Hi,

First time poster here. My 13yr old is in 8th grade and has had issues since he was 4. He is 2E and has had two evals, one when he was 7 and the other this year. First eval says he had ADHD, ODD and anxiety. The most recent says GAD and obsessive thinking. ON the WISC3, he scored 132FSIQ, this time around on WISC4 he scored 125FSIQ due to the very low scores on processing speed and working memory which his therapist believes is a large discrepancy worth looking into. The VC score was 138, PR 125, WM107 PS 97. VC breakdown is 15,19,15 PR is 12,14,16,WM is 11 and 12 and processing speed is 8 and 11. Since he is older than most here and we feel he is learning disabled due to the GAD and processing speed and some other unknown cause which could be auditory or sensory, we wondered what services we should be asking for and what tests we should be looking at to get needed services?. He has trouble with writing and he is very slow at mundane tasks. He wears glasses due to poor vision 20/200, but we believe he has issues with processing information and dont know where to start. Also, I am trying to calculate GAI for the WISC4 and cant since my math skills stink (math ability doesnt come from my side of family!LOL) Can anyone help me with this?. I have a meeting with the school, county and teachers at my sons middle school and need this information to help me get some services for my son if possible.

Thanks in advance,
Babs

To get the GAI add up VCI subtests + PRI subtests => 15+19+15+12+14+16 = 91

Look up in the table in WISC-IV Technical Report #4 on page 5.

A General Ability Sum of Scaled Scores of 91 corresponds to a GAI of 138.

I'll let others weigh in on some of the issues, but will quickly share that the GAI is 138. Very little math is involved...you add up the 6 inputs from VCI/PRI and find the total (91 in this case) on the conversion chart (found in Tech Report #4). It's merely a coincidence that it matches the VCI, as the PRI scores also contribute. When both VCI and PRI are high, the GAI is typically higher than each, but in this case....the lower PRI was not without effect.

Services in the era of RTI are much harder to acquire than they were when ability/achievement gaps were used more universally. I don't know how to advise you. Was the recent eval through the school?

Darn, I knew I was spending too much time on the words....ROFL! Speed bonuses go to Cathy, . Thanks for sharing the "how to" with a link!

I beat Dottie!!!

By 37 seconds, !

Well, then I edited...

Hi Dottie,

THe evaluation was done by a Phd psychologist here in GA. WHat does the GAI really mean vs the FSIQ? I am fairly new to this process. The schools position so far is that since he is not failing and is maxed out in gifted services, he does not qualify for a 504 or special education. BB

Hi, Babs--

What is GAD?

Hi,

GAD is Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It is usually coupled with OCD or obsessive thinking, bi-polar etc. Sometimes it can be caused by a disability and it is usually not singular in nature. Sometimes it can even be seasonal. Many gifted children have emotional and behavioral disorders which are frequently exacerbated by giftedness and can be disabling. What is RTI? I am feeling dumb here and need acronym clarifications... Really....! BB

Thanks!

RTI = Response to Intervention. I think

RTI stands for Response To Intervention, and it's part of the new IDEA (federal special education law). I think it's a good thing, in that its purpose is to catch kids before they fail, and really get more "fixes" in place before it comes to that, but unfortunately the RTI mentality is really only good for kids more in the norm. GT kids rarely "fail" until it's almost too late for appropriate help. The short answer is that without a cognitive/achievement discrepancy entry point (which I believe they can still use....but it's not popular these days), it's hard to identify learning disabilities in highly gifted kids.

Did your evaluation identify learning disabilities? Will that writeup buy you any discussion with the school? Have you pursued a special education evaluation through the school? You have to specifically ask, in writing, to get that ball legally rolling. If you just say "I have this report...", they'll talk you out of it every time. Once it's in writing, it's a more formulated process, that varies from state to state, but is still all covered under the federal umbrella.

This time I didn't even see your post there Cathy, but surely it didn't take me 19 minutes to write my response!!!

Hi,

I have a meeting scheduled onthe 14th oct to discuss options which include a 504, or special education services. I want to have substantiating information to support that my son needs concessions under the category emotional and behavioral disoders. Due to multiple diagnosis ranging from ADHD and ODD when he was 7 to anxiety and OCD as a 13 year old, we are not totally sure what to ask for in the way of services. We think he has some LD in addition to the anxiety and we are not sure how to get support on this. I was working on the GAI worksheet last night.There is a 13 point discrepancy between GAI and FSIQ. I am having trouble deciphering on the interpretation of what the discrepancy means. Based on the score discrepancies the Asbergers autism spectrum pops out the most as a possible LD in this case. Am I reading this correctly on the Wisc 1V dscrepancy graph? BB

I'm no expert, but I didn't know you could see/diagnose stuff like autism spectrum disorders from the WISC. That doesn't seem right to me. It doesn't seem like there's enough to go on from the WISC. Am I just betraying my ignorance?

Even if you can see such things in the WISC, a 13-point spread between GAI and FSIQ wouldn't seem to me to be big enough to make that judgement.

Am I way off base here?

Hi Kriston,

The WISC1V technical report which is an overview of the GAI doesnt diagnose anything but does show what other cumulative percentages of various Special Groups are getting as median discrepancies and how your own numbers fit in within the categories they list. I am trying to take the GAI/FSIQ discrepancy and analyze it based on their own equation. I am having a hard time with the numbers right now since it is mathematical and I suck at math! BB

I'd start with your goals in mind. If your son is generally happy with school, socially, it should be no problem helping with academic supports, either formally with an i.e.p (special ed requirement in NJ) or informally. That may mean giving him extra time for testing. Ask the school psychologist what he/she thinks the scores mean. Processing speed may be slowed down due to memory problem. Memory is not a hard one to fix.

Ambi, how do you suggest fixing short term memory issues? I find that to be very difficult with my 9 year old