Hi everyone,

It has been quite a while since I have posted. Hope everyone has been well!

I was just reviewing DS5's assessment from fall of last year and had a few questions about the DAS-II (Differential Ability Scales). Is anyone familiar with this test? Can these results be compared to other tests like the WPSSI or should I be wrapping my head around it in a different manner?

We have a family history of LDs and this assessment was prompted by concerns about his fine motor/printing abilities as well as sensory integration concerns. I cannot find his spatial reasoning score (waiting for a response on that). His score in non-verbal reasoning skills were about 30% higher (in the gifted range) than his verbal cognitive. His overall score is reported as 75%ile (this is Canada, we do not get raw scores) but noted that this is most likely an underestimation. With this test, is there the similar thought that a 30% + difference between scores can render the final less conclusive, as with the WPPSI and WISC? My apologies, as I have absolutely no experience with this test and will have to research it more to gain understanding.

In keeping with our concerns, his scores on the Beery VMI were in the 13%-ile. He is getting OT support for his printing, as he is most likely dysgraphic like his sister and cousin.

We asked for the assessment to be general, knowing that he would have a full assessment with the WISC in grade 2. I didn't even want to know what his cognitive scores would be at this point (as the next assessment will be extensive). Now, I am finding it frustrating that I can't understand because I am unfamiliar with the test. Poo on me for not asking more questions ahead of time.

Any info shared would be most appreciate!

This is the test that my son took, and while I'm by no means an expert, I share what I've learned.

It seems to be a common choice for young boys (My DS was 4 at the time) because they tend to be less focused than older children, but I don't know the actual differences.

His scores were:

General Conceptual Ability -- 99th
Nonverbal Reasoning -- 84th
Verbal Cluster -- 96th
Spatial Cluster -- 99.9th

In looking at his subtest scores, he had one (matrices) that was 3 standard deviations from most of his other scores, obviously pulling the overall score down.

He's now 5. I suspect that he has dyslexia based on other things (especially difficulty rhyming, trouble blending) so I tried very hard to see if the DAS-II had anything that would offer a clue to if this might be an issue. Some digging showed that a testing profile with a lower non-verbal and high spatial score was more common in individuals with dyslexia.

We homeschool and we haven't had him tested for dyslexia because my understanding is that schools don't typically start to worry until 3rd grade and we can't afford private testing. However, I've started working on reading with him using a somewhat modified version of The Wilson Program and we're having a lot of success with it. (A friend is a former special ed teacher and she loaned me the manual, but not having had the real training and not having the real materials, I can't say that I'm really doing the program as they say. However, it's given me a structure, which seems to have helped.) It's become very apparent that he's mixing up the p d and b, but that's also considered normal at his age. So I can't really say that he definitely has dyslexia or whether this particular method is just clicking for him or what.

Anyway, that's been my experience...