Help with understanding WISC-IV and WIAT-II Scores

[mcaskey826]

After many years of struggles with school work, I asked the school to test my 14 yo nephew. I needed to know if it was lack of effort, lack of getting the basics at an early age (he was raised by his grandparents until he came to live with us a year ago), or if he just wasn't mentally capable (there is also the question of whether his bio mom used drugs while he was inutero). He kept telling dh and me that we expect too much, that he just can't do the work, he's not smart enough, etc.
So, I just got the results and from what the psychologist says and from reading the report "he's average". He is medicated for ADHD with Vyvanse and took this on the testing days. Can anyone here give me a little more insight into what these scores show? He struggles mostly in math and English.
WISC-IV
Verbal Conprehension Index 106
Perceptual Reasoning Index 94
Working Memory Index 110
Processing Speed Index 88
Full Scale IQ 101

WIAT-II
Reading 103
Mathematics 83

Thanks for helping, I play a never ending game of phone tag with the school psychologist so I hope someone on here can be more of assistance.

[Laurie4b]

After many years of struggles with school work, I asked the school to test my 14 yo nephew. I needed to know if it was lack of effort, lack of getting the basics at an early age (he was raised by his grandparents until he came to live with us a year ago), or if he just wasn't mentally capable (there is also the question of whether his bio mom used drugs while he was inutero). He kept telling dh and me that we expect too much, that he just can't do the work, he's not smart enough, etc.
So, I just got the results and from what the psychologist says and from reading the report "he's average". He is medicated for ADHD with Vyvanse and took this on the testing days. Can anyone here give me a little more insight into what these scores show? He struggles mostly in math and English.
WISC-IV
Verbal Conprehension Index 106
Perceptual Reasoning Index 94
Working Memory Index 110
Processing Speed Index 88
Full Scale IQ 101

WIAT-II
Reading 103
Mathematics 83

Thanks for helping, I play a never ending game of phone tag with the school psychologist so I hope someone on here can be more of assistance.

These scores are standard scores, which have a mean of 100--that's dead average. They can also be compared to each other. They should all be pretty close to one another. Where there are signficant differences between the subtests in the WISC, one looks for different cognitive wiring. Where there is a discrepency between IQ score and achievement, the cause could be an LD (which typically shows up in the subtest score scatter) or could be lack of education.

Having working memory be the highest score is unusual for a kid with ADHD. That is usually significantly below their other subtest scores. Processing is also lower sometimes. How was ADHD diagnosed? He may have it, but there is another diagnosis that strikes me as being something to investigate: nonverbal learning disability. Reasons:


Many kids with nonverbal LD were dx'd originally as ADHD.
There is more than 10 point difference between his Verbal index and Perceptual Reasoning index.
His math achievement is lower than what would be predicted by IQ score. (It should be up around 95-100.) He should qualify based on that discrepency for a diagnosis of learning disability in math.


Two questions:

Does your nephew struggle with fine or gross motor skills? (I'm guessing that he has trouble with fine motor based on his processing score.)
Does he have trouble socially? (Does he seem significanly more immature, naive etc. than his peers? Does he "get" sarcasm, irony, etc. when people use it or is his language very literal? )


If he has these two troubles in addition to the math LD and Verbal-Perceptual reasoning split, that would be a diagnosis to check into. If all 4 of these factors are present, it strengthens the case for nonverbal learning disability.

I think there is enough scatter there to pursue a bit more testing with a neuropsychologist. You already have the WISC and the achievement testing done, so it would probably only be another hour or so of testing, which would make it affordable. Or you could just pay for a consultation with someone else to explain that scatter for you.

His reading level is about where you would expect it to be given his IQ and it average for his age.

Math is obviously a problem. You might google for some math teaching techniques for nonverbal learning disability.

You could also try Brainware Safari for helping develop his Perceptual reasoning.

If he has the social issues, a speech and language therapist could give you some good help with pragmatics (the technical term for not getting the different uses of language) and you will want to work with him on social skills.

[mcaskey826]

Thanks so much, Laurie! That is a lot of help. To answer some of your questions, he was diagnosed with ADHD through his pediatritian. He seemed to fall into every catagory for it, especially the impulse control.
He has always struggled socially until we moved him here with us and he seems to fit in ok with the other kids, but he doesn't really have anyone close. It wasn't until DH and I started pushing him to have friends over that he talked with anyone outside of church and school. When I had him home and was homeschooling him, he was content to not talk to or see anyone his age for weeks at a time. That really struck me as strange for a 14 year old. He is very immature and untrustworthy. I can not leave him alone for any length of time. There are other kids at church younger than him that I would trust to babysit my children and I really can't leave him alone with them at all. He IS very naive, and no, he doesn't get sarcasm. A friend of mine said a lot of the kids say that he tries too hard to be liked. He got bullied and picked on a lot at his last school. The fine motor skills I'm not sure about. Off the top of my head, I know he likes to fish a lot, so he has to tie lures and hooks, so it can't be too bad, I guess. His hand writing is average, it's readable, which is more than I can say for a lot of 14 yo boys. I'm going to go read up and educate myself on nonverbal learning disability and see what I can find. Again, thank you SO much for your help!

[Ottakee]

Is there any history of bio mom drinking while pregnant with him? Some of what you mention fits Fetal Alcohol. These kids can have normal IQs but have trouble with social stuff, understanding more abstract things (like math as well), jokes, etc.

my 22 year old son has fetal alcohol. He is mentally impaired and reads about a 3rd grade level and does 1st grade level math. That said, he can race dirt bikes (like the BIG 100+mph ones) with other teens/young adults and blow them away, fix bikes, etc.----yet doesn't know 3+3 without counting.

[Remixen]

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