Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Several questions re:testing, school, poss. LD

Lots of questions but first brief history.
dd10, started reading at 2, age 4 tested 3rd grade reading level. School said that she was just a good decoder and couldn't possibly understand what she was reading. Had her tested at age 6. Was a terrible experience, she did not like the tester. She had been given the RIAS and scored 140. Is this a good test? What is the ceiling on it?Her teacher and I never agreed with the report for numerous reasons. Anyways, I have tried unsuccessfully to have her grade skipped 3 times. Each year, they give her some mediocre form of enrichment instead. She has never "clicked" with the girls in her grade, has had some anxiety and emotional problems. The past 2 years, she seems to be very unhappy and it seems to be getting worse. She scores in the 99% on all subjects on standerized testing. She is currently in the 5th grade. Her current teacher said that she is "your typical gifted child that has been underchallenged and is starting to shut down". I am very worried. I have always felt that homeschooling is the way to go but meet with a very resistant huband. I recently (thursday) had her retested with a Dr. that she is very familiar with and he gave her the WICS IV.
Questions
1. When he did the testing, it took him alot longer than he thought. He said that she made it to the end on several of the subtest. Does that mean that she hit the "ceiling"?
2. How, what can I do to get her motivated again? She use to love to learn, and sometimes still does if it is something that she is interested in.
3. There has been alot of question on her processing speed. I think that is slowing her down. When tested before, her speed was average for her age although low compared to her intellect. Does that indicate a LD? Where would I go to have this evaluated further? I have been trying to teach her proper keyboarding so she can get faster but she despises the typing programs that I have tried.

My gut feeling has always been that she needs to be advanced. I strongly feel that if she was placed with older kids and more challenging cirriculum she would be much happier.
Any input, experiences, advice??? Sorry to ramble but just have had so much on my mind. I should hopefully get her results this week.

<<<Hugs>>>
My DD9, fifth grader started "shutting down" the end of third grade. I am unfamiliar with the test you mentioned but it defnately sounds like your daughter needs something more. It has taken a good part of the last year with my DD home to see that love of learning really return. Most homeschoolers say a month for every year of public school to unschool.

I would really talk to your husband about trying homeschooling if it is something you want to do. My husband was very hesitant and we actually started over the summer that year to see how it would go. It took him most of the first year to really get on board with it and see how much better it was working for our kids.

Thanks for your reply. The first test was the Reynolds Intelectual Assessment Scale. I have been trying to find more info about it such as the ceiling but can't. Alot of sites say that is correlates with the WISC, but like I said, he said that she ran out of questions on several subtest, so I am curious what it scores her at.

Thanks. I guess I will just have to wait to get the new results. I have the subtest scores of the RIAS but really don't know what they mean.
Composite Intelligence Index 140 99.65%
Verbal Intelligence Index 137 99%
Non verbal intelligence index 134 98%

Just looking at the report. I didnt realize that they gave additional testing for her processing. She has always had a problem with timed writing assignments.

WJIII
Written Expression 122 93% age equiv= 10.6 grade equiv 5.1
Processing speed 89 29% age equiv=6.9 grade 1.3

These were done in 2nd grade age 7.
Does this show a possible learning disorder? Where should I go from here?
Thanks for your help.

I just wanted to share some perspective. My DD's school and psychologist kept mentioning the severe discrepancy with my DD's writing scores on her testing, and pushing for a LD diagnosis. On some test it was 30+ points. When I learned how to read the WJ and other tests, with help from others on this board it showed something different. Writing happens to be the one thing my DD is age appropriate at. It only looks like an LD because she is so far ahead in all other areas. It looks like something similar with your DD's processing speed on the old WJ.

Thanks for your response. It has been very frustrating. She is acutally an excellent writer, just writes very sloooow. She also has beautiful handwriting.She is some what of a perfectionist too. She also hates math, even though she is good at it, simply because of having to write out the problems. I had read on one of the gifted web sites that the processing speed is usually at a normal level. I agree, this can make it seem like a problem especially when they are so far advanced in everything else.