Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC-IV shows Very High Processing Score - Help!!

I'm new here and sooooo hoping that you can help me!!

I took my daughter (Ana � 7) to a Psychologist for testing due to behavior concerns. She is VERY impulsive, hyper, talks non-stop, argues, gets angry, can't follow rules, always needs to be "first", constant humming, singing, mouth noises and can't sit still to save her soul. She annoys everyone around her and she is LOUD!! She can be over emotional and fails to see how her actions affect others. She "leaps...then looks." She is very literal and is QUICK to �correct� any and everyone she talks to. She thinks she has all the answers and constantly interrupts to give her opinion. She is very aware of everything that is going on around her�its amazing! These observations are shared by us, her school and our family doctor.

She was diagnosed with ADHD-Combined type and was put on Ritilan which has made a HUGE difference in her behavior when the meds are in her system. The biggest problems I have now are in the morning, evening and overnight (when meds have worn off). Pretty typical so we are seeking help.

That being said, Ana is a very loving, caring and sensitive child. She always wants to please. She is beyond adorable�.but maybe I�m just bias.

Here's my problem. I took her to a psychologist (different from the one who tested her as he no longer takes my insurance) for behavior therapy, and he questioned her ADHD diagnosis after looking over her WISC-IV test resluts. The red flag for him was her Processing Speed Index (131). He indicated that kids with ADHD usually have deficits in their PSI score. He thinks something else may be going on. I truly believe she is ADHD and maybe there are other issues too.

Is it possible to have ADHD with that high of an PSI?? Here are her scores (She was not medicated at the time):

Verbal Comprehension - 110 - 75th percentile - High Average
Perceptual Reasoning - 104 61st percentile - Average
Working Memory - 102 - 55th percentile - Average
Processing Speed - 131 - 98th percentile - Very Superior
Full Scale - 115 - 84th percentile - High Average

Sub Scores:

Verbal Comprehension

Similarities - 11 - 63rd percentile
Vocabulary - 12 - 75th percentile
Comprehension - 13 - 84th percentile
Information - 10 - 50th percentile
Word Reasoning - 11 - 63rd percentile

Perceptual Reasoning

Block Desing - 11 - 63rd percentile
Picture Concepts - 11 - 63rd percentile
Matrix Reasoning - 10 - 50th percentile
Picture Completion - 11 - 63rd percentile

Working Memory

Digit Span - 10 - 50th percentile
Letter-Number Sequencing - 11 - 63rd percentile
Arithmetic - 12 - 75th percentile

Processing Speed

Coding - 17 - 99th - percentile
Symbol Search - 14 - 91st percentile

She also took the Woodcock-Johnson-III. This test revealed that her �Reading Standard Score� is within the superior range. Her Math Calculation Standard Score� is within the high average to superior range. Her �Broad Math Standard Score� is within the high average to superior range.

Can anyone help me figure out what is going on here??? Ana is so very, very bright. I know she is destined for great things if we can find a way to focus her in the right direction.

If it matters, Ana was adopted, internationally, as an infant from Guatemala. She was in foster care for the first 15 months of her life. I have little information about the birthmother or her situation. She was not on formula while in Guatemala (powdered whole milk is par for the course there.) Nutritional issues may play a part. She is a very picky eater and takes forever to finish a meal (even if she likes it).

Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated!!

I am no expert on the test scores but some of the behaviors you are describing sound very familiar. Your first paragraph could have described our son at a similar age. Please do not be offended at my questions, I don't mean any:)
First, is your daughter in any physical activities? We found that with enough (alot more than you'd expect) physical activity, DS is able to control most of these behaviors with a little reinforcement. At her age we were doing karate 4-5 times a week and running for 20-30 minutes a day before school.
Second, have you tried sensory products like weighted vests, fidget tools, etc? For 3rd grade DS sat on a balance ball at his desk in school. The result of falling off was having to use the regular chair for the next lesson period. He quickly learned to stay on the ball which gave him alot of sensory imput as well as an outlet for the fidgets in class.
The behaviors you describe can have many causes:) My experience has been try something, if it helps great, if not try something else:) The sensory processing products have helped us tremendously. You may want to look into this website.

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your input!! Yes, my daughter gets LOTS of physical activity. We tried taekwondo, but she couldn't stand at attention on her "dot". The physical part was great, but she wouldn't stand still, or pay attention to the instructor when he was trying to teach the skills.

We put her in gymnastics last year and that seems to be a better fit for her. We also have her run laps around the back yard and insist on trampoline time. She wears me out.....

I've never thought of looking into the sensory processing products for her. I'll give that a look. I, myself, LOVE to have a weighted blanket on me. When I go to the dentist, I insist that they leave the x-ray blanket on while doing any dental work. It's amazing how much it helps! LOL!!!

Yorkie Girl,

It is my understanding (and anyone please feel free to correct me) that it is the working memory score which is more tied to ADHD issues than processing speed although they often get lumped together. We are working out some similar issues here and I don't have any better advice than those above - exercise etc. Try swimming - mainly free swim. It works the whole body, is a great sensory experience and is totally open-ended.
Keep posting and welcome!

Breakaway

There are lots of longer acting Stimulent medications you can try if you feel that the Ritilan is helping her. I guess I wouldn't worry so much about what the diagnosis is if the medicine clearly is helping her.

I love the suggestions. I would also try teaching relaxation techniques, including deep breathing while counting her pulse. I think her strong vocabulary and rapid processing are what people see when they experience her, but that the challenge is going to be teaching her to access her depths as well.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

I'd be curious myself about the discrepency btwn her IQ scores and her achievement scores. From what you are saying, it sounds like her achievement scores were significantly higher than would be predicted by the IQ scores. She seems to come in in the high average but not gifted range pretty consistently on IQ, but those achievement scores sound possibly indicative of more than high average intelligence.

I've actually never seen a profile like your dds' with high avg scores across the board and very high PSI scores. I see a lot of people posting about high verbal and perceptual reasoning scores and lower memory or processing speed scores and we've seen scores like that in our own dds too.

Maybe Dottie or someone else with more experience will chime in here.

I have an adopted son who is 7 (got him at 15 months...also poor nutrition and extreme neglect). We had him tested through the local school system to find out if he had a learning disability (he had already been diagnosed with ADHD at the time). I was shocked by how high his processing speed was given his ADHD and impulse control issues.

The reason why I was so surprised was because our gifted son has an average processing speed, which is completely out of whack with his other scores. Go figure.

I agree with Dottie, that these children race through the tests. I would further add that they don't stress about the answers, they see the obvious and go for it. My other son, because of his high IQ, sees a world of possibilities in every question/scenario and that really slows him down.

I would also like to note that this child has recently been diagnosed as being bi-polar. He is on new meds and is responding beautifully (other than morning/night when the meds are wearing off). Turns out that a lot of the impulse control issues were related to the bipolar problems.

FWIW, nothing on any of the IQ tests is pathognomonic (clearly indicating or ruling out the diagnosis) for ADHD. The pattern you've got there of super-fast speed on easy tasks and nothing else being able to keep up is precisely what you're seeing in real life -- this is a kid who leaps first and then looks later, or forgets to look at all because she's already leapt on to the next and the next and the next.

Obviously, I haven't seen your kid and would never presume to make a diagnosis over the internet. But I would say that I've seen other kids with pretty clear ADHD who had this kind of profile. Buzz buzz buzz whizz pop! I agree with Dottie, too, that sometimes what's going on is that the kid is doing less well on other tasks precisely because they're not slowing down to actually see what's being required.

I know this is an older post but I would like to respond. There are actually three types of ADHD. ADHD inattentive, ADHD Hyperactive and ADHD combined. The lower processing speed in most likely linked to ADHD inattentive. Your child sounds like they may have ADHD Hyperactive.