Is he in 2nd grade or 1st grade? I'm asking that because the processing speed subtests have relatively low scores, and I wonder if it's possible that with his strong verbal scores he's perhaps compensating in some way at school or hasn't hit an area where processing speed-type skills are required - *IF* something is up with his profile.
Were the processing speed scores more in line with the rest of his scores, I probably wouldn't think twice about anything since he seems to be doing well in school. I have teens, one of which has DCD, and one of which had a severe vision challenge (double vision, lack of peripheral vision, and tracking issues) when she was in early elementary. I have a few thoughts for you re the things you added about your ds based on my DCD and vision-challenged childrens' experiences and testing:
DS performs well in school, but his teacher noted that he could "take more initiative," and we have also found that he doesn't seem motivated to perform quickly or with perfection on most tasks. He certainly isn't lazy - quite the opposite - he loves to ride his bike, walk in the woods, build/play with legos and playdoh, and he enjoys pretend play, among other things.
The not taking initiative and moving slow are possible signs of DCD. DCD impacts everyone in different ways (it's also referred to as "dyspraxia"), and even though a child might be proficient at riding a bike, for instance, (which my ds is very adept at), the same child might be impacted severely in a different way related to brain-motor connectivity which isn't always really obvious, particularly when children are young. On the WISC, my ds' DCD shows up primarily in a large gap in processing speed scores, although in his case, the coding score is much lower than his symbol search. The coding subtest relies heavily on fine motor coordination; symbol search involves more visual input. (My dd who had the visual challenge, for instance, scored average on coding but very low on symbol search).
He learned how to tie his shoes at the beginning of this school year, and I do feel like it takes him longer than it should to tie them. He spends more time on his homework than I think he should need,
This could potentially be DCD, although I also think that learning by the beginning of 1st grade isn't really unusual, particularly in the age of velcro (our elementary school required velcro shoes up through first grade).
on a recent timed math paper, it took him 8 minutes to complete 56 addition problems, which again, is longer than I would expect.
To get an idea of whether or not this is slow, you might ask his teacher. 7 problems per minute (I'm guessing they are add/subtract or multiply if they are timed) would have been a little slow in my ds' 2nd grade class - the students in his class were required to write out 10 correct equations in 1 minute (20 in 2) to move up to the next level of calculations. If you want to know why I remember that # so well, it's because my dysgraphic/DCD kid couldn't write out that many and I had to advocate so hard to get him placed correctly in math I will probably never forget those numbers lol!
He doesn't enjoy writing, although his handwriting has improved this year, no doubt due to his his teacher being a stickler for neat handwriting. He has never enjoyed coloring, and still doesn't color neatly.
It's really hard to know what a "doesn't enjoy" and "doesn't color neatly" really mean for a student, but if you google dysgraphia, look at the symptoms, and then look back over your ds' work and see if any of it seems to fit, that would be helpful in knowing what is up. Look for things like uneven pencil pressure, uneven spacing when writing, starting letters from different locations (top/bottom/etc) each time, not forming letters consistently, still reversing b/d p/q etc in 2nd grade, holding the wrist while writing, poor posture etc. Poor posture, sloppy handwriting etc can also be symptoms of a vision issue.
He has difficulty focusing; i.e. during martial arts class and when doing his homework.
Our vision-challenged dd was much like this - she literally couldn't sit still and her drs were always convinced she had ADHD, but the ADHD-like behavior disappeared after her vision challenges were remediated.
He hasn't had an eye exam, other than the school vision test and reading an eye chart at the pediatrician's office. He doesn't seem to struggle with his vision, but are there other issues an eye doctor can check for?
Most eye doctors check for the accuracy of eyesight in each individual eye, but that vision can be a-ok and the eyes still might not be working *together*. Some regular eye drs will do simple tests for this - our eye dr used to not do this, but does routinely now check for tracking and double vision. When our dd was diagnosed, we were referred to a developmental optometrist for an evaluation, and a dev. op's eval will be much more thorough for how the eyes work *together*.
I will be contacting the school tomorrow to setup a meeting with the psychologist.
It's possible you won't get much further in terms of understanding from the school psych. You might - especially if aeh was working in your district! The limitations though, that many of us have run across, are that the school psych is there only to address academic impacts, and with high-achieving students in early elementary it often looks as though there's no reason for concern (or action) on the part of the school - which doesn't necessarily mean your child is functioning ok in "life" or that the challenges (if they exist) won't start impacting your child as the level and amount of work increases at school as he/she moves up in grades. When you see a private neuropsych or educactional psych you'll typically get a look at the whole child, a look at the child's developmental history, and an extended parent interview, with follow-up testing that typically goes beyond what the school will offer, and referrals for follow-up therapies and remediation as needed, whether or not the child will qualify through the school district. And it's quite possible that while not qualifying for school services, a child might still be signficantly enough impacted by a challenge that therapy/remediation/accommodation really is needed and a parent will want to seek it out privately.
Please note - I'm not suggesting your child has any challenge at all - but there's a suggestion in his WISC scores that something might be up. You've noted a few things you've wondered about. Think through what you've observed, and if you think there is something to look into, look - through school or private.
The one thing I'd ask for certain though during your meeting with the school psych - does he/she have any ideas re why there is a low score for the processing speed subtests, and I would request follow-up testing to try to determine if there is either a fine-motor-related or vision-related reason for the low scores.
I'd also look back through writing samples before going into the meeting to see if he shows any signs of dysgraphia. And think through - is his verbal retell much more detailed than his writing?
Hope that makes sense and helps a bit!
polarbear
