[blindkid] Inquiry about IQ/Gifted Testing

[Gina Ouellette]

Heather is correct in saying that there are not any current, valid tests normed for blind children or adults. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) has NOT been normed for or with blind children. 

Unfortunately there is no "silver bullet" when it comes to assessing these kiddos as there are not really any standardized options for validly assessing the cognitive abilities of kids who are blind or visually impaired. The assessor (school psychologist?) will have to cobble things together and do a LOT of observations, records review, testing the limits, interviews, etc. to make his or her best estimates of the student's levels of functioning. This may include some standardized IQ testing with verbal portions of the test used exclusively, with the caveat that it may be an under-representation or conservative estimate of the child's abilities. I would also highly recommend that the family get the TVI on-board so that he/she can talk about the child's rate of learning compared to her peers. If the main issue is whether or not she is ready for kindergarten and should be granted early entrance, the TVI's observations of her ability to quickly pick up new information will be critical and should be a big part of the decision-making process. Obviously the family will know best about the child's rate of learning and true abilities, but some school officials can be leery of this, assuming that "every parent thinks their child is gifted..." So it's helpful to have some "neutral" (e.g., TVI) input as well in order to be taken more seriously.

I wish there was an easier (or more satisfying) answer to this question but the truth is there just isn't.

Best of luck,
Gina O.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Heather Field
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 3:34 PM
To: Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Inquiry about IQ/Gifted Testing

Hello Arielle,
I am not aware of any IQ tests normed for 4-year-old blind children. I believe that the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children (WISC), which is now in its fourth version, may have been normed for blind children. However, even this would present problems as it would only have been normed on the nonvisual components. Furthermore, as the population of children who are blind, with no additional interfering variables such as other disabilities, is so small to begin with, and certainly the entire population was not included in the process of norming the test,  it is almost impossible to take any claims of something having been normed with blind children seriously.

So, I would advise the parents to ask for their child to be assessed on a combination of her work and on portfolios and recommendations from teachers who work with her. The psychologist may want to give her some test of their chosing but it really will have no significance in deciding this child's ranking with her sighted peers.

Regards,
Heather field

-----Original Message-----
From: Arielle Silverman
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 11:20 PM
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindkid] Inquiry about IQ/Gifted Testing

Hi all,
This came up on another list and I think some of you will have answers for this mom. If you have pertinent information please either write to her directly using the email address provided in the header, or reply on-list and I will forward. Thanks for your help!
Arielle

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: annie murphy <annabelle231 at yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:38:53 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [LCA] IQ Test for blind
To: "LCA at yahoogroups.com" <LCA at yahoogroups.com>

Hello,

I am trying to get Madeline enrolled in Kindergarten for the 2012-2013 year. Because she will not be 5 until October, I have to go through early entrance, for which you have to be deemed gifted. They have done everything other than an IQ test, but at this point, they are stumped on how to do this. I was told today that they will adapt the IQ test by just giving Mads the verbal parts. Anything with a picture or graph will be not be used. My concerns are that for her to get early enrollment, she has to score a 95 or higher on the IQ test, and they are only using the verbal parts...
Does anyone know where I can find an adapted IQ test for a 4 year old??

Thank you!

Annie
Madelin 4.5 years old, gene still unknown.

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