Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment IQ Test Results

From what I can work out (via a quick google) the GLC is a part of the WPPSI calculated from two optional subtests. Those subtests sound very like the Vocab test.

Apologies - he was tested with WPPSI. The GLC is the General Language Composite. The way the psych explained it to me was that his Input - what he is learning is very high (152+) but his ability to demonstrate his learning was average. So like when you know the word you want to use but you just cant think of it. She said that if James was tested verbally only he would do very well at school but it is his demonstrated work that is suffering, particularly reading.

I, too, am not terribly familiar with the WPPSI but, if GLC is essentially the vocab part of the test, I'd be cautious at this point and have him retested on the WISC or SB-V later.

I say that for two reasons:

1) vocab is one of the more heavily g loaded subtests, meaning that it is a good indicator of giftedness not just processing skills like memory. This might lean toward the assumption that giftedness is part of the picture. Whether 2e is as well I'd probably be unsure at this point without more data.

2) vocab is also one of the subtests that is less stable and prone to artificial inflation and deflation early on due to environmental influences, thus I'd be less likely to rely on it being a truly highly gifted number at his age. The same score (99.9th) at 8 or 9 would make me look harder at the child having a huge span btwn subtests and that indicating a concern such as 2e.

Wait and see is a cruddy place to be, but I'd probably do that for now unless school is really becoming a major problem.

What is the oldest age (years and months) at which you can take the WPPSI?

7 & 4 months I think it is?

I thought it was 7yrs 2mth but it's definitely 7-7.5yrs

Thanks cricket2!! Is it possible he is still gifted even though he only got a FSIQ of 103??

Yeah wait & see is a cruddy place to be especially when things just don't add up!

FSIQ includes things like working memory and processing speed as well as reasoning ability. Even when reasoning ability is very high, low scores in some areas not highly correlated with reasoning ability, such as processing speed, can lower the FSIQ (which, strictly speaking, shouldn't even be calculated if there are significant spreads between scores). So it is possible to have very high reasoning ability, indisputably in the gifted range, and still have an average FSIQ. The score profile will have significant spikes and valleys, rather than having scores clustered in a relatively narrow range.

Sorry, I just saw this! I didn't mean to not reply for days since you directed it to me.

My thoughts, which you can take or leave, would be that his IQ scores are unstable right now and would be more stable if he was older, so he could still be gifted or maybe not. If 103 about the same number you get in a few years, then maybe not, but I would not be sure enough to say that it shouldn't be considered as he gets older and especially if he is having issues in school and has a family history of giftedness.

If he were say eight years old and had one area stand out super high like that and nothing else point to giftedness, I'd be less likely to say he might still be gifted unless one or more of the following applied:

* his FSIQ was average but his GAI was near gifted (125 or so). I don't believe that GAI can be calculated on the WPPSI, but on the WISC it is calculated by dropping the two indeces that deal more with processing skills than "g" which would be processing speed and working memory.

* his FSIQ and/or GAI were close to average but that was due to the scores running the gamut from very low to very high with little in between. For instance, a profile where the child has a bunch of 8s (25th percentile scores) and a bunch of 17s (99th percentile scores).

*significant anxiety and/or a disability were standing in the way of his performing to his true ability.

I'm not saying that your child has ADHD, but I've heard, over and over, that what ADHD is all about is that the child can't apply the knowledge that the child has. I can imagine that's true of several other challenges. Anxiety sure could block a child from demonstrating what he knows. I think you need to seek more help. In the meantime, it might help to describe the behavior problems and what you've tried to do. What has helped and what hasn't?

While you are waiting for whatever next steps, I can recommend the book, "Transforming the Difficult Child Workbook" by Lisa Bravo. I found with my intense PG/ADHD child that traditional discipline methods made the behavior worse, and this approach made things better.

Best Wishes,
I know how hard it is to have the school folks telling you to fix your kid when your kid is only 5 years old!

Grinity