My son has been tested 4 times in his life. The first time was by the early intervention program for developmental delays. He was found delayed in several areas and given early intervention for speech and language. No IQ test was given but it was obvious and the testing showed that his cognitive functioning was fine.
The next time was 4 years later and he needed an evaluation by the schools to either place him in a specific ESE program or dismiss him. I was told they would be doing an IQ and additional speech testing. The IQ test was some ridiculous test and not a WISC or a SB because they didn't want to penalize him with his speech/language problems so they gave him a Non-verbal scale of some sort (I don't have the name of the test right here). At this point he was speaking and intelligible and it was stupid that they didn't do the WISC...I personally think the other test was easier and quicker. His score was like 108. I'll come back to this later.
He was tested privately at 8 but I never could get a written report from the psychologist after repeatedly asking every month. Finally, I gave up. This was a WISC and I really wish I had that report.
Now he is heading to middle school. I am not too invested in having him labeled gifted. I don't think he is HG and I know he is a smart cookie who works hard. The services in middle school are based on NCLB testing and basically are just you are placed in advanced classes or regular classes based on those scores. He will be in advanced classes. There are no pullouts or other services. But his 5th grade teachers requested that he be tested for gifted, so he was.
This test once again was not a WISC but instead it was a Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales. He got:
Verbal Intelligence Index SS 134 %tile Rank 99 Performance range Significantly Above Average
Nonverbal SS 101 %tile 53 PRange Average
Composite SS 118 %tile 88 PR Above Average
The report mentions that the 33 point spread is statistically significant.
So this test confirms the test back when he was 6 that his non-verbal is just average. And they tested him non-verbally back then so as not to penalize him when they should have tested both. And it turns out he has a 2E dx of Aspergers.
So my question is...do we have the full picture? Would a WISC provide more information? I know when the psychologist testing him when he was 8 one of the subtests that was really low was processing speed.
We will have a staffing next school year. Should I ask for them to retest with a WISC? Or ask for them to pay for outside testing? Within the school system I don't know if they will staff him based on the Verbal portion alone or not. I don't know exactly what being staffed would get him in the way of services. He doesn't get any services or accommodations for his Aspergers.
