that vary a lot and we had to experiment to get the right one. This year we've moved to a new state and had to start all over. He's had very appropriate writing assignments to do by hand, no spelling tests, and to my surprise, his handwriting has suddenly become legible. Still not quick, and he struggles to get out all the ideas swirling around inside - for that, voice or now hand typing is still faster. But much more proficiency with handwriting over time.

At 6, DS13 was reading early chapter books like Magic Treehouse pretty much at my speed, which concerned me. As a solution, I made sure that some of the time he read higher level books like Harry Potter so he would have to slow down. While we read the same speed on easy books, I can speed read much higher level texts that he would have to slow down to fully comprehend.

This sounds a little like my DD6. She is in first grade and has a diagnosis of dysgraphia. She also reads very fast with near perfect comprehension. Almost all of what she reads is above grade level. I don't have any great advice for you because we are still in the thick of things, but I would recommend having her assessed for dysgraphia because sometimes OT can help. Additionally, she may benefit from certain accommodations at school. For example, my DD is allowed "shortcuts" on some worksheets when the aim is to determine understanding rather than handwriting. Additionally, she self-advocated in spelling, and because they know about her diagnosis, her teacher agreed to allow her to do half her spelling test orally. This seems like a little thing but it goes a long way in 1)giving the child confidence and helping them feel understood and appreciated at school and 2)letting her hand rest. Good luck!