Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Not sure whether to test further for DYS

Hi folks.

We've had a very rocky year with my son, who's 7 and was delighted to be done with 1st grade today. His year has included complaints of boredom, also bullying of him, and hitting back by him, lots of tantrums, and general misery at home. We've done neuropsych testing, which showed that he was wildly uneven(99.9% in verbal reasoning, 50% in processing speed) and had some attentional issues. The Davidson people said they couldn't make a decision about him and requested further information via a video or achievement testing (I submitted a portfolio of his math doodles, but I knew it didn't really showcase him and they thought his slow processing speed might hinder his ability to show what he's capable of).

His behavior is better now, and I'm not sure whether that's because of his play therapy, my 24 hour behavioral management at home, or his new math/science tutor, who he really enjoys. I was just going to let the DYS application slide, but the tutor mentioned that she can administer the Woodcock Johnson and that he would probably score at least 2-3 years beyond grade level in math. Do you folks think it's worth administering the test? If I already have a tutor will it really make a difference to have the DYS resources? I was trying to do a video, but he keeps trying to hijack the camera and since I have a 2-year-old who also wants to star in the show, it's very difficult. Plus, he stopped talking about math spontaneously. Math isn't even his strongest subject. Who knows what is? He just goes through phases of absorbing information about different topics, but he reads at or near grade level.

Anyway, I appreciate your help!

Thanks, JWS

You never know what the future brings so it's nice to stay a step ahead. I would do the testing and submit. I think the testing may need to be done within a certain time period but check on this. If you already have one test you may want to go for the other if it expires.

Thank you so much, onthegomom and master of none, you bring up very good points! I do need to submit by August, and I do wonder if there is some kind of LD besides some attentional issues to explain why there is such a gap between his verbal reasoning and his ability to read, and why he finds certain visual-spatial tasks so difficult (though his score was 75% for these tasks in the Wechsler). The neuropsych who did the assessment chalked his reading lag up to impulsivity and attentional issues and said her son had very similar scores and also read at grade level until he had enough sight words to take off. DS's writing is also grade level, master of none, though when he dictates his syntax and vocabulary are much more sophisticated.

I have another question, since you all are so helpful and it sounds as though he would benefit from testing! The person who offered to test him is his tutor, who specializes in learning disabilities and is a special education advocate as well. By her own admission, she is much more accustomed to working with kids on the opposite end of the spectrum. I've heard people say the test administrator should be familiar with testing gifted kids. Do you think I should find someone else, or should I stick with her so she can help potentially identify and help with any perceived learning disability? In tutoring him, she hasn't noticed anything that she thinks indicates a LD. She is amazed that he mastered subtraction with regrouping in one session and she doesn't seem to be able to retain the information that his processing speed is comparatively very low.