Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Another Wisc IV Wisc V question

My 10 yr old son was tested on the WISC IV 2 years ago (8 yrs old) with the following scores.

FSIQ 118
VCI 116
PRI 115
WMI 129
PSI 91. subtests coding 7, symbol 10 and cancellation 14

Recently tested WISC-V

FSIQ 110
VC 113
WM 115
Fluid Reasoning 123
Visual Spatial 97
Processing 83. Subtest coding 6, symbol 8

I would really like any feedback regarding the differences. There is definitely an issue with Processing Speed although neither of the evaluators were overly concerned about it. My son seems to read and complete classroom activities at a slower rate than his peers, according to his teacher. However he has no difficulty completing tests on time, usually in the middle of the pack. He also seems to get distracted when he has to perform activities like reading by himself or multi step math word problems at school. He is currently taking above grade level math (placed in a grade above math based on achievement) He is reading at grade level (interestingly enough he was above grade level last year but we had just transitioned from private school...maybe that had something to do with it???) and has aced all tests so far this year in Social Studies and Science. His writing, on the other hand needs work. He needs to improve sentence structure...ordering his thoughts and editing his work. I really want to help my son realize his fullest potential by finding suport for the weakenesses(processing speed) and capitalize on his strengths which appears to be Fluid Reasoning(whatever that is) from the WISC V results. Im thinking about some sort ,of brain training to address Processing speed. Any thoughts would be helpful.

1. There is no peer-reviewed data to support useful transfer and generalization from brain training for processing speed. I don't think it will hurt anyone, if your family can afford the time and money, but I don't have high expectations for benefit, either.

2. Other than WMI and PSI, his scores are quite similar to past testing. And PSI isn't a huge drop, to me. I do see that on his WISC-IV, his processing speed increased as the task became less fine-motor-heavy, and more concrete-familiar (images of realistic objects, rather than letter-like symbols). This may explain why his tests are completed on time, but his classroom activities are not. Classroom activities tend to me more novel, in the sense that that is when new material is introduced. By the time he reaches the test, it should have become more familiar. I would expect him to do well in social studies and science, as far as speed goes, because all of that is highly contextualized, which plays to his strengths.

3. WMI is harder to compare, as the WISC-IV consisted of two listening memory tasks, while the WISC-V has one listening and one visual memory subtest. We already know he is much stronger in verbal comp than in visual spatial, so it wouldn't be odd if he were generally better with listening than looking. That would easily explain the drop in WMI. (And btw, did the examiner substitute Arithmetic into the WMI, on the WISC-IV? Because that would also have given him a bump, since he's above grade level in math achievement.)

4. The WISC-IV PRI was split out into VSI and FRI on the WISC-V. I suspect the nearly 2 SD difference between the two was kind of cancelling out on the WISC-IV, making it appear to be only high average, when it was actually a Superior strength in fluid reasoning, and an Average mild weakness in visual spatial. Fluid reasoning refers to adaptive problem solving and integrative thinking skills. I always say, if you have to pick a strength, this should be it! Makes perfect sense that he's strong in mathematics, especially now that he's passed the math fact phase, and math instruction is increasingly about reasoning.

5. Has he been looked at by an occupational therapist, or for anything in the dysgraphic category of disabilities? His processing speed, especially with fine motor, and struggles with writing--especially where you note mechanics, sequencing, and editing--both would make me wonder about that. He has strong language skills, so pervasive struggles with written expression are even more striking.

6. If you actually think his reading is starting to stall out, you might want to investigate dyslexia, as well, as that would fit with the low processing speed, better performance on images than symbols, and distraction with reading and word problems. It could be other things too, but this would be one of my question marks.

Aeh-thank you for your feedback!! I have a lot to think about. Please see my response to your numbered comments.

1.Do you have any other suggestions to address processing speed ?

2. Thank you for this insight. This helps me to understand this concern.

3.As far as i am aware, there were no substitutions.
Working Memory subtests for the Wisc iv were as follows:
Digit span 14
Letter-number sequencing 16
Arithmetic 14

4. Thank you for this feedback. Should we consider steps to help with the mild weakness in visual spatial? If so do you have any thoughts?

5.He has never been evaluated by OT. Would one receive a referral from a pediatrician? Address with the psychologist that performed the Wisc v? Is there anything we can do at home instead of working with an OT?

6. How would one investigate dyslexia ?

1. My inclination is to pursue interventions for increasing automaticity in reading and calculating, rather than generic processing speed. There is more of a body of research for building academic fluency than for PS in isolation. Jim Wright has a number of resources for reading and fluency, including curriculum-based probes for assessing progress:

http://www.jimwrightonline.com/pdfdocs/brouge/rdngManual.PDF
http://www.interventioncentral.org/response-to-intervention

2. Happy to have helped.

3. Doesn't look like it made a difference which old WMI subtests were used in the index score, as they are all quite similar.

4. Again, it is quite challenging to find any evidence-based interventions for remediating cognitive processing weaknesses. More practical is accommodating it, and using his strengths to remediate any visual-spatial-related academic weaknesses that emerge along the way. It is possible that this cognitive process is another place where dyslexic or dysgraphic qualities are showing up. Accommodations would include monitoring his tipping point for being overwhelmed by complex or disorganized visual stimuli (or, in school, keeping it simple and non distracting). I'd also suggest visual frames and guides for reading and calculating (easy: take a sheet of paper or a bookmark, and screen off material that he is not working on right this minute. Helps with tracking, too.) I would keep an eye on how he does with geometry, when he gets there. This profile sometimes does much better with algebra than with geometry. He'll probably be better with the logic of proofs than with all the compass/protractor construction exercises so beloved in middle school geometry units.

5. This is where the action regarding visual spatial is most likely to be informative or useful. You could pursue OT eval through your pediatrician, but probably better through a psychologist. Except that your current evaluator doesn't seem to have made that recommendation. I don't know if you've received the full eval report yet; perhaps this and the question of dysgraphia will be addressed in it. If school is concerned, you could also ask their OT to evaluate him.

6. In addition to the cognitive information you already have, you would want achievement testing, specifically about his word-level reading skills using both real and nonsense words, oral (and maybe silent, too) reading fluency, and reading comprehension, preferably at both the sentence and multi-paragraph levels. It might also be helpful to have data on his phonological processing skills (phonological awareness--including phoneme manipulations, phonological memory--though that one will probably be normal to strong, based on his auditory WMI, and rapid automatized naming--might also be average to strong, since it won't involve fine motor speed).

You could have this evaluation conducted by someone like the psychologist you already have (but again, if they make no recommendation for further assessment for dyslexia or dysgraphia, as a result of the current eval, I would be a little less enthusiastic about asking them to continue), or seek out a referral for a neuropsychologist, through your pediatrician. Likewise, the school system can conduct a comprehensive psychoeducational eval, which usually covers all or most of these areas, at no cost to you. For anyone other than the psych who did the WISC-V, make sure you provide them with this recent testing, so they don't duplicate (and invalidate) testing. Who you have do the assessment depends a lot on whether you want the schools to do something, and what your relationships and trust levels with the various potential providers are.