Confused about WISC and WIAT results

[LAE1985]

My daughter recently took the WISC and the WIAT-4.

Her WISC scores are generally low average:

VCI - 103

VSI - only did block design (16th percentile)

FRI - 82

PSI - 89

WMI - 85

But on her WIAT, she was average to high average (as high as 84th percentile) on nearly every section. She generally does well in school, but needs executive functioning supports.

How do I reconcile these results? I was expecting an IQ higher than the WIAT results, which suggests a LD. But this seems backwards. Did she just bomb the IQ test?

She has diagnoses of ADHD and anxiety. Neuropsych suggested NVLD based on WISC results.

[kbutton]

Some kids excel with supports and hard work, but as they hit middle and high school, they will start to struggle with more abstract work.

And yes, this does seem like NVLD, but that is not a current diagnosis. It is helpful information though because it describes a pattern of difficulties. I have one kid with an NVLD profile, but it didn’t become a functional difficulty until high school (and oddly, he has lots of nonverbal strengths too—it’s weird!). He also has a recent ASD diagnosis, which is not super unusual with an NVLD profile.

The IQ could be accurate, or it could be a bad day. It is likely that the pattern of strengths and weaknesses is accurate even if lower than what is actually true.

Lower IQ score with better WIAT scores almost certainly mean she is well-supported with what she’s getting right now. Good job! 

In spite of the high verbal scores, NVLD will almost certainly mean social and pragmatic language issues down the road, so you might keep that in mind for future supports or even specialized testing with a language therapist.

 

[PeterPan]

@kbutton already gave you the scoop. Good job making evals happen, and yes be prepared for the complexity of your dd's situation to become more obvious with time. Here's an article to help you a bit https://www.socialthinking.com/Articles?name=social-learning-systems-characteristics  And yes, with the newest DSM the NVLD people usually will go to ASD. For a girl not to get that diagnosis when they have the NVLD profile and clinical anxiety and significant EF issues, well that's just your hint to keep watching. Girls are often underdiagnosed or later diagnosed because they have these crazy strengths that blow the paradigms. 

Your situation is complex, so don't feel bad that things don't line up in tidy boxes. Don't accept simplistic answers. If you think she's that intelligent, SHE PROBABLY IS!! It tells you her language is being affected, so you start digging in on the language piece. Very bright kids have complex ways of hiding their challenges. Consider expand your team and doing more evals.

[kbutton]

16 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

If you think she's that intelligent, SHE PROBABLY IS!!

I want to say more about IQ since PeterPan phrased it this way…parents are generally good identifiers of problems and strengths.

On 5/21/2024 at 1:31 PM, LAE1985 said:

How do I reconcile these results? I was expecting an IQ higher than the WIAT results, which suggests a LD. But this seems backwards. Did she just bomb the IQ test?

This expectation is kind of the textbook of an LD presentation, but for kids with lower IQs, it doesn’t always work that way. Also, with NVLD being a pattern within the WISC itself, you have part of the answer—verbal tasks are going to be easier relative to nonverbal ones. That said, you can’t fake high scores, but you can fail to perform to your potential, if that makes sense. 

So, combined with what you and PeterPan said that I quoted, does your gut says she’s smarter than the WISC says, or does it say that maybe the explanation is less a frank LD and more IQ? No need to answer to us if you don’t want to.

If the answer is that you aren’t sure, it will be more clear over time. It might also mean that something she has going on makes parts of all of the IQ testing less reliable. It happens. 

If you definitely think she’s smarter than she demonstrated, PeterPan’s recommendation to consider side evals over time is definitely more where it’s going to be at for you. It might also indicate something like a hearing issue or problems with eye-teaming and such (developmental optometrists at COVD.org help figure this out). 

If you have an inkling that this IQ is right, and she has splinter skills with vocabulary, expect later education to get bogged down a bit. It might no matter what, but it might hit a harder and firmer wall if her IQ is actually skewed more to the lower end. She’ll likely need services that are somewhere between a resource room and a regular classroom, and that space is not catered to as much with curriculum or therapy. It will require creativity, advocacy, and hard work to navigate.

It sounds like you are well on your way!

 

[EKS]

On 5/23/2024 at 1:52 PM, PeterPan said:

If you think she's that intelligent, SHE PROBABLY IS!!

Yes!  My older son's first IQ score ended up being almost two standard deviations lower than a subsequent score from a test that was done after extensive remediation (of dyslexia in his case) and the GAI was almost three standard deviations lower on the first test.  For several years, I thought I was crazy for thinking that he was substantially brighter than that first test indicated.  But it turns out, I wasn't.

Edited May 24 by EKS