Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment help understanding scores

My daughter took the WPSI-III, at age 4 yrs 10 months, as required by one of the kindergartens we looked at. I was not surprised that her verbal score was good at 137 - she does have good verbal skills. her performance and processing speed scores were more average (108 performance and 104 processing), but it didn't bother as her full scale was reported as 124 which seems fine. However, someone told me the big difference between verbal and the other scores could be signs of a learning disability - visual processing disability, or other problems. Should I have any other testing done? WIll she have problems in school because of this? Any advice on interpreting this or what other signs to look for that might indicate a problem? I was not inclined to go with the private school that required this testing, however they say they would be a good fit because they are good at kids who are gifted but have processing problems, and now I am worried maybe she needs something special in terms of school. However, I thought it was the full scale IQ that really determines whether or not you are gifted, and hers is above average not gifted; and then her processing speed percentile is not below average, just not as high as verbal, so I'm not sure I really need to worry about learning disabilities. What do you think??

I see I haven't gotten any replies, and realized people may be wondering what I'm doing on this particular website, given the full scale IQ of only 124- basically the school we looked at that required the IQ is a "school for the gifted", and our daughter's preschool teacher recommended we look there, as her verbal skills are so advanced. So that's where we got the idea she could be gifted, and also because I was always labeled as gifted and skipped several grades, and didn't want this to happen to my daughter. I was actually fairly pleased that her total score was superior but not gifted, as it seems giftedness can me more of a burden than an advantage, but when the tester told me she could be both gifted and learning disabled, that worried me somewhat. I'm not sure a gifted school or a regular public school would be a great fit in that circumstance. I'm wondering if others have experienced similar issues, or had kids with similar scores. Do I need to worry about this?

Do you notice that she has any difficulties in real life that seem related to these test scores? Would you be worried if you hadn't seen these test scores?

Also, did you get more of a breakdown, the scaled scores of individual subtests?

No, no one is wondering that! Sometimes a post gets missed. That's what happened with yours for me. Anyone who wants to be here is welcome. We don't check scores at the door.

I'm not the score guru, but I can tell you that your daughter's verbal score is a gifted score, though not all gifted programs will accept the VCI or the PRI, instead requiring a full-scale IQ score of 130 or above. Most experts on GTness, however, would call your DD verbally GT based on her VCI of 137.

It is very common for GT kids to have lower scores on speed and memory. As these are not below-average for your DD, I don't believe they are technically LD indicators, though they may function as "roadblocks" to her ability to take in or produce information. (To be sure, you'd have to have achievement testing done, as well. If her performance is below what would be expected for someone with her IQ test scores, then an LD is more possible.) Those roadblocks are more about how she learns than a real disability, but it's certainly something to be aware of.

Also, the GAI might tell you more about her than her FSIQ score. Just something to consider. And remember that a test is one day only. It's a snapshot, heavily dependent upon all the specifics of what happened that day. (And your DD's young age!) It's more info for you to consider, but it does not define your child. Use what you know about her to put the test in context. Do these numbers make sense? If not, it may have been a bad test day. Is she a perfectionist? Many perfectionists score lower on the speed section because they care too much about precision over speed. Etc.

Since many people think that GT=fast and GT=photographic memory, it is possible that your DD will have some bumps in the road, assuming these scores are accurate reflections of your DD's abilities. It's something to watch for.

Welcome! HTH!

Thank you so much, Dottie - I have seen your very helpful responses to many "test questions" on this site, so I was glad to hear from you. I was somewhat wary of testing my daughter at age 4, but it's what this particular school required, and our pre-K teacher had suggested we look at it (it is a "gifted school" and the preschool teacher also has noticed her fairly advanced verbal skills + interest in things that are unusual for a kid her age). Our daughter spent a day at this gifted school and the kindergarten teacher and the admissions person both said they were not at all worried about the lower scores on performance/processing speed, and are telling me that they would actually be a very good fit because they are used to dealing with kids with this type of discrepancy, and give a lot of individual attention, differentiation, etc. I just worry that she will feel overwhelmed or even unable to keep up in this type of environment, where there are lots of kids who I bet have high scores in all of the areas. On the other hand, I don't know if the large classes in public schools would be great either. Maybe a small private school but not one specifically for "gifted/advanced" kids? Any advice?

If the teachers get it and aren't worried about her scores, and if you like the school for your daughter, I wouldn't worry about the speed issue. She's *not* behind in terms of speed or memory; she's just not ahead. That's truly not cause for alarm.

Thank you! I probably am being somewhat alarmist at this point. What is the GAI you mentioned? If we were to get her re-tested in a year or so, are there other tests that would be better? Or other tests to add? Or just wait and see what is recommended by the schools if there are any issues?

That school sounds like paradise!

You asked if we got more of a breakdown - I cut and pasted this:

Verbal Scale Performance Scale Processing Speed
Information 16 Block Design 9 Symbol Search 11
Vocabulary 18 Matrix Reasoning 11 Coding 11
Word Reasoning 14 Picture Concepts 14

Don't know if this really adds much.

The GAI is an index that's includes only the scores that are considered more indicative of giftedness.

Though, I just realized, with a 4yo you're talking about the WPPSI, not the WISC. The WPPSI may not have a GAI. Oops! I'm not sure about that!

Sorry to confuse things!

Wait until she's 6 and you can have her take the WISC, if you need more info. Or after 5, she could take the Stanford-Binet. And there are a number of achievement tests she could take.

But unless you need more info or think that there's reason to doubt these test results, I don't know that you need to re-test. Testing for the sake of testing always seems sort of wasted to me. But that's just me...