What size gap in WISC subscores suggests issues/red flag?

[Anonymous]

There isn't a magic number- although a wide difference 15+ points between the reasoning and performance scores might be a red flag. A huge difference (I've heard of processing scores in the low average/borderline range and gifted reasoning scores) would obviously indicate a closer look.

It depends on how your DD is affected- is she managing in the classroom, how does she perform on a timed test, does she struggle to maintain a concept directly after it's taught (working memory). Does she take a lot of time (too much) to start and/or finish work?

A 30+ difference between reasoning and working memory strikes me as signficant-- there are sections in working memory--one is digit span forward and another is backward. My DS scored in the 99th percentile forward and 50th percentile backward. He has tremendous difficulty with shifting his attention and was diagnosed with ADHD.

[Anonymous]

I don't think there is a standard practice. In theory I've heard 2 standard deviations. Our DD was tested by the public school psychologist and did not qualify for an IEP. Her index scores ranged from 145 down to 94. Processing speed was the 94. She does not have ADD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think there is a standard practice. In theory I've heard 2 standard deviations. Our DD was tested by the public school psychologist and did not qualify for an IEP. Her index scores ranged from 145 down to 94. Processing speed was the 94. She does not have ADD.

Low processing speed, even with high verbal ability or GAI, is not alone enough to diagnosis ADHD.

If OP is truly concerned she should have a neuropsych completed to drill more deeply into the areas of weakness.

[Anonymous]

There really isn't a magic number, and if the psychologist sees red flags, he/she will note that in the report. Both of my kids had a decent gap between their highest scores and either their working memory or processing speed.

For my older child, the psychologist administering the WISC noted that my child had a low frustration threshold and would give up easily on the more complex tasks. While the WM score wasn't specifically low, there was a huge gap between the Digit Span (7) and the Picture Span (16). We also saw a lot of red flags outside of the testing for ADHD. This child ended up being diagnosed with ADHD.

My younger child had an even bigger gap, with FSIQ in the high 130s with PSI of about 100. WMI had a huge gap between subscores as well (18 and 10). But there were no red flags outside of testing, and the psychologist didn't observe any behaviors that in any way suggested ADHD or any other issue.

Unless you're seeing behaviors that are red flags for ADHD, I wouldn't assume that the gap in scores suggests ADHD.

[Anonymous]

It seems like your DD is expressing that she has problems. Given that and the discrepancy between WISC subtests, I would pursue further neuro-psych testing. It's impossible to know what is going on just based on the WISC, but a good psychologist will be able to administer and interpret the appropriate tests to identify the problem.