Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC IV and gifted/LD identification

Hi,
I need some advice about whether to pursue an appeal through our school for our daughter's IEP. Our private psych-ed assessment for our seven year old daughter indicated gifted with dysgraphia, with a BIG spread between verbal (148) and processing speed (92); other scores were WM 114 and PR 120. According to the assessment, we should plan for school accommodations like extra time on tests, and also get her started on keyboarding and occupational therapy. The school psych, though, thinks that only the gifted designation is needed, and the writing issues are just an example of gifted asynchronous development. We're not that keen to get an LD designation, honestly--but how do I figure out if the school psych's judgment is accurate? (She's read the report from the private psych, but hasn't met our daughter or reviewed school records.) We are starting on OT, but not until March, so we won't have more info until then.
Thanks!

Thanks, Dottie! I'm not sure how much weight was placed on the other test results--the report mostly stresses the WISC discrepancies. There was a visual-perception skills test with wildly varying results for the 7 subtests--from the 27th to the 95th percentiles, with a composite of 110/75th percentile; a visual-motor integration test with scores from the 34th to 73rd percentiles; and pretty consistent WIAT results--99.91st composite, with scores from 90th percentile (math) to 99.91st (reading). The psychologist also commented on her tense and painful pencil grip, and on her difficulty with letter formation (mixing upper and lower case letters--but only some of the time). At home and school we've seen her writing evolve more slowly than we expected, and she has a lot of trouble staying on the line and remembering to loop down for some letters. Her classmates, though, seem to be at roughly the same stage, so it's hard to know if it's just a lack of familiarity and practice or something more serious. Advice welcome!