Is this evidence of a learning disability?

No- not by themselves. His reading and math scores are all upper end of the average range to high average or superior. Spelling is average, as is Written Expression.To establish a learning disability you would also need an IQ score, but it would have to be REALLY high to even have a conversation. (His regressed IQ would need to be about 114 or greater) This child looks like he is doing quite well:)RobinWould the following scores on the WIAT indicate the possibility of a
: learning disability for a male age 13:6: Subtest Standard Score Percentile Grade Basic Reading 113 81 11:4
: Reading Comp 118 88 12:9 Spelling 101 53 7:7 Math Reasoning 108 70
: 10:8 Numerical Ops 122 93 12:9 Written Expression 96 39 6:9

: No- not by themselves. His reading and math scores are all upper end
: of the average range to high average or superior. Spelling is
: average, as is Written Expression.: To establish a learning disability you would also need an IQ score,
: but it would have to be REALLY high to even have a conversation.
: (His regressed IQ would need to be about 114 or greater) This
: child looks like he is doing quite well:)I received the rest of his evaluation today. His Verbal IQ was 114 and Performance IQ was 93. The test given was the WISC-III. Verbal subtests scores rancged from 11-15, Performance subtest scores ranged from 4-14. His index scores were as follows verbal comp 116, perceptual organization 87, freedom form distractibility 115 and processing speed 129.His weakness at large seems to be written expression (both graphomotor and expository writing). He spends up to 6 hours per night on homework, receives tutoring twice a week and tremendous home support.

Most states use the Full Scale score to determine eligibility and while there certainly evidence of a processing deficit here, I don’t think that it is sufficient to document a Specific Learning Disability because it won’t be discreant enough from his achievement scores. You may also have a hard time documenting adverse effect with a written expression score of 96, since it is an average range score. If further investigation is warranted, and it might be, he could be given the Test of Written Language, especially the Spontaneous Writing portion, to see how he stacks up with writing connected text.Graphomotor problems in a thirteen year old would lead me to teach him to type, or do something else to get the expression of his thoughts disentangled from how efficient he is with a writing instrument. It is hard to comment on the homework thing because different schools have differing expectations about homework, and it would depend somewhat on what level of coursework he is in. Six hours seems like a lot though. It is wonderful that he has all that support and that his parents are so helpful. He has a lot going for him. My guess is that the tediousness of the writing (because of the graphomotor issues) may be the reason his written expression is such a chore. At thirteen, you get very impatient with things like handwriting, and if this has been going on for a long time, then you have a bunch of built in resistance too. Finding a way to accommodate this may alleviate a lot of that burden for him and for his parents.Robin

Six hours a night of homework!!! I’d never allow my kid to undergo such torture. What if God had intended him to be a baseball pitcher, an artist, a musician?? The boy needs a social advocate. No school should be so inordinately demanding. Hell, med schools aren’t that tough.

You are absolutely right:)