ok, aeh, that is beginning to make sense. Somehow I always thought EF and ADHD were the same thing but this sounds like the problems she has:
I would consider ADHD to be a subset of EF dysfunction. There are individuals with EF dysfunction who do not meet criteria for ADHD. For instance, having impulsivity but not attentional dysregulation.
But in addition to the ratings scales I've now filled out three times, she had these tests to check EF this spring. These look like ok scores to me, are they the right tests?
Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System
Trail Making Test
Visual Scanning 13
Number Sequencing 10
Letter Sequencing 13
Number-Letter Switching 13
Motor Speed 11
Color-Word Interference Test
Color Naming 11
Word Reading 11
Inhibition 11
Inhibition/Switching 09
Conners' Continuous Performance Test (no score - is this a test that creates a score?)
"High number of commission errors and atypical detectability but typical response style and did well at shifting response speed...not indicative of attention problems"
Yes. This is a good test for EF. Her scores are none of them truly weak, but think about how they compare to her cognition. Plus, the Conners' CPT (yes, it does generate scores, but they are not in the same format as the ones most people are used to seeing, and they require more clinical interpretation) mainly tells us only that inattention is not a major issue. It doesn't rule out other issues, and even suggests that there might be something going on with regard to inhibition--which lines up with the inhibition/switching score and inhibition score on the DKEFS, which are among her lowest scores.
As for multiple spellings, until this year she never seemed to know what the real spelling was. Now she seems to know but not have enough attention to notice when she misspells the word (because she's busy writing), and she can't proofread for spelling. I can tell because her handwriting and her spelling go downhill at the same rate when the idea complexity goes up. I'm convinced the phonological processing needs a good hard look in the context of her overall ability, just need to find the right person to do it.
And this spelling profile is consistent with some vulnerability in self-editing, which is also related to inhibition, on top of weak phonological processing.
