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School tests- difficult child won't guess; only answers if he is certain
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 417980" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>I just want to make it clear to you - his IQ has not dropped. What HAS dropped, is the ability of the test procedure to measure his IQ accurately. Even the first result may have been an under-estimate. This one obviously is. </p><p></p><p>IQ does not drop unless there has been memory loss, brain damage or other insult to the brain. The tests, however, are often a clumsy interface between the world and the individual's capability. The more 'normal' a subject is, the more cooperative and capable, the more likely a result is to be accurate.</p><p></p><p>Do NOT let them label him as "newly dumb". He is as smart as first measured, if not more so.</p><p></p><p>The issue is one of compliance with the testing procedure, due to anxiety (I'm sure) as well as a need to be precise and correct (they are not the same thing but both together can be a big liability for an individual. Crippling.)</p><p></p><p>What helped with difficult child 3, was teaching how to estimate mathematically. It was part of his curriculum anyway, so we had to do it for his Maths work. But it also taught him HOW to do a test, as well as it being OK to take an educated guess. Another point for him, especially with IQ testing, is sometimes the subconscious has the right answer and the chance of this is built in to the test scoring.</p><p></p><p>Before we had unit pricing in our supermarkets, I used to use shopping trips to teach difficult child 3 to estimate. We only needed to estimate enough to get a comparison - is this tin of tuna more economical than that one? Or - roughly how much per slice is a loaf of bread costing? Would individual bread rolls be cheaper than two slices of bread? (yes, in our case).</p><p></p><p>To be able to estimate, however, the child needs to be able to hold multiple data and ideas in his head at the same time. difficult child 1 couldn't do this. difficult child 3 can. So you may need to observe him closely as you do this with him. </p><p></p><p>Something else that can help, is painting. Especially abstract. Get him to choose colours (use acrylics in tubes or pots) and to just daub colour onto paper. If he wants to draw outlines first, let him use pencil lightly. Play with water being dripped onto the painting, or salt sprinkled over it (it draws moisture up, causes interesting effects). Use various stamps (cut some some out of kitchen sponge), smudge with fingers. Or if not acrylics, use pastels. Smudge colours together. Spray fixative over the pastel creation when you're happy with it. You can always add more pastel over the top, but it won't smudge with the stuff already fixed.</p><p></p><p>The aim of the abstract is to show him that creativity and randomness can be beautiful and has validity. Find what he likes - which is his preferred colour to look at, for example - and start there. For example, if his favourite colour is green, you can have a canvas that is mostly green, but a touch of cobalt of mauve can make the green look even better. Swirls can be more peaceful to look at than jagged lines, but it is choice. Put music on first, something he likes, and encourage him to move his body and arm in time to the music as he paints.</p><p></p><p>This may seem a long way from what we're talking about, but it is actually an important step on the way towards accepting something not labelled precisely. </p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 417980, member: 1991"] I just want to make it clear to you - his IQ has not dropped. What HAS dropped, is the ability of the test procedure to measure his IQ accurately. Even the first result may have been an under-estimate. This one obviously is. IQ does not drop unless there has been memory loss, brain damage or other insult to the brain. The tests, however, are often a clumsy interface between the world and the individual's capability. The more 'normal' a subject is, the more cooperative and capable, the more likely a result is to be accurate. Do NOT let them label him as "newly dumb". He is as smart as first measured, if not more so. The issue is one of compliance with the testing procedure, due to anxiety (I'm sure) as well as a need to be precise and correct (they are not the same thing but both together can be a big liability for an individual. Crippling.) What helped with difficult child 3, was teaching how to estimate mathematically. It was part of his curriculum anyway, so we had to do it for his Maths work. But it also taught him HOW to do a test, as well as it being OK to take an educated guess. Another point for him, especially with IQ testing, is sometimes the subconscious has the right answer and the chance of this is built in to the test scoring. Before we had unit pricing in our supermarkets, I used to use shopping trips to teach difficult child 3 to estimate. We only needed to estimate enough to get a comparison - is this tin of tuna more economical than that one? Or - roughly how much per slice is a loaf of bread costing? Would individual bread rolls be cheaper than two slices of bread? (yes, in our case). To be able to estimate, however, the child needs to be able to hold multiple data and ideas in his head at the same time. difficult child 1 couldn't do this. difficult child 3 can. So you may need to observe him closely as you do this with him. Something else that can help, is painting. Especially abstract. Get him to choose colours (use acrylics in tubes or pots) and to just daub colour onto paper. If he wants to draw outlines first, let him use pencil lightly. Play with water being dripped onto the painting, or salt sprinkled over it (it draws moisture up, causes interesting effects). Use various stamps (cut some some out of kitchen sponge), smudge with fingers. Or if not acrylics, use pastels. Smudge colours together. Spray fixative over the pastel creation when you're happy with it. You can always add more pastel over the top, but it won't smudge with the stuff already fixed. The aim of the abstract is to show him that creativity and randomness can be beautiful and has validity. Find what he likes - which is his preferred colour to look at, for example - and start there. For example, if his favourite colour is green, you can have a canvas that is mostly green, but a touch of cobalt of mauve can make the green look even better. Swirls can be more peaceful to look at than jagged lines, but it is choice. Put music on first, something he likes, and encourage him to move his body and arm in time to the music as he paints. This may seem a long way from what we're talking about, but it is actually an important step on the way towards accepting something not labelled precisely. Marg [/QUOTE]
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