IQ/Ability/Social Testing....

So, we got back the results of Alex's testing in the above mentioned areas.

Originally we wanted the data to possibly get her some differentiation services
at our neighborhood public school. After visiting the school, we realized that it just wasn't a good fit due to our educational philosophies and its overall climate.

Anyway...where does one begin. I don't want to publish the actual numbers but will share which tests were given and under which categories she fell.

The first test was the WPPSI which measures IQ. There are two main areas that it focuses on, Verbal and Performance.  For the verbal section she scored in the "very superior" category. For the performance section she scored in the "high average" category. The only concern we had is that there is a more than 30 point difference between her verbal and performance skills score. The doctor told us not to be too concerned about this as different skills develop at different paces with really young children, a lot of  children have one area that's more of a strength....and lastly that the performance scores did still land within an high average range.

The second test was the achievement test- WIAT. The main categories & results were                                                                                                                                                                 Reading Composite- Very Superior          

Mathematics- High Average                                                                                                            Written Language- Very Superior                                                                                                        Oral Language- Very Superior

These scores mimic the IQ testing.....so it was no surprise. I was glad to see the math numerically was a bit higher here.

The third tests were the Child Behavior Checklist and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale

Basically these tests confirmed that Alex does show elevated scales with regards to Somatic complaints and Anxiety. Her ability to communicate (receptive, expression and written) was well beyond her years and other weaknesses came in the area of interpersonal relationships/socialization.... which we've seen via her preference to work alone vs. w/others or to strongly clutch on to one "safe" friend, having difficulty with change or how to respond to negative peer interactions/behaviors.

Well now that all this testing is done...what do I do with this information?
I'm still brainstorming....but here's what I'm thinking
1. Continue to encourage social situations & strategies with peers- possibly a Drama Kids class or team sport.
2. Foster more hands on math activities (she actually says this is her favorite subject right now)- interested in starting violin after Christmas which I believe is a great connection w/math.
3.Continue to encourage creative writing and reading of "good literature"....maybe use Junior Great Books curriculumn that I have access to.
4. Continue to make available montessori materials at home to enhance/practice concepts being taught at school.

Any thoughts, suggestions or feedback?

Comments

[tracie]

Those are great results!

We had a lot of the same testing done with Clara this summer. She was having difficulty with her school work. We found a fairly large discrepancy between her actual IQ and her functioning IQ. Most of that relating to memory issues. She was not found to have anxiety issues according to the test but after sitting down with the therapist who administered the test, we felt that she did even if the test didn't show it (constant somatic complaints, nightmares, avoidance of sleep due to fears). The theory was that she was stuck in this loop.... anxiety made her not sleep well, not sleeping well effected her memory, struggling with the memory issues created more anxiety.... it just keep going.

Currently we're doing nothing more than having her meet with a therapist once a week (she calls her The Worry Doctor) and she has become a completely different kid.... both in personality and academically.

I would love to chat more about this, if you want to... just send me an email.

[Mariposa]

That’s great.

I started to type something in word hours ago, but then didn’t have time, and now it seems I lost it.

Do you think it is a fair representation?

The only thing I know about the WIPPSI is that if a 5 year old child hits a lot of ceilings, for example doesn’t meet the stop criteria, runs out of questions, which is what happened to my daughter, the score is suppressed. So then she had a WJ COG and achievement, which told us what we were dealing with.

We were having a lot of issues so we retested when she was 7 on the WISC IV which was really insightful.

First of all I think either method counseling, holistic or even meds if that’s what a family determined is fine with me, because not every approach works the same for every kid. There can be so many confounding factors.

We’ve experienced the anxiety. We initially went with chit chat/play therapy, but it was not helpful, expensive, and slow progress.

We then decided to go the holistic route, nutritional supplements, change diet, guided imagery, keep the 5-minute worry talks, music therapy, and also computer programs for ADHD. We made clear, quicker progress with that approach. We still have to get her exercising more. When she was swimming, just swim squad, non competitive, that was very good for her, but she was having problems with a boy in the class. We switched her, but they switched her into the wrong level, which was too easy, but they didn’t have another squad open. She doesn’t want to go back. So when it gets too cold to swim in our pool for four months, we try to take daily walks. We still have the sleep problem, which she has had since birth. Treatment for asthma helped some, but not totally.