Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Testing Question-Huge Scatter with Scores-Worry?

Hi,
I had my daughter (6) tested yesterday with the WISC IV. We only had her tested because she is not wanting to go to school. She is in 1st grade.

Older DS is highly gifted and has always been the "academic". So, we weren't considering her to be gifted.

I don't have the subtest scores yet

VCI-116
PRI-141
PS-91
WM-110

FSIQ-123
GAI-135

The tester said she was very cautious especially at the beginning. She also was a perfectionist. So, she was concerned that some of the testing may not be completely accurate. She had speech delays as a toddler. So, I am concerned that there may be something else going on. She has always been my verbal one (she is never quiet-her motor is ALWAYS on). So, we were shocked at how high the PRI was.

Any insight on this and if you would worry...

Thanks,

I'm not really familiar with the WISC subtests (my 5 yo took the SBV), and I am still new to the whole testing world. It looks like her real (relative) weakness is in processing speed (that is the "PS", right?). This is also my son's area of weakness (his results are in the post "Testing interpretation" below -- the SBV doesn't have a lot of timed components, so it really shows up mostly in his WJ-III scores).

From what I can gather, although I haven't gotten a lot of feedback on DS5's scores, it isn't at all uncommon to have issues with processing speed along with high levels of giftedness. My son also had significant speech delays as a toddler as well. His language is fine now, although he still has articulation problems.

Good luck with everything.

We're working our way through a similar situation with our dd10. Our oldest (12), too is HG and very academic. Our little one doesn't appear as obviously gifted.

In our dd's instance, she has been tested twice on the WISC. Once the VCI and PRI were very high 99th+ and once the VCI was very high 99th and the PRI was in the 75th. Both times, WMI and PSI were avg.

The first test administered on the WISC is the block design, which is timed and is part of the PRI index. That would lead away from depressed scores due to having not yet warmed up to the tester in your dd's instance b/c she did very, very well on PRI (unless, of course, block design was lower by a lot than the other two pieces of that subtest). If block design was a lot lower, that would add to the insight that processing speed is an issue for her.

Your description of your dd sounds a lot like my dd10 as well -- very verbal, always "on."

Beyond that, I'm not a lot of help! We are looking at anxiety, divergent thinking, and possibly ADD with my dd.

Thanks! I am unsure what divergent thinking is but she suffers from anxiety. We are not treating it. It mainly stems from being in a social setting that she is unfamiliar with. She needs time to feel comfortable. She was very worried about the testing yesterday and didn't want me to leave her in the room alone.

Her block design was 13-I think Matrix was 18. The tester thought that Block would have been higher had it not been the first test.

So, do I consider her gifted? We are still trying to figure out the school issue. Is it curriculum or anxiety? Probably a combo.

Yeah, my dd had three 18s the first time she was tested (two in verbal and one in perceptual) and a 17 & a 19 the second (both in verbal on time two). We haven't medicated anything and, if it is anxiety, are trying the counseling route for now.

The psych she's seen most recently feels that her first WISC scores were more accurate (as they are supported by the WIAT -- individual achievement -- and some other indicators). She's telling us that dd is definitely gifted and quite possibly HG+. She felt that scores in that 18-19 range indicated a degree of highly giftedness even if the child had some significant weaknesses relative to those strengths.

Divergent thinking is essentially thinking outside of the box. My dd doesn't tend to read questions they way the person who wrote them intended (covergent thinking). She is erratic in her performance b/c she sometimes comes up with something totally different than the test creator intended which is then wrong as far as grading is concerned. This seems to be adding to her anxiety b/c years of hearing that your answers are wrong is hard on a kid.

The psych we're seeing said that she sees her creativity as a sign of greater intelligence than a child who might perform more consistently but who is simply regurgitating info he has been taught rather than creating new ways to do is as dd may.