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Hi all --

We just completed our son's testing (5 yr 4 mo), and overall he performed overall even better than I had anticipated he would: it looks like he will probably qualify for DYS (I think?). There were some interesting gaps in his testing scores though, and I was hoping some people might be willing to chime in. Mostly his scores are low in anything requiring timed testing (fluency and processing speed).

So here are my questions:

1. Do you think he will qualify for DYS? I know that his SBV scores should be high enough (and high across the board, which I liked seeing). But his achievement scores on the WJIII seemed low to me (lower than I expected). I am assuming that since he got the 148 in Broad Math that he still would qualify? His processing speed and fluency scores definitely seemed to bring down his overall scores, since his brief reading and math scores were both higher.

2. Do you think that these test results just are reflective of his personality (he is very slow at doing lots of things, or could it reflect a processing disorder? He actually tests above average for most of the subtests, even fluency, but there is a big gap compared with the other subtests.

Thanks in advance for any comments, and thanks for your support when I was waiting to have him tested!

Susan

Here are his results:

Stanford Binet V

Nonverbal IQ 148
Verbal IQ 151
FSIQ 152

FR 147
KN 134
QR 147
VS 149
WM 146

Woodcock Johnson III

Broad Reading 127
Broad Math 148
Broad Written 123

Cog Efficiency 124
Process Speed 110
Short-Term Mem 126

Brief Achievement 141

Brief Reading 150
Brief Math 147
Math Calc 135
Brief Writing 129
Written Express 122

Academic Skills 143
Academic Fluency 111
Academic Apps 145

Visual Matching 119
Numbers Reversed 127
Decision Speed 97
Memory for Words 116

Letter-Word ID 144
Reading Fluency 124
Calculation 137
Math Fluency 115
Spelling 122
Writing Fluency --
Passage Comprehen 134
Applied Problems 141
Writing Samples 132

According to the DYS qualifying score guidelines, you only need one set of qualifying scores and your DC qualifying scores for SBV verbal, nonverbal and FSIQ. The other scores should not disqualify your child. There are other DYS kids with slower processing speeds - really - I live with one! Getting the paperwork in for DYS can be nerve wracking and seems to take a long time to get processed, but it can be a great step forward for your family.

Your son's WJ-III ACH score patterns are very similar to my son's. DS8 also has lower fluency scores and processing speed. I think it is not rare. Your son has very strong SBV scores and broad math score meet the minimum requirement. Go send the application.