Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC-IV results & questions

Recently had my DS10 tested - full neuropsych battery. His WISC-IV results are as follows:

VCI 140
- similarities 19
- vocabulary 13
- comprehension 18

PRI 108
- block design 12
- picture concepts 11
- matrix reasoning 11

WM 102
- digit span 10
- letter-number seq 11

PSI 88
- symbol search 7
- coding 9

Obviously, there is a great discrepancy between VCI and the other scores, and especially PSI. More concerning to me - he was tested at age 6 and his scores were more consistent, although still low in PSI.

results from 2009
VCI 132
PRI 137
WMI 113
PSI 109

So... what questions would you ask the neuropsych? What follow up would you do?

Have his eyes been checked by an eye dr? (not just the nurse @ the pediatrician's office.)

He just had an eye exam last week and sees 20/20 but she noted some muscle concerns. I'm taking him to a behavioral optometrist in a couple of weeks.

Did the neuropsych talk to you about the results yet, or is this next appointment your first follow-up? I'm guessing it's the first chance you'll have to discuss the results?

These are the things I'd ask about (plus, fwiw, I usually find that our neuropsych has tons of new info for me to take in at that first follow-up meeting, and that's when I *really* have questions - after that meeting!).

1) I think it's a good think you're following up on the behavioral optometrist, especially since your regular eye dr noticed muscle concerns. I have a dd who has 20/20 vision but has had significant challenges with her vision due to muscle weakness, and she was helped tremendously by vision therapy. OTOH, I don't think vision challenges explain everything you are seeing in the scatter on the WISC. When my dd took the WISC (before we knew she had a vision challenge), her subtest scores were very consistent across categories *except* for the processing speed tests (symbol search in particular), and matrix reasoning (I think, if I remember correctly - it was one of the PRI subtests, but not all three).

2) I would ask about possible reasons the scores are scattered (the neuropsych will probably want to discuss this anyway). Ask if any follow-up tests (executive function, fine motor, vision etc) were given during the neuropsych eval to clarify what possible reasons might be causing the scatter.

3) I would think through my child's academic strengths and weaknesses and ask how that relates to the scores. Ask if there is anything that you need to put in place at school and home - accommodations etc - to help support your child.

4) I would ask how your child behaved during the testing - was he tired, distracted etc. Also ask which tests were given first/last.

5) Do you have the subtest scores from the 2009 WISC? The average scores were more consistent, but were the subtest scores also consistent? Although they don't bounce around quite as much, my EG 2e ds13 had scatter in his total VCI/PRI scores... and the higher/lower flipped from testing at 8 to testing at 10 ( I can't remember which flipped which way). In his case, his neuropsych didn't have concerns about it because the change in #s was within 1 SD. Your ds' drop in PRI from the earlier test is larger than that and I would want to know more details about the earlier subtests to see if it is a specific test that was really high before that drove the high # or if they were all somewhat even before (like they are now) and the average went down that much.

6) I would ask which subtests are most impacted by vision.

You didn't mention here why you had your ds go through neuropsych testing but I am guessing something was going on at school (or home) that you're trying to understand better. If you tell us a little bit about why you sought out the testing, we might have more suggestions for things to ask the neuropsych.

Best wishes,

polarbear

Cue Twilight Zone music... check this thread:
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....e_WIAT_III_subtest_scores.html#Post94041

Aculady's son has a very, very similar scatter.

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the help!

I took him in originally because of concern about perfectionism. He's great at math, for example, but thinks he's bad. Now I'm thinking maybe that's because it's slower and harder for him. He still gets everything right - it just takes longer. My concerns were more toward anxiety. He stresses about homework, tests, etc. although he's never had difficulty.

I have met with her once to get the results, and she did go into detail on some of the issues. I never before considered a vision problem, for example. As polarbear said, I'm now coming up with all sorts of further questions. I haven't received the full written report yet - so was holding off until I get that before I get back to her.

Can part of this be due to the fear of being wrong? I know his biggest fear is being embarrassed (by being wrong). Could that explain some of the lower scores?

He does very well in school. We haven't had any concerns in that area ever. BUT, the work has never been challenging, either. So it's definitely something we need to consider BEFORE he gets to the point where the work is more difficult.

As for the previous subtests scores, here they are:

VCI
Similarities 17
Vocabulary 18
Comprehension 11

PRI
Block design 16
Picture concepts 18
Matrix reasoning 14

WMI
Digit span 15
Letter-number sequencing 10

PSI
Coding 10
Symbol search 13

From my lay person's perspective it looks to me like, whatever the cause, his speed deficit has become more obvious relative to his peers. His PSI is worse relative to his peers than it was AND I would guess that whatever the source of that PSI issue is, this is further impacting the PRI which is both directly impacted by visual and fine motor issues AND, as I understand it, has more timed tests.