Cognitive Testing and HFA/Aspergers

[Anonymous]

Has anyone else with a child with HFA experienced this? Our DS 8 has many spots of brilliance (phenomenal memory and ability in his preferred activities, e.g., map memory and navigation), early reader, excellent speller, on- grade level reading/writing and math ability BUT - he completely bombs standardized cognitive abilities testing. He was in the 1st percentile for nonverbal and quantitative reasoning when he was first evaluated by Child Find when he was 3. I thought he had improved quite a bit since receiving support services over the past five years, but he recently took the CogAT in second grade and tested in the 2nd percentile for nonverbal and quantitative. (Verbal is around 25 to 30 percentile.) His teachers say not to worry, that's not a true reflection of his abilities. BUT, of course we are worried because its a big red flag there is something gravely wrong with his reasoning ability. Even if this can be attributed to not paying attention or zoning out during the test, this is still alarming, as we always assumed he would be applying for colleges when he's older.

Has anyone dealt with this, and perhaps turned the ship around by targeting practice of cognitive reasoning skills and/or addressing this for eventual private school or college admissions? DS has lots of potential and I'd hate for his standardized testing to be a barrier to entry to future learning opportunities.

[Anonymous]

You can still assume you will apply to colleges. Take a deep breath. It sounds like you may have had a inflated sense of his abilities before. My DS has AS and like many of these kids was an early reader with an amazing memory. However sometimes these kids have trouble making the leap to more abstract thinking. Its so easy to be blinded by their strengths and not see the challenges.

It is way too early to be thinking about college, your DS is 8. And by private school testing, you may want to reconsider if you were thinking of the more competitive privates. As always, you need to find the right school for him.

You certainly shouldn't be training him for test taking. It sounds like he's doing fine in school, so I don't see why you think he won't go to college. He doesn't do well on tests. That won't keep him from going to college -- there are colleges that don't even take standardized tests.

[Anonymous]

No. All the people with Asperger's in my family have been phenomenal standardized test takers (WIPPSI, WISC, Woodcock Johnson... SATs, GMAT, etc.) to the point that their scores are surprising compared to how intelligent they appear in real life.

That said, some people aren't good test takers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. All the people with Asperger's in my family have been phenomenal standardized test takers (WIPPSI, WISC, Woodcock Johnson... SATs, GMAT, etc.) to the point that their scores are surprising compared to how intelligent they appear in real life.

That said, some people aren't good test takers.

This poster. Your child is 8. If you are that concerned, you can always take him for a WISC and maybe a full neuropsych if there are large discrepancies in the sub scores to see whether there are issues that are interfering with his test taking.

[Anonymous]

Wasn't the test read to them? Maybe your kid zoned out.

Get a one on one test for better insight.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks everyone for your insights. The school previously recommended not doing educational and neuropsych testing at his triennial because they were concerned that he'd test out of qualifying for services, because academically he is at or above grade level. He is doing fine in the early elementary years (where rote memorization is king), but I'm concerned he will start to lag behind as abstract thinking and multitasking are required in later grades. I think it's high time we at least updated the neuropsych, given these CogAT results.

[Anonymous]

Same thing happened to us with the HFA child. We went to the panic mode and start questioning the school and health professionals. We know from the past test that the results are way off. We are going for WISC testing. Suggest talking to the school and see if they can do the same you.

[Anonymous]

It's really normal to have these kids have scores all over the place. Don't panic.

My HFA kid is now 11 and will start middle school in Fall 2014. He's doing very well academically.

His scores have been all over the place. He took Iowa Basics tests at his private elementary. Some of those scores were in the 99% and some (listening!) were in the 3%. (Lowest 3% in the US).

He took a Cogat in 3rd grade at the same private school. They tested him one year above grade level because they wanted to see how he would do. For his age level, his composite score was 99%. For the 4th grade level, he tested 97%. His verbal reasoning scores were 92%. His critical thinking and math skills were 99%.

He has had a WISC twice. Once when he was first diagnosed, at age 6, and once when he went for an ADOS/ADI-R to get a formal DX of ASD, at age 9. Those scores were also all over the place. His overall IQ tests at 117 to 119, but he has some subsscores that test towards the 140-145 range and some subscores that test towards the 75-80 range. His first tester told us flatly that a WISC is not a good measure of his actual ability or potential because his score profile is so spiky.

In 5th grade, he has straight As and his teachers tell us that he performs well above grade level.

We rely on his actual performance as the best indicator of what he is capable of doing. We don't know how he will test for college entrance. It could be great scores and it could be crap. We'll take what we get. I would like him to start at a community college and adjust gradually to college, anyway, so scores aren't a bid deal. There are colleges who will take students at every level of scores and that will allow him to work his way into a good career no matter what.

For you son, who loves maps and navigation, a degree in geography with good GIS mapping skills can be obtained at a ton of regional state schools. Those skills are in hot demand and it pays well. He doesn't have to test that well to get into one of those programs. There is a pretty high demand for these jobs and they pay a solid middle-class salary for just a bachelors. If he wants to go further, advanced graduate work is possible.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/2010/snapshots/97.html

http://www.indeed.com/salary/GIS-Specialist.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system

I'm not saying that is what your son will end up doing. But I can easily see a successful future for your kid. Breathe. It's going to be fine. It is fine, right now.

[Anonymous]

Fabulous post, 09:14 !

[Anonymous]

OP -- As for the nonverbal/quantitative, have you looked into whether there is anything going on besides HFA? We have an HFA diagnosed family member who also had a significant visual/spatial deficit -- some may call it a nonverbal learning disability -- that he learned to compensate for over the years. As for the verbal, does he read at home for fun? Are you satisfied with the curriculum in his school? Might not be a matter of ability but just substantively what he's covered to date. Obviously, no one here can know but just pass along things for you to explore.