texasmama Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 These tests were administered by the local school district to my 12.5 year old as part of his exit ARD for speech and OT services. He was also given the CASL, a speech/language test. Anyone have feedback on the score scatter and pick up on the "big picture"? The school was not helpful with this, and I am not a testing interpretation expert. I do have an explanation for each test score printed on the results, which is helpful in understanding his strengths and weaknesses but not so much in understanding the big picture (for me, anyway). W-J3 Cognitive abilities- normative update extended battery (The first number is the age equivalent, the second number is the grade equivalent, and the third number is the standard score. Percentile ranks were not given.) Verbal Comprehension - 13-6, 8.1, 105 Visual- auditory learning - 8-0, 2.7, 82 Spatial relations - 12-10, 7.4, 101 Sound Blending - 14-2, 8.7, 104 Concept Formation - 17-6, 12.0, 110 Visual matching - 12-5, 7.0, 100 Numbers reversed - 11-6, 6.1, 97 Incomplete words - 12-10, 7.4, 101 Auditory Working Memory - >21, >15.4, 134 Visual-Auditory Learning - Delayed - 8-7, 3.2, 89 General information - 16-11, 11.4, 119 Retrieval fluency - 14.2, 8.7, 105 Picture recognition - 14-4, 8.8, 103 Auditory attention - 12-11, 7.5,101 Analysis - synthesis - 14-4, 8.9,105 Decision speed - 13-2, 7.7, 103 Memory for Words - 18-7, 13.0, 106 Rapid picture naming - 9-2, 3.8, 88 Planning - 10-2, 4.8, 96 Pair cancellation - 9-7, 4.2, 89 Verbal Ability - 14-11, 9.5, 112 Thinking ability - 13-7, 8.2, 104 Cognitive efficiency - 13-1, 7.6, 102 Comprehension- knowledge - 14-11, 9.5, 112 Long-term retrieval - 9-6, 4.1, 87 Visual-spatial thinking - 13-6,8.1, 102 Auditory processing - 13-11, 8.4, 104 Fluid reasoning - 15-11, 10.4, 108 Processing speed - 12-9, 7.3, 101 Short-term memory - 13-4, 7.9, 102 Phonemic awareness - 13-10, 8.4, 104 Working memory - 18.5, 12.9, 114 Broad attention - 13-7, 8.1, 106 Cognitive fluency - 11-3, 5.9, 94 Executive processes - 12-0, 6.6, 98 General Intellectual Ability - 13-8, 8.4, 106 WJ3 Tests of Achievement - NU - Form B - Standard battery Letter-word identification - 13-6, 8.0, 107 Reading Fluency - >30, 13.0, 126 Story Recall - >20, 13.3, 130 Understanding directions - 16-2, 10.7, 108 Calculation - 13-0, 7.6, 105 Math Fluency - 20, 13.0, 123 Spelling - 23, 13.0, 122 Writing Fluency - 14-3, 8.8, 111 Passage comprehension - 14-1, 8.7, 106 Applied problems - >30, 13.0, 121 Writing samples - 14-2, 8.7, 106 Broad reading - 15-2, 9.7, 115 Broad mathematics - 18-2, 12.4, 121 Calculation skills - 14-9, 9.4, 113 Broad written language - 16-2, 10.7, 119 Written expression - 14-3, 8.8, 111 Oral Language - >21, >17.6, 119 Academic fluency - 18-10, 13.0, 124 Academic skills - 14-6, 9.0, 114 Academic applications - 17-11, 12.3, 118 Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL) (percentile rank is first, then standard score) Basic concepts - 86, 116 Paragraph Comprehension - 32, 93 Grammatical morphemes - 79, 112 Sentence completion - 66, 106 Nonliteral language - 84, 115 Pragmatic judgment - 91, 120 Composite - 84, 115 I know that is a lot of information/testing. Thanks for any feedback or suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I am NOT an expert by any means but it seems like he has trouble with the visual areas. His other scores are all in the normal/above normal range. Might be worth having a vision therapist take a look at him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 He had an exam by a developmental pediatric opthamologist, but that has been about 9 years ago. It was normal at the time. Is "vision therapist" what I should be googling? We've not ever done any further vision testing other than that so my knowledge of that is almost nil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 The scores seem very solid to me as a non-professional with limited experience. I just see a possible slight relative weakness in visual processing. It couldn't hurt of see a developmental optometrist. Go to covd.org. I think. The good thing that I'm seeing is that the very slight visual weakness is not affecting processing speeds. If the previous testing from the developmental eye doctor you saw is reliable, your ds could be like my dd who also had a normal result in an evaluation by a developmental optometrist but whose visual processing issues are more neurologically based. We were told reading a lot and playing (and reading) music would be of more benefit than vision therapy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 Thanks, Tiramisu. You are right that the scores are solid. This child has had so many interventions since he was 15 months old that while I was pleased with the scores, I wonder if I hyper focus on the few negatives and need to chill out. I'm not sure I know how to do that! Also, thanks for your story about your dd. My ds has had many opportunities to play sports and will continue. It's nice when the things you are already doing are helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 Sorry, I misunderstood your post and thought playing would help him! Lol. That's what I get for posting on my phone. He did take piano for a year. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyomarie Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I had a similar reaction as other posters, that visual processing may be a relative weakness. What do you see at this time in real life? School, home, relationships with peers, etc? Does he give the impression of functioning pretty consistently with his agemates? Or do you still see some areas of discrepancy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 He is really doing very well in general. He has friends, plays sports, is involved with church, has hobbies and is a very nice kid. He is an introvert but is very willing to try new activities like the youth group at the new church we are going to or a basketball camp thus summer with some new kids. He attends co op classes and participates, has friends and even takes some leadership roles in class. He is well-liked by peers and adults. He has had anxiety in the past but this no longer is an issue. Academically, he has always been weakest in writing/narration skills, but he is making strides. His scores are so scattered that it seems to indicate learning disability to me, but I think he has made enough progress and matured enough such that he compensates well. He has received OT for years to address SPD, and this has made a huge difference. His retained primitive reflexes are gone. His therapist is fabulous and worked with him off and on for almost 10 years. He cried when saying goodbye to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geodob Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 The 'Visual- auditory learning' and 'Rapid picture naming' are notable. What both test, is the fluent connection between visual and auditory memory. With the Visual-auditory learning test, it involves viewing some symbols, and listening to a word associated with each symbol. Then the symbols are strung together in a line, and one is required to read the line of symbols as a sentence. So that it tests the ability to associate the symbols with words, and then use the symbols to recall the words from auditory memory. While the Rapid picture naming, uses images and the direct recall of their name from auditory memory. Though the scores also indicate that he has a strong auditory memory, and good visual memory. But that he has some delay with the connection between them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 The 'Visual- auditory learning' and 'Rapid picture naming' are notable. What both test, is the fluent connection between visual and auditory memory. With the Visual-auditory learning test, it involves viewing some symbols, and listening to a word associated with each symbol. Then the symbols are strung together in a line, and one is required to read the line of symbols as a sentence. So that it tests the ability to associate the symbols with words, and then use the symbols to recall the words from auditory memory. While the Rapid picture naming, uses images and the direct recall of their name from auditory memory. Though the scores also indicate that he has a strong auditory memory, and good visual memory. But that he has some delay with the connection between them? This is interesting. And it sounds like you are much more familiar with the specifics of the testing instruments than I am so it is validating to hear your feedback. My ds functions very well in most areas and exceptionally well in others. I think that at this point these are "quirks" for him, differences that don't formally qualify as learning disabilities but affect the testing and therefore, must have some affect on his learning. I'm not sure what, if anything, to do to remediate this. Should I try? Is this "good enough"? I've learned how to work with him academically, and we have obtained really good results. He cooperates and will try anything I ask of him. He is a sweet and compliant child and always has been. You know, this thread has been a lightbulb experience for me because this child has had so many interventions since he was a toddler. It began at 15 months of age. We have clawed our way to this place. I recall both of us sitting on the couch and crying together, him from frustration that he could not understand a concept and me from the pain of watching this child who tries so much harder than most kids have to in order to accomplish some things (not all but some). I've held my breath as he did a piano recital for the first time. I've cried watching him take swimming lessons, when his sensory issues made that simple task ten times harder than it was for my other kids. It has been hard to watch. I think I've forgotten how to exhale. One of the pp's pointed out that his scores looked pretty solid. So I took a step back and looked at them, not as N's scores but as numbers on a piece of paper which could have been from anyone. Dang. The scores do look pretty solid. His Stanford testing this year looked pretty solid, even excellent in some areas. And so I have been pondering and wondering this: "What if we have reached a place at which he is okay? What if I don't have to do anything but teach and parent him? What if he is not 'special needs' anymore?" This would be such a paradigm shift. I didn't see it coming, and I don't know why. I'm sure I sound like a lunatic, but oh my gosh the therapies which have gone into this child...for ten years. So please excuse my dramatic reaction here on the internet. I'm just wondering if this is (mostly) the end of this particular journey. Wow. Carry on, friends. I'm just going to sit here like a deer in the headlights... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geodob Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 A number of different studies have shown that this can be remediated. What it simply involves? Is using photographs, where one person points at different things in the photo, which the other person has to name. Magazines with lots of photos were mainly used, and it was just done for a few minutes a day. Where it was shown that when done daily, for 2 or 3 weeks, it significantly improved their speed of recalling the names of 'things'. The 'things' being named in the photo weren't important. As the focus is just on developing a strong connection between auditory and visual memory. Though this auditory/ visual connection, is also used for thinking, where we can form a visual mental image, and then be able to verbally describe it. Where a delay in recalling names of things in photos, would also carry over to delay in recalling names of things pictured in the mind. But a crucial point, is that it can be developed by exercising it. Where he has developed strong auditory processing and visual-spatial thinking. So that he can only benefit from getting them to work more fluently together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Thank you very much, geodob, for relating that information. It sounds very simple and something that I can easily do with my son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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