Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Surprised by son's average IQ score...help...long

Oh, one other thing re this. Just so you know, the only parts of the WISC that are timed are the block design and the PSI subtests (coding and symbol search) so taking a long time would not depress scores on any other parts unless the tester just decided that he didn't know the answers and moved on. From what I recall, the SB-V is even less timed than that and speed should not be an issue on that. It may have just been a case of poor rapport this time around.

Since you also mention the possibility of ADD, my 2e kid is HG and has ADD. They typical pattern for ADD on the WISC, from what I understand, is to have lower WMI scores as well as lower PSI scores. This report from the publisher gives typical score patterns for various disabilities although it, unfortunately, does not include how these look when both gifted and the disability are in play:

That's me with the dyspraxic ds. I couldn't remember for sure about the scores! So I looked them up to be certain... my ds' processing speed subtest scores on the WISC were:

Coding 8
Symbol Search 11
Cancellation 11

These are all very statistically lower than his other subtest scores. He hit the hard hard ceiling on Block Design (didn't miss any). Although block design is also a timed test, it involves manipulating blocks (if I remember correctly), which is a different type of fine motor skill than the timed processing subtests - they rely on hand/eye/pencil coordination, and is one of the areas that my ds' dypraxia is the most severe.



I agree with Cricket2 on this point, and even with a large large large discrepancy wouldn't assume an LD. However, the 5 for coding is relatively low, and I think SDMom noted her ds is slower than she expects to produce work - putting those two together might indicate a challenge with processing speed even though the other scores aren't in the gifted range.

I also agree with Cricket re the tester - my ds has never been seen by a psych who specializes in gifted children, but that hasn't depressed any of his scores (as far as I know!), and the patterns in his subtests plus his overall IQ scores have come out very close together each time he's been tested.

polarbear

Pardon my mix up! I meant to edit something for clarity on my other post, not quote the entire thing and add a new post! Apparently I'm not having the best day to showcase my capacity either - lol!

You know best about your child, he's still the same kid. Maybe this sounds 'naive' but I'd just assume the test result is not accurate and move on; if there are reasons to retest like school programs you are interested for him, etc., then consider retesting when it is feasible to do so.