WISC V report - no detailed advice for school

[BabyMommaDec2012]

Hi - my son has had a WISC V assessment. He came out as average or high average for everything except for processing speed where he got ‘extremely low’. My son really hates writing and finds it difficult to focus/concentrate. We’re waiting on the results for his ADOS test and an ADHD observation.

I finally received the results but am quite disappointed. I was expecting there to be lots of advice for how to approach this issue at school because he’s really struggling - apart from reading (something like this: www.pearsonclinical.co.uk/Psychology/ChildCognitionNeuropsychologyandLanguage/ChildGeneralAbilities/wisc-v/PDFReports/sample-interpretive-report.pdf ) but there was hardly any advice for the school at all. Should I go back and ask for more details?

*i finally received the report

Bumping... my son is 6 and in Yr1

Bumping again! Let me ask an extra qu. in case it helps! Do any of you have Dcs with very/extremely low processing speeds? Did their school put specific interventions in place for them?

Low processing speeds is often associated with dyslexia and yes a report would include strategies. But a report would be based on more results than just the WISC and have other assessments such as short term memory, phonological awareness, reading and spelling etc. Maybe they’re waiting for the other results before compiling a full report and advice.
Usual strategies for slow speed of processing would be to allow the child more thinking time to answer questions, use more visual information eg write things on the board and use images to support verbal information, give instructions in short manageable chunks and write them down, get the child to repeat back instructions to show they’ve understood.

I’m not saying he has dyslexia by the way, just that that is where I have come across low speed of processing before and those were strategies given.

Well he needs extra processing time in the classroom then. Doesn't take a genius to work it out. What advice were you expecting?

Are you a teacher blue?

Yes my child has a similar WISC profile to yours. CAMHS did the test and recommend the school bring in an Ed Psych for further assesment and recommendations. We're waiting to hear if that's going to happen or not.
What were your son's scores? My daughters were 75th percentile for everything except processing speed (5th percentile). She's 10, has been struggling since she was 4.

That’s for the replies.

His WISC V results were as follows:

• fluid reasoning 115 (high average)
• verbal comprehension 113 (high average)
• working memory 103 (average)
• visual spatial 94 (average)
• processing speed 63 (1st percentile - extremely low)

Blue - it might be ‘obvious’ but extra time wasn’t recommended/suggested in the report. Just things around improving his pencil grip/handwriting. Verbally, the psychologist said that extra time plus extra explanations would be useful but this isn’t in the report.

Karwomanghia - the school Ed psyc has been a bit useless up until now but hopefully they’ll be able to pub helpful strategies in place now his WISC V scores are available. I think it’s more likely that my son has ADHD rather than dyslexia (we’re still awaiting the outcome of his autism and adhd assessments). He’s very fidgety and is very easily distracted... However, he exceeding in terms of his reading ability (currently free reading at 6yrs old). He can also spell extremely well (he’s finished all the ‘official’ Yr2 spellings even though he’s still in Yr1) and can write individual words for spelling tests accurately and quickly. It’s thinking up and writing sentences where he struggles. It’s not that he can’t do it - he doesn’t like doing it. It’s likely that his processing speed is what has led to his dislike of writing longer pieces of text.

I’ve been reading research around low processing speeds and it looks as though it can be improved with cognitive games/cognitive training. Although extra time for school work would help, in the real world extra time will not always be available for him. If it’s at all possible, I’d like his processing speed to be improved. I was expecting the report to provide recommendations/strategies to help improve his processing speed as well as more practical information to help him in the classrooms addition to extra time (he already has 1:1 TA support for written exercises but things around using timers to help him visualise the amount of time he has to complete tasks for instance would be helpful).

Sorry Putyourbackintoit - I meant to attribute the response about the Ed Psyc to you. I’m sorry to hear that your daughter has been struggling for so long. Are there specific schoolwork activities that she struggles with or is it across the board?

It's really interesting that your D's is great at reading and spelling. The psychology report stated that reading and spelling would be strengths of a cognitive profile such as my dd's (and your ds - they are almost identical scores!) Yet my dd really struggles with reading and spelling (and everything else!).

We haven't had any specific advice other than she will either get more time in her year 6 sats, or have a reader a scribe or a laptop.

How is your home life with Ds? Is he frustrated? We've had a roller coaster of a time of it. It's a relief to find out why, but the next stage (putting in recommendations) seems to be taking some time.

Putyourbackintoit - in terms of behaviour, my son is very ‘happy-go-lucky’ and upbeat. Our problem with his behaviour is that he’s far too giddy(!). ‘Sitting still and being quiet’ doesn’t really compute with him unless he’s totally entertained by/absorbed in something. This is causing lots of problems at school....!

He’s very frustrating because he’s incredibly bright and is fully capable of doing Yr1 level work (and beyond!). But he’s not meeting ‘age related expectations’ in maths and writing because he struggles to sit still enough to complete tasks at school and he hates writing. He’s able to do the same maths and writing work tasks at home with no issues because I’m strict with him and I guess he’s more comfortable/at ease in the home environment.