
WPPSI Score Indication
By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D
Q:
My younger boy is 6 years, 11 month old. I've brought him for a Wechsler
Preschool and Primary scale of Intelligence [WPPSI-III (UK)] test and
BAS single word reading ability, when he was 5 yrs 7mths old. The reason
being that I suspected he may be having dyslexia (due to bad
handwriting, writing mirror images of Chinese characters when younger).
His score for WPPSI-III was 114 Verbal IQ, 123 Performance IQ, 116
Processing speed and 126 Full Scale IQ. Conclusion by the psychologist -
at-risk group of dyslexic. Recently he took a TONI III test at 6 years 10 months,
and he scored 138.
My questions are below:
-
Is he above average / gifted child?
-
He is not very good with his mathematics. Does his score in the
above tests mean he should be good with numbers?
-
He seems to be able to remember words well if they are in rhythm (e.g.
in a song/poem-like). Is it advisable to let him take on a 3rd language?
(he's doing English and Chinese now).
-
Raising him - which other areas should I look into?
Thank you in advance for your attention.
A:
I would comment on his
WPPSI III scores as I am more familiar with the
scores compared to the TONI-3 (Test of Nonverbal Intelligence, Third
Edition).
Based on his scores, he is in the above average range. For most gifted
programmes, a cut-off at 130 is usually required for admission. In
general, he scored high average on performance, processing speed, with
an FSIQ in the high average range as well. He may be considered for a
gifted education programme as a special case. There is a discrepancy
between his verbal and performance IQ scores VIQ & PIQ). The PIQ is
indeed the best indication of a child's general cognitive ability. In
this case, your son's score shows a high average. However, do note that
the performance score is not as highly correlated with school
achievement as is the verbal score. Even though the performance score
may well be the better indicator of general ability under the
circumstances, it is not as good a predictor of school grades as is the
verbal score - which is why it may be preferred over the PIQ in schools
for special programmes.
The Processing Speed Quotient (PSQ) provides an estimate of a child's
ability to quickly and correctly scan, sequence, and discriminate simple
visual information. Your son's processing speed abilities, as measured
by the Processing Speed Quotient, are in the high average range.
Processing speed is an indication of the rapidity with which a child can
mentally process simple or routine information without making errors.
Good speed of simple information processing may free cognitive resources
for the processing of more complex information, and ease new learning.
This speed can be translated to doing any task at school.
On his risk for being dyslexic, I think you should get another opinion
as the scores alone may not be a reliable indicator for a learning
disability and you have not mentioned anything that would place him as
being dyslexic. What about his British Ability Scales (BAS) single word
reading score? No score was indicated so it is hard to tell. Get a
proper diagnosis done if you feel there are symptoms. Not all
individuals with dyslexia have problems with mathematics, but many do.
There are those who have a good memory for sequences and can execute
procedures by doing it step by step. For dyslexics, solving word
problems in Math may be especially challenging because of difficulties
with decoding, comprehension, sequencing, and understanding mathematical
concepts - not because they are dyslexic and therefore poor in Math.
In learning other languages, if he is already struggling in language
learning, it may create extra pressure for him. But if he isn't and
appears to enjoy languages, by all means, expose him to a third
language. Children learn language quite easily, especially if there is
interest. You can explore but be careful not to push especially since he
is already learning two languages.
Raising him would require you to look into his strengths and weaknesses
and pay due attention to those. It does appear that he may need some
help in his verbal IQ so perhaps you may want to concentrate on learning
and enrichment that would enhance his verbal ability. For now, get him
tested for dyslexia; if he is diagnosed, there are interventions that
would help him tremendously and ease his learning.
Hope that answers your concerns and best of luck!
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