IQ FYI

[finnmom]

Austinsmom ;D
Exactly what I was thinking, I just couldn´t remember and translate as well as you! NEPSY was used for my son mainly because his problem´s at reading, auditional comprehensing and familiarising the letter´s in word´s. But I know for shure that also this WISC-IV/something very similar was used to test the common ability of my ds(it went great as mentioned earlier)

Mctavish
I gues that U.S. is the country, where you will find inhabitant´s from all the other countries in the world ;D Yeah, I know that at 40´s and 50´s when time´s where really hard in here, right after war, many people left and moved to U.S. It has always been the "macigal wonder land" , you know the "grass is always greener....."
Marja

[bwmom]

Robert,

Thank you for the information on the WASI. I know the school used to give the WISC-III. I am guessing that they went with the WASI based on time restrictions since I know they have a backlog of students waiting to be tested. I have his verbal and performance scores (8 point difference). I have a call in to the school psych to see if I can get subtest scores. We can have him tested privately, but will need to go with the WISC-IV or Stanford-Binet. He was well-rested and had a good breakfast the day he was tested, but anxiety may have been an issue. He was nervous about the test, and I bet he was just beginning to calm down when the 15-30 min testing session ended! The other test I mentioned, COGAT, is an educational tool that gives a score similar to an IQ. It is one of three different achievement tests are schools use.

Thanks again!

[MomX2]

swmom, I've read that IQ is one of the most consistent things throughout a person's life. IQ scores tend to remain stable from a very young age to very old. The one thing that could reduce a person's IQ is severe trauma to the brain or disease that affects the brain.

That said it also may be possible for a child to start out with a higher IQ and lose some of that ability due to lack of stimulation and experimentation. Just for example, kids left in cribs all day in some overseas orphanage and never really get to experience life - they may develop severe mental problems and lose some of their intelligence forever. I've also read that kids go through two periods of rapid brain growth and then a pruning of brain cells that aren't necessary. The first time is early in their life and the second happens right at puberty (hmmmm, maybe all those confused extra brain cells explain the weirdness of teenagers). If kids are healthy, not overly stressed and are given opportunities to learn they are likely to make the best of the IQ they have.

[oliviasmommy]

swmom said:

Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting.

I've always wondered if you can IMPROVE a child's IQ.
Does anyone know?

I just watched the Dr. Phil primetime special last night and he had a segment on improving kid's IQ's - the 3 kids he worked with all improved an average of 15-20 points, even with factoring the "practice factor" in (they were tested twice, once before working with them and once within 3 weeks). Check out his website for more info - I don't have the link but you should be able to find it pretty easily.

[TexasMom]

Just remember that IQ tests are developed by humans and are not infalliable. Also, when a child takes the test, if he's feeling well, if he's hungry, tired, etc, can also affect the outcome of a test by 10-20 points or more. The first time Steven took a test his score was 142, the second it was 129. In other words, he's a smart kid, but I knew that before he even took the test.

It's just a number. Don't get hung up on it. You know your child better than anyone.

[mskris]

I was wondering if the IQ scores ranges differ from test to test. For example, I know my IQ is 142, but that was probably using the Stanford-Binet (years ago). My dd was just tested using the WISC-IV and her score was high average, but I question it - I would think she'd have scored well into the 120s or 130s (based on my score and that of her other family members and what I know of her). So, my question is, does WISC-IV score differently than SB? Are there different scales and definitions between them? I checked the internet, but didn't find much on scoring.

Thanks.
Kris

[PJD1120]

:)My son is going to Summit Academy for children with ADHD. He is l0 yrs. old. At public school he was on a 504 because they said he didn't qualify for IEP. This school said he has to be on an IEP. He had a 110 IQ at public school at age 6 now at age 10 retested at this school only a 81. He past his proficiency tests at public schools. I don't understand how his IQ can be that low. I wonder if they fudged the number to get extra money from the government for IEP. then they told me everyone that goes to Summit has to have an IEP. He has WISC-IV testing. For their IQ do they combine all the testing together such as Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Reasoning, Working Memory, Processing Speed, and Full Scale to get the IQ? Because that is what they seemed to do. No one really explained this test to me either. Normally at public school everyone who tested him went over all the results. This charter school just the school coordinator. Thanks, Pam

[eaccae]

There could be a couple of reasons - do you know if the IQ tests given both times were the same?

Get a hold of the copy from the previous test. Also did you have a meeting with the school in which they broke down the subtests? If not then do so - that is important because the overall IQ could be lower yet he maybe average or even above average in some or all but one subtest - which would indicate a learning disability or perhaps a weakness in which he needs help. I would also be curious to find out how the subtests differ from the previous test to the current test.

There is what is called the Matthew Effect. This is one of the reasons I would get a copy of the old test and compare it to the newly taken test. Exactly what subtests went down!

Here is a link with more description:
www.wrightslaw.com/info/test.matthew.effect.htm