Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional will someone explain WISC-V coding score?

I searched and read every thread with "coding" and low-processing speed and still don't understand what it means.

What kinds of problems would you expect from a child with a barely average coding score (8) relative to higher scores in every other subtest?

I ask this in frustration, after watching DS sit on the couch with the laptop and type one sentence of a research paper in several hours' time. The research was printed and in front of him, I'd given him a very systematic way to deal with it, and he understood the subject matter well enough.

I made sure he didn't stray into youtube, bribed, coddled, threatened, etc. and he just sat there making weird noises, humming, squeaking, etc. and occasionally throwing his stress ball against the wall. He wasn't even in a bad mood--just totally out in lala land. WHAT IS THIS? Is this related to his 2E profile, and which part?

He is very frustrating. I can't tell how much is can't and how much is won't or "prefers not to." I try to be compassionate and look at this as a lagging skill set but I can't figure out which skill(s) are indicated.

We had a neuropsych eval with DD and he said it's an executive functioning issue. She doesn't have the planning/organizational ability to figure out how to get started or how to organize her thoughts. He suggested breaking everything down into tiny parts and having her use graphic organizers. DD says she doesn't like the graphic organizers, so even that may be too difficult for her. At this point she basically requires someone to sit with her to do projects like this.

I don't think that this is directly related to "coding" but slow processing speed is another manifestation of impaired executive functioning.

This is an interesting article, scroll down to the boxes and look at #1 activation, and #3 effort.
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10782.aspx

That sounds about right. DS is totally resistant to having any help, also. He is under the impression, evidently, that "nobody else" needs their mom's help with HW--even though I've given him direct, contradictory evidence.

I even asked him to just start talking, and I'd type, and then we could organize later. Nope.

He did eventually come up with a paper. Grammar, mechanics, etc.=excellent. Voice=inappropriate (but I just let him say "weirdly enough" etc. for transitions--killing one bird at a time, here, in SOS mode). Organization=questionable. I think, once he begins "talking," he is fairly organized, naturally, just because he has high verbal ability.

I absolutely can not BELIEVE how difficult it is to get him started on writing anything that isn't his own idea.

I'd given him this idea: go through and highlight things you want to quote/paraphrase re: each main idea using a different color. Then go through and paste those things in. Paraphrase, quote as needed. Then I said I'd help with the citations.

This thing could have written itself. He couldn't understand that he didn't have to say anything earth-shattering. He kept saying, "it seems like all these sources just keep saying the same thing over and over again--redundant." I couldn't get him to understand that is kind of what a research paper is.

Once he started writing, he completed five pages pretty quickly, but it definitely seemed like he was trying to be entertaining and not informative.

Okay, activation is what this is called. I don't know if that has a relationship to "coding," itself, just grasping at explanatory straws.

DS processing speed is not even all that bad: 109 last test. Coding was his lowest score, significantly.

Can every single thing he struggles with be related to EF? It sure seems that way.

blackcat--have you had any success with "extended time" etc. with your DD? In DS' case, it seems to me like he needs the opposite of extended time. Like, you have 15 minutes to get this done. OTOH, if he perceives the deadline as too close, this causes major anxiety and shut down. Very tricky balancing act.

DD's lowest score was coding as well (it was 25th percentile, or an "8", on WISC IV). Compare that to GAI 150.

She was impaired on every aspect of EF (the 7 or 8 "boxes") on the BRIEF.

Only difference between her and your DS is that she does not have Aspergers.

Sometimes she is helped with a timer, for instance she is sometimes overwhelmed w/ her math homework. Sometimes I set a timer and say "see what you can get done in 20 min. then you can stop". If she knows that she only has to work for 20 min. it seems to help. But other times, knowing there is a time limit makes her extremely anxious. For instance timed math fluency tests.

The neuropsych did recommend using a timer w/ her, not as a "Hey you have to get XYZ done before the timer beeps" but so that she is reminded by the timer to keep working and so she can see how much she got done or didn't get done in a certain time period.

DS was also impaired on every BRIEF aspect. His ADHD and anxiety symptoms are far more impairing than his social communication--which is only evident in certain environments and situations where he is expected to "code-switch," for lack of a better term.

For whatever reason, math has been his easiest subject, in terms of "activation." I think it's because he doesn't have to make a lot of interferences about what the heck he's supposed to be doing. He didn't do well with timed tests on "math facts", either, when he was younger--would get answers correct, but never finished. Now that the facts are more automatic, this never causes any trouble for him.

I asked him if he agreed that math is the easiest thing to "get started on" and he does. He also does fairly well with straightforward, worksheet, fill-in-the-blank stuff.

Writing may kill both of us.

P.S. I wonder if neurofeedback could help?

I don't think the "cognitive training" like those "Brain Balance" programs work long term but I don't remember what I read about neurofeedback. I just know it's debatable and our insurance won't cover it.