Welcome to the forum, wander
I had him tested on the WISC IV by a Hogies listed Pysch late last year and his scores went up quite a bit from the DAS II scores. He is definitely a late bloomer.
I'm not familiar with the DAS-II, but I believe it's a much briefer test than the WISC. What you might be seeing might not be "late blooming" but difference in tests or difference in testing conditions, or simply the difference in testing a child that is slightly older.
He does have issues with eye contact
he has vision processing issues and we are in OT for that currently.
FWIW, our dd who had vision processing issues didn't make eye contact when talking until after her vision issues were remediated. Our DO told us that not making eye contact can be a symptom of trouble with vision.
I won't quote your block design score so that it can be deleted
... but... did they use the non-timed score in calculating his FSIQ/GAI or the timed? I'm only asking out of curiosity.
His coding score (and processing speed total score) is low relative to his other scores. Did they feel coding was related to fine motor or his visual challenges? His symbol search doesn't seem to have been impacted by his visual challenges, and that's one of the subtests I'd expect to see the largest impact from vision issues on."
Does the slow processing seem to be a result of the visual issues or is there something else going on? He acts like he has inattention ADD sometimes. Do these score indicate a learning disability? We have an appointment scheduled with a well respected neuropsych (on Hoagies) but it will be very expensive and wondering if it is worth doing. I am hoping they will also be able to really determine if he is on the spectrum.
Was this last appointment with a neuropysch or was it just focusing on determining if he was on the ASD spectrum? A typical neuropsych eval will include testing to determine if things like the low score on coding are due to fine motor vs visual processing, tests of executive function, etc. Symptoms can overlap between ASD, ADHD and Developmental Coordination Disorder, so it's tough to put together the pieces without some type of comprehensive eval.
It's possible you can pursue some of what you'd get through neuropsych testing through your school district (if you haven't already gone through eligibility testing for an IEP). It's also possible a neuropsych eval wouldn't have to be the full-blown full-price eval if you're able to find someone who can start with the ability and achievement testing your ds has already had. It's also possible that medical insurance might cover part of the neuropsych eval. If the Hoagies neuropsych is extremely $ relative to other neuropsychs, I might consider instead going with a neuropsych that is considered competent by your ds' pediatrician but not feel you have to go with a neuropsych that specializes in gifted children.
I do think more testing would be helpful if your ds hasn't had testing to tease out why he has the lower score in coding, combined with your observations that school work seems to take a long time to complete, and your observations that sometimes he looks like he has ADHD, as well as looking further into whether or not he is on the ASD spectrum. This is all *IF* he hasn't already had more testing that isn't mentioned here
Best wishes,
polarbear
ps - the latest tester that didn't feel your ds was on the spectrum - did he do any kind of assessment to determine that, or was it just "a feeling"?
