I am new to this forum and the whole gifted process and am looking for a bit of advice and insight into my unique super sensitive child, starting with the test scores.
A bit of background, DD always appeared bright and intelligent but nothing ever stood out to us as wow this child is gifted. She is 8.5 currently and in 3rd grade. Her teacher this year was the first to use the G word to explain away our social concerns as that's just how gifted kids are. DD has always been advanced in reading/language arts and pretty much average in math. In second grade nothing was said to us about giftedness although I noticed that they were using her to tutor other kids when she was done with her work. I had started to question more and more this year especially when I would see that she has surpassed adult family members in the area of language. (She is able to use vocabulary and word play that normal intelligence family members do not understand). This year has been a year filled with increasing bullying from other students, low self-esteem and general dissatisfaction with her school experience: complaining of being bored but very little differentiation and fear of her teacher who is very authoritative. We started weekly counseling due to major emotional explosions on a frequent basis at home and there does seem to be a pattern of persistent anxiety and low self-esteem that has developed. I requested testing from the school and this is what I have:
WISC-V: FSIQ: 123, GAI: 126
VCI: 146 (Similarities: 19, Vocabulary: 17)
Visual Spatial: 108 (Block Design: 11, Visual Puzzles: 12)
Fluid Reasoning: 109 (Matrix Reasoning: 13, Figure Weights: 10)
Digit Span: 11
Coding: 11
NWEA Testing: Fall: Math: 49%tile, Reading: 93%tile, Winter: Math: 58%tile, Reading: 86%tile
Our school is qualifying her for gifted support based on that Verbal Comprehension Index score of 146 which I know is very high.
The psychologist noted that DD was less comfortable with visually presented items and did not consider her choices carefully for the other tests. I also see that her lowest scores were for tests that were timed. The psych. also noted that her achievement scores were not where she would expect them to be. I am not surprised because I have noticed that DD is not persistent, does not like to have to think, and gets frustrated super easily when she can't figure something out instantaneously (such as math). Her latest report card grades were all As with a high B in math. She has to work for her math grades which she detests having to do. I would guess she is reading at least on a 6th grade level and at that level able to answer concrete and inferential questions as well as retain the material. There is no formal data on that, all I can do is base it off of the books I see her reading at home. As you would expect, there are some odd interests that are not typical for 8 year olds. She is a big history buff.
My questions:
Would it be beneficial to obtain a Verbal Expanded Crystallized Index score for her WISC Test?
Does anything significant stand out from these scores? I am worried by the huge discrepancy but the psychologist says it's nothing to worry about.
Is a child truly gifted when there is only one real elevated index score on the WISC-V?
I'm just going to stop there. I have a million questions related to improving her performance and willingness to work and how to help her emotional development. I would really appreciate any insight you may have.
