Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC results - could use input please- UPDATED

We just got test scores in today and I could use some input on them. What do you make of her scores in working memory and digit span? She does have ADHD and is on medication for it. Is that what I'm seeing with those scores?

Full Scale -131
General Ability Index- 143
Verbal Comprehension- 134
Perceptua Reasoning- 137
Working Memory- 102 (not a typo)
Processing Speed- 115

Similarities- 17
Vocabulary - 14
Comprehension - 16
Block Design- 13
Picture Concepts- 17
Matrix Reasoning- 18
Digit Span - 8 (also not a typo)
Letter-Number Sequencing - 13
Coding - 13
Symbol Search - 12

Lol to not a typo...my guess is that without the medications her WM score would be worse. You ve got an unusually gifted girl there with very significant bottlenecks.

My guess is that you think of her ADHD as mild. It is probably severe but she is compensating with her GAI strength. She probably also doesn't get much recognition for her giftedness at school and is treated as mildly gifted if at all but you see a kid with very advanced thinking skills partticularly abstract reasoning and big picture vision...2 qualities that are totally off the radar in most elementary schools.

Anyway. U aren't Crazy. Pull up some virtual wall and we can bang our heards aggainst it together....ok?

Grinity

You're daughter's scores are similar to my DD9's (when tested at 7.5yrs). Her FSIQ was 132, GAI was somewhere between 148-152 and her working memory was only in the 34%ile (can't remember score... high 80's maybe?). And she WAS medicated! For us, it highlighted exactly how much she struggles to get her smarts out on a daily basis. In the past year, we have pursued further testing and she has been identified as having dyslexia and dysgraphia. The initial IQ and achievement testing left us wondering why she was struggling so much and we are glad that we kept pushing for further testing.

I think that her low digit span would be in keeping with a 'relatively' lower working memory. My DD struggles to keep anything in her brain for more than 30 seconds. She can do it when she tries really hard (as she obviously did on the day of testing), but she chooses not to use that kind of concentration on a daily basis.

I agree with Grinity that their abilities often hide so many of their weaknesses. On the same thought, their weaknesses often hide their abilities! For all the world, my DD looks like an average grade 4 student. She pulls in straight B's with a few A's. I think many would consider us insane if we told them her IQ scores. It just isn't that visible because she is compensating for her severe disabilities (which in turn present as mild because she is doing such a good job compensating).

IQ scores are a good place to start. Do you have any concerns about your daughter's school performance?

I looked back through old posts after I posted, and saw that your school has a full time gifted program, and in the fall your dd was struggling to keep up....is that right? have things shifted at all?

Can you pinpoint what sorts of things make it hard for her to keep up with the kids in the gifted program? Have you been able to observe the room in action?

Smiles,
Grinity

"She probably also doesn't get much recognition for her giftedness at school and is treated as mildly gifted if at all but you see a kid with very advanced thinking skills partticularly abstract reasoning and big picture vision...2 qualities that are totally off the radar in most elementary schools"

Grinity you hit the nail on the head. It's so frustrating how they just don't see her. We're fighting to get her into the gifted program because she isn't scoring out well enough on their intelectual checklist scale. Basically they're saying she doesn't act gifted enough. Which is ridiculous.

Things at school have improved since she started taking medication for her ADHD. Shes completing assignments on time and actively participating in class now.

Keep fighting - hopefully these scores will make that fight easier.
I'm so glad to hear that the medication is helping her, and, I'll bet helping her feel more comfortable in her own skin.

Look up 'Slow Cognitive Tempo' subtype of ADHDI

How do I know all this? It's a whole lot easier when DS is 15 instead of 5, and able to finally strut his stuff instead of falling all over himself.

sigh

Grinity

morgans-mommy-

I have a daughter whose scores are somewhat similar (digit span 7, lns 7, arithmetic 16). Her VCI was 140, PRI 131, WMI 83 (!) and PSI 121. Our daughter's GAIs are both 143.

I have been told she does not have ADHD, but I am not entirely convinced. I think she may have a "touch" of ADHD, but I think her true WM is somewhere in between the 7 and the 16 of her arithmetic score. She does much better remembering material that is meaningful to her, and she does much better remembering things if she sees them versus hearing them.

Did your tester give that supplemental arithmentic test? Just curious. In any event, just b/c your child has ADHD, that is no reason to not address her giftedness. Good luck with your fight to get your daughter services. She sounds like she definitely needs and deserves them!

I spoke with our tester today and he feels we should give her a few more subtests to make certain her current scores are valid. He feels she had a lot of scatter in some areas. I agree with him. I believe he mentioned one in arithmetic, one on information and there was one more I don't remember. Well be going next week Tuesday for those tests as well as achievement testing. Wish us luck!

Good luck. Let us know how you make out with that. I will be interested to hear what the results are and how the tester interprets things.

Is that my dd you are describing as well -- lol?!