Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Help understanding my DS results

Hi I'm new to all this so some help would be great.

I had my DS tested a while ago and I got the results never really did anything with them except give them to his prospective high school that he is enrolled in to next year.
Due to the very low processing speed I also started him on brain training over the internet.
Now things are starting to play on my mind because DS has his testing for high school placement coming up soon.

I am going to be talking to the learning support team at the high school because of his low scores soon and would love some help understanding.

DS got 99.7th percentile for verbal comprehension or 142
61st for perceptual reasoning or 104
34th for working memory or 94
21st for processing speeds or 88
FSIQ only 81st percentile or 113

His psychologist did say she thinks it isn't a true picture of DS as he suffers from anxiety and is medicated for this. She did say that he seemed to want to get everything right than work fast.

At school DS isn't an outstanding student at all, he is above average but doesn't shine and throws some really bad test results. DS is bored at school and is itching to learn at high school and wants to do science, maths and learn as many languages as possible.

Only thing DS has showed he is above average is with reading.

When DS started the UNI NSW testing in year 3 and in year 4 he was getting high distinctions and distinctions, now he is only getting credits and even participations. I asked his teachers why DS was slipping in results and they said because the work is getting harder.

Sorry this is a long post....

Any help would be awesome. Thanks

Did the psychologist offer any insight? Surely they should have suggested some reason for the massive gap between VCI and PRI? (and everything else)

No, only that she believes his anxiety produced a low result. We had been going to see her for 8 months before she tested, even she saw how anxious he was before the test and after she did tell me that she should have spent more time before the test doing relaxation exercises.

The psychologist is just a run of the mill child psychologist. After the testing she sort of said she didn't need to see him as she had given him coping techniques etc.

Just not sure how to approach his school with the results. They have a copy.

113 FSIQ shows he is not gifted at all however if anxiety was in play and he is capable of increasing his working memory, processing speeds etc then I'm assuming he would show that he may be gifted? is this right?


Thanks again

Well hopefully someone else with more knowledge can comment, but it is my understanding that anxiety certainly can cause problems with testing. But a gap like that can also be indicative of NVLD, or possibly other problems. And I seem to recall there is also quite a strong association between NVLD and anxiety? Hopefully someone else can suggest some good questions for you to ask your tester, but perhaps it might also be worthwhile considering re-testing with a 2E specialist?

Is it just me or does the huge gap between VCI and... pretty much everything else make the computation of either FSIQ or GAI impossible? Those numbers shouldn't even have been computed, right?

I think that for consideration for access to gifted programs the WMI and PSI would be thrown out, and only the VCI taken into account.

That said, that huge gap is also a big fat red flag for LDs. Further testing might be helpful, ideally by somebody who gets 2E kids.


Either he has LDs that are blocking achievement now that there is more demand on processing speed, or he has completely tuned out at school. Because yes, the work is getting harder, but in theory no harder than what most of his age cohort should be able to do.

I am certainly no expert but from what I understand a huge scatter in the scores and low processing speed make the full scale IQ number totally meaningless. I am sure others here can explain better. If you are not familiar with the term "twice exceptional" or "2E" it would be worth checking it out. There is a forum here or you can Google the terms to get some information. The giftedness and learning disabilities (or other exceptionality) tend to mask each other so neither is easily caught early. Your ds sounds like a very clear example. I don't know where you live but I would guess that these results should make him eligible for needed accommodations.

Good luck - there are a lot of very well informed and very helpful people on this forum. I am sure some of them will weigh in with more detailed information for you.

With those scores on the WISC, do not assume your DS is not gifted. As others have suggested, he may be twice exceptional.

While I know you're not trying to get your DS into a gifted program at this point, I suggest you keep in mind the position that the National Association of Gifted Children has taken regarding WISC use for selection into gifted programs, it takes the position that either the VCI or the PRI can be used in addition to the FSIQ or the GAI. Here is the paragraph:


The Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) and the Perceptual
Reasoning Index (PRI) are also independently appropriate for selection to programs for the gifted, especially for culturally diverse, bilingual, twice exceptional students or visual-spatial learners. It is important that a good match be made between the strengths of the child and the attributes of the program. Students who have special learning needs should be admitted to gifted programs, provided that there are other indications of giftedness and instructional modifications are made to fit the needs of the students.

This paper can be found here: http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=2455

Hi Cando, welcome to the forum.

When is your meeting with the learning support team? It appears that the child psych who tested and counseled your son went as far as she was able, but that you are going to need to pursue this further. I get the sense that you are not in the US. Do you know of resources "near" you for 2E testing? (near in quotes. Some of us have been known to drive and even fly great distances to see specific 2E specialists) Perhaps the learning support team might be a resource for you to find qualified people to help you help your son.

Oh my. I was told to visit this forum so long ago but I just really didn't think DS was gifted at all, capable of being bright maybe but not 'up there' so to speak.

Sorry, I did realise this is an American forum but I'm so used to being on Australian forums I forgot! I'm in Australia lol. That's very arrogant of me :0

I have to go to the school on Wednesday so will speak to the school then and arrange a meeting with the learning support team specifically. The school has it's own educational psychologist on it's team so hopefully they can point me in the right direction.

I'm not after straight A's, I want a well rounded happy boy who can reach his potential.

Thank you all so much who have offered me advice, I wish I came in a lot earlier...

You and me, both. My older dd is already in high school, and although I started to identify some weird patterns with her last year, I am just this Fall beginning to learn enough to think she truly has some type of learning disability. These kids can really make up for their weaknesses (until they can't anymore).

Not sure who we have on the board from Australia, but you might get lucky and find someone with some testing experience near you. In any case, I'd advise you stay here on the forum. There is a lot of collective wisdom here. And the search bar to the left is great for reading old posts and answers.