Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Help with interpreting test scores

I am hoping to gain some insight into test scores for my son who is 13 yrs, 3 months old. He was previously tested at 8 years, 3 months. To me the results seem parallel showing some regression and some small gains. Initial evaluation at 8 caused concern among all at CSE meeting and there was no debate about his need for services. This time my doctor wants neuropsych testing based on both evals plus her observations of him for possible processing problems.
(Based on listening paragraphs he could not remember simplest without prompt, paragraph with more detail he had more difficulty remembering, letter arrangement he could do only 3, subtraction task 100-7, -7, -7...he used fingers and came up with 93,87,80,73,52) During discussions he seemed not able to follow when she had a lot to say, he says what or huh a lot and had significant problems remembering info and acting on it.)

School knew this request was coming from her report and their report seems worded to purposely rule that out for our CSE meeting next week and says he probably just was in a bad mood or not paying attention when my doctor met with him. (neither was the case) Anyone with insight who can help me understand the scores...I would much appreciate.

WISC-IV 8yrs3mos 13yrs3mos
VCI 126 124
PRI 110 108
WMI 110 99
PSI 85 83
FSIQ 113 108

(VCI) Sim-12 Voc-16 Comp-15 sim-17 voc-13 comp-12
(PRI) bd-9 pc-12 mr-14 bd-10 pc-14 mr-10
(WMI) ds-12 lns-12 ds-11 lns-9
(PSI) cd-6 ss-9 cd-5 ss-9


BEERY-
BUKTENICA SS=109 73rd % SS=98 45th %

He also had Woodcock-Johnson III this time around...I can post those scores if it helps with insight.

My son scores 3's and 4's on all state assessments, always has. He does well in school with the exception of English and this past year he was totally lost in foreign language by second quarter. Teacher said (over and over) that he just was not trying. He said he didn't understand anything that was going on in class. In Math my son is capable of very good grades and gets them but the work is slow, frustrating, and he still counts on his fingers more than I would expect.

He has significant problems with memory....leaves school with assignment explained, gets home with little clue about what to do, took forever to learn address, often cannot recall his phone number when asked, cannot recall the months or the order the come in...things of that nature. He has some attention issues but no glaring hyperactivity in anyones observations (parents, teachers, psych, and testing) - although he says he fidgets in the classroom sometimes and daydreams sometimes.
My son definitely says "what" a lot...and often mishears things. I've found repeating helps less than restating. Never heard of APD before...now that I research everything I wonder if he has some auditory and some visual processing problems. I want the neuropsych testing. Mostly a neuro report would help him understand and cope because he has become quite anxious and frustrated about why he could feel so smart and so "stupid" at the same time. He has developed anxiety, social phobia, depression and school avoidance. Very significant to me is he is always fearful that his teachers will be mad at him, yell at him, since grade 5. He cannot seem to differentiate between someone saying something to him, being firm, scolding or yelling at him. This happens very often and has contributed greatly to his school anxiety and avoidance as well as what he says is extreme difficulty with the work despite good test scores and grades.

Any impressions, suggestions, advice....support?

Thanks!

Here are the Woodcock Johnson III Scores for above post (Age 13y 3m)

Oral Language 113,80%
Tot Achievement 97,17%
Broad Reading 103,32%
Broad Math 96,15%
Broad Written Lang 93,23%
Math Calc Skills 93,8%
Written Expression 93,22%
Academic skills 104,28%
Academic fluency 89,16%
Academic Applications 103,29%

Letter word Identification 113,80%
Reading fluency 94,35%
Story recall 92,30%
Understanding Directions 121,91%
Calculation 105,64%
Math Fluency 69,25
Spelling 93,31%
Writing Fluency 92,30%
Passage comprehension 113,80%
Applied problems 98,30%
Writing samples 96,40%

Thanks for your response Dottie.
I'm working on a referral from MD for further testing and will try to get auditory processing either ruled out or confirmed.
He has always had superior verbal ability and has always shown a strong interest in learning. Was never a cartoon kind of kid and picked up a lot of knowledge through Discovery, History channels, etc.
We have to consider how much anxiety is playing a role and we're in no way ruling out Attention Deficit yet. I admit being surprised that his doctors did not want to agree to that diagnosis because I guess I hoped for an answer that we could start moving forward from figuring out what was going on and start getting the him more specific types of help/accommodations.

Red flag for doctors aside from the low processing scores was his inability this past year to learn a foreign language. He became complete lost in French early in the year and by mid year did not understand anything that was going on in the class. My son never failed anything and of course his teacher kept saying if he tried harder he could pass. He got 50's and then a 36 in her class.
Could it have been inattention? I guess, but with the same inattention he always still managed good grades in all of his classes except English.
At our CSE I'll take 'other health impairment" and try to get as many accommodations on his IEP that might help and we'll have to revisit once I get a firmer diagnosis I guess.
Thanks for looking at the scores and sharing your thoughts.
I appreciate it! It has been frustrating but I will do everything and anything to help him because nobody is more frustrated than he is.