Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment GAI please explain

Hi all

I'm new to this board and also the testing process. I apologize in advance if this question has been asked, but I can't find the answer.

My daughter was just tested and determined to be twice-exceptional. The tester said that the GAI would be a much better indicator of her overall abilities than her FSIQ due to her lower working memory and processing speed scores. And also due to her emotional disorder which really affected her overall performance during the test (so much so the tester told us we should really ignore the FSIQ as it didn't even remotely indicate what she thought her FSIQ should be). However, the tester said since the subtest scores that would be used to determine the GAI only totaled 99 she would not be able to give us a GAI. She said those subtest scores would have to at least total 100. Has anyone else been told this? Would we be able to apply to DYS without a GAI? Our tester has encouraged us to apply as we desperately need some advocacy help. I'd appreciate any info. Thanks

I'm not completely sure, but after some research it looks like the GAI would be 148..? That would be enough for DYS. You should probably wait until the testing experts come along to figure out if that's true or not- I'm curious as to why she says that she wouldn't be able to give you a GAI? Did she say why she needed 100?
Welcome to the forums!

Hi and thanks so much for the response and the welcome. I'm thrilled to have found this place.

In answer to your question, our tester said she was unable to calculate the GAI as there was no table/chart that went below 100. Then I found this place and noticed some here looked like they were able to get GAI's with lower scores. So I thought perhaps it was possible to calculate it but that it wasn't and "official" score. I'm hoping if I submit her test results that Davidson will look at the subtests and not just the FSIQ. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Thanks for your input Dottie. This is very helpful. Particularly your suggestions on how to approach DYS.

I think you may be right that the psychologist who tested her was not looking at Tech Report 4. I should start by saying I made a typo above and her subtest scores total 98 not 99. She did get a 19 in Sim and the extended score is included in that total (it changed to 20 with extended scores). Her VCI is 138 and the PRI 137. The WM and PS were both 94. She had such huge discrepancies and displayed such emotional challenges that the tester believes it confirms her belief that she is twice-exceptional. We are going through further evaluations with occupational therapists and developmental optometrists to see if we can determine where the problems lie.

I'm hoping to get her in DYS as I need help with advocacy. Both her therapist and the psychologist who tested her think we should pull her out of the public school she is in and send her to a private gifted school. Unfortunately it is just not financially possible for us. I remain hopeful that we can get her the emotional and LD help that she needs from our district.

I'm having the tester write up a more detailed report that goes into her observations during testing as well as the results. I'll include that with the information I send to DYS as well.

Oh my, I just realized I am really rambling!! Sorry about that. Thanks again for all you thoughts and the links.

Yes. I didn't want to bore you with all the numbers but her scaled scores are

Vocab 15
Comp 15
Sim 20

BD 16
MR 15
PC 17

I think it very much puts her teetering on the edge. Hopefully in the range of consideration. Doubly frustrating as the tester remarked that she felt we should just throw out her FSIQ. She felt an FSIQ of 150+ was a much more accurate description of her ability. But what are you going to do. There is great value in knowing the difference between potential and current functioning ability. Says to me if we can get her the appropriate help she could soar. Basically she shut down in the second half of the test after the coding section as she was so disappointed with her performance (she is extremely self critical even though she is only 7). She became "itchy", non-compliant and laid on the floor. The fact that she pulled off the scores she did without trying amazes me. The tester said it was night and day the difference between how she was at the start of the test and how she was at the end.

All in all I'd say it has been a very enlightening process. I'm hopeful we can get advocacy help, but if not I'll just keep checking in here for thoughts and ideas.

Yes, she also has scores for the WIAT-II. And I believe this is one of the areas where she really shut down (I'll confirm that with the tester). We were shown examples of her resistance. There was a page of math problems that she refused to answer, she just put smiling and frowning faces on the page with an x through the smiling face. Lovely. So the following math score is not a surprise.

Summary scores say
Reading 381(raw) 138(std)
Math 203(raw) 100(std)

The tester thinks she has some real cognitive issues with sequencing and working memory that are contributing to or exacerbating the emotional disorder. I'm curious to know how Davidson evaluates twice-exceptional children? The psychologist who tested her believes she fits that category. We'll see what the additional assessments (occupational therapist, developmental optometrists, etc.) reveal.

I'm sure that is true. And as I said before, it is what it is. There is great value to knowing what her functioning level is. I'll probably still contact them to get feedback and definitely still check here for good ideas. I also remain hopeful that our school will come through.

Thanks so much for your thoughts on all this. It has been very helpful.

If I may ask� how did you determine, in the end, what your daughters 2e issues were? Not meaning to be nosy, just curious how arduous the process is. My gut tells me it is not simple or quick process. And as I ask the question I realize there is no pat answer as all situations are so different. So never mind. I've used up enough of your time! All the best! You've really been helpful. : )

Yeah, it's a complicated process to figure out a 2E issue. No easy answers there.

Just another thing to put in your hopper... just because a kid was resistant on one test or subtest does not necessarily mean that the kid *could* have done it if they weren't resistant. Very often, kids are most resistant on the tasks they perceive themselves as being weakest in. They're covering up so that they can have an excuse for why they didn't score well. Of course, their self-perceptions aren't always accurate. Again, more complexity.