Guest Question
I have an 8 year old boy. He just took the WISC III test. His score in the VERBAL area was 134 being considered as very superior. However, his score in PERFORMANCE was 104 considered as average.
In the PERFORMANCE are his subtest scores were: picture completion (8), Coding (10), Picture arrangement (12) Block design (8) and object assembly (5) and symbols (10).
Therefore, I would like your guidance on how should I interpret the score and on how should I proceed to take advantage of the results to better support my child development.
Sincerely,
Parenting of K-6 Children Guest
Answer
It's common to see a difference between the verbal and performance (perceptual) batteries on a test of intellectual abilities. In general the verbal tests measure samples of tasks that require language comprehension, verbal reasoning, long-term fund of information, and comprehension of social norms. Performance tests measure samples of abilities such as visual discrimination and analysis, fine motor coordination, and non-verbal problem solving. A clinician may interpret individual subtest results in certain cases, but variations in subtests should be considered tentative and subject to change as the child develops.
My suggestion for the parent of this bright child is to encourage the child's development of gross motor and fine motor skills. Physical activities that require learning body skills - dance, basketball, martial arts, gymnastics, swimming, whatever your child enjoys - will enhance gross motor development. Puzzles, construction toys, and crafts build fine motor skills. Theories of children's development suggest that the interplay of gross motor, fine motor, and visual processing skills weaves a foundation for the academic skills of reading, math, and written expression.
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