suelyon,
The gap you're seeing now with processing speed is larger, but there was also a gap the first time he was tested, when processing speed and wm were average, and other scores were higher. That leads me to suspect that there's something more going on than simply not realizing the processing speed subtests are timed.
What were the reasons you suspected ASD? And you're seeing signs of anxiety? It's possible that whatever is the reason for the gap in processing speed is causing anxiety - that's how we found out our ds was 2e - not because we saw clearly the signs of the actual exceptionality, but because he was having severe anxiety. He was referred to a neuropsych because of the anxiety, discrepancies such as you've noted showed up in his WISC, and additional testing pinpointed what was at the root of his challenge. Once we understood what was going on and had accommodations in place at school his anxiety went away.
What was the reason the psych gave for recommending OT? Did he note fine motor issues? Did he do any further testing in addition to the WISC?
My suggestion is to put together all the questions you have and call the psych up with them. Ask the psych if he thinks that there's a possibility that your ds not realizing the test was timed would have impacted his score - but I'm guessing that's not the only question you have, and asking it along with other questions makes it look less like a mom just wanting to raise her child's score. Plus... jmo, I think there's quite possibly something to the dip in score, since it's a pattern that was noted in his previous testing. I wouldn't worry about it looking negative when you're using his scores to access gifted programs - you may need to be able to explain it and advocate because of it, but if you understand what's behind it, that's very doable.
Best wishes,
polarbear
