Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Should I get son retested

Yes, the tester said he was distracted for the second half of the test snd didn't really understand that some parts are timed. He was talking to the tester, stopping to tell her things and suggesting other ways to do things. At the block building part he refused to do it the way she asked at first because he thought it was too easy and showed her more difficult ways to stack the blocks.

My son is young, just turned six in December and is not used to raking any tests. His strengths are in math and science. He can do complicated math equations in his head and understands difficult scientific concepts. It was surprising then that he did his worst on the parts of the test that are identified with math snd science. The tester attributed this to his being distracted.

Here are his test scores that I received:

VC: 140
Similarities: 17
Vocabulary: 17
Comprehension: 16

Perceptual Reasoning: 117
Block Design: 12
Picture Concepts: 13
Matrix Reasoning: 13

Working Memory:
Digit Span: 14
Letter Numbering Sequence: 12

Processing Speed:
Coding: 13
Symbol Search: 12

Any insight into these scores is appreciated!

Oh - my hear goes out to you. "Distracted" is such a poor word to try and describe your son trying to authentically demonstrate the richness of his mind in a genuine conversation with the tester.

So I would consider the scores to be establishing a minimum. I think getting achievement and sending the scores and a portfolio to DYS is the thing to do. Video him doing those complicated math equations in his head and showing that he understands difficult scientific concepts. I would get a retest at this age, I'd wait for him to get 'less innocent' about 'following stupid rules.' I would get an achievement test battery now though.

DYS is a valuable program, but we can help you brainstorm approaches here as well. The thing about elementary school is that it is all about gaining skills, not abstract thinking. So you have to sort of decide if it's worth it to try to hurry through it, or to homeschool so you can meet his needs now. There is no crystal ball, so just start trying stuff and see what works. A gradeskip might be a lovely start.

I think that the processing speed and working memory scores are high enough that you don't have to worry about them coming back to bite him later. And it sounds like the Block Design score vastly underestimates his ability. We see this. His view of how to understand another person's mind is just as correct as the test publishers, it just is too difficult to quantify.

If you don't believe me, read about http://roeperconsultationservice.blogspot.com/p/relationship-between-qualitative.html

Peace,
Grinity

Love and More Love,
Grinity