Reese did the Griffiths Mental Development Assessment 2 weeks back and we now have the full report. We are a little disappointed over some of the scores and comments by the Pedi because they were inaccurate (rigid and miss out observation). Nevertheless, we now know his weaknesses and have started to work on it.
Reese's overall GQ (Global Score) was at 55th percentile. It's a very low score and mostly due to one area of testing that he got less than 1 percentile. Yup!
The six area that was tested on include:
Sub-scale A: Locomotor: Gross motor skills including the ability to balance and to co-ordinate and control movements.
He was tested on his ability to jump off steps, kangaroo jump over a number of foam blocks, catching and throwing a tennis ball, skipping rope, hopping and etc.
Scoring: Raw score: 60, percentile score: 24 = Age equivalent 50 months (Time of testing 55 months 7 days)
Needs to improve on this.
Sub-scale B: Personal-Social: Proficiency in the activities of daily living, level of independence and interaction with other children.
Test involved the ability of the child to dress/undress independently, brushing and washing up on his own, putting on socks/shoes independently, his ability to share with others, social interaction.
Scoring: Raw score: 60, percentile score: <1 = Age equivalent 34.5 months (Time of testing 55 months 7 days)
Reese scored the lowest in this area. We pampered him too much I guess, he needs help with dressing up including wearing his shorts/pants. He can't wear his own pants. Well, I guess it's my fault. I did not train him to do this. :) Every time after he goes to the toilet, he will come to me with his pants/shorts and expect me to wear it for him.
Doctor asked whether he can wear his own socks or fasten a shoe buckle and I said no because he never wears socks or have shoes with buckles! Again, it's more for our convenience here. Reese wears Croc shoes or shoes that he can easily slip into (he wears his own shoes).
In the doctor's report, her conclusion on this was he wasn't able to put on his socks and shoes unaided! (Is this a fair conclusion? I certainly don't think so or am I bias?)
Then the doctor asked Reese for his age, family name and date of birth. Reese was playful and claimed that he was only 1 year old. He was clearly playing with the doctor... and after some prompting on my side, he blurted out he was going to be 5 but the doctor was busy writing notes and didn't catch it! As for family name, he couldn't answer because we never taught him what FAMILY NAME is. We taught him his full name... hahaha... date of birth, well... again he knows...but didn't want to answer and was fooling around with the things on the doctor's table.
Doctor concluded in her report that he was unable to give his age, family name or date of birth. Fair enough... he did not answer her but these are things Reese knows. :(
Another contributing factor to such a low score according to the doctor was his unwillingness to share.
Well, Reese do share but he wants you to play his way. If you ask him to share his toys... he will. He just gets very upset when you disturb his creation or whatever he is playing. His outburst of tantrum is great and he will express his unhappiness verbally. He will say things like, "Owen! I am upset with you. Why did you take my thing! I am sooooo angry now. Give it back to me. Don't disturb me!" (shouts and stamp his foot and at times cry)
Sub-scale C: Language: Receptive and expressive language.
Scoring: Raw score: 76, percentile score: 71 = Age equivalent 58.5 months (Time of testing 55 months 7 days)
Here Reese was given a big picture with things and people. He was asked to describe certain things, what he sees and etc. She observed his speech. Asked some questions about things, similarity and opposites.
All questions asked was from the assessment guide.
Reese was asked what he would do if he is going somewhere and he missed the BUS (He has never taken a bus). Reese said wait for it. (Doctor commented that this is not an acceptable answer)
Doctor said: A lion is fierce, lamb is? Reese answered "light". Reese was thinking of LAMP! (Answer was obviously wrong but hey.... if it's LAMP... it does give light right?)
What is the similarities between a window and a door? (She should have use "the same" instead of "similarities" ? How many 4.5 year old kid understand the word similarities?) Reese answered "The door is made of wood and the window is made of glass" :)
There were some other questions and Reese was not in the mood anymore and was either not answering or give inappropriate answers.
Sub-scale D: Eye and Hand Co-ordination: Fine motor skills, manual dexterity and visual monitoring skills.
Scoring: Raw score: 72, percentile score: 83 = Age equivalent 60 months (Time of testing 55 months 7 days)
He was tested on drawing- drawing some predefined lines and shapes, asked to draw a house (Reese refuse to do so but instead drew a school under construction! - he did not score well according to doctor because he did not draw any additional features such as landscaping or skies!????), writing alphabets (He did not score on this either because he did not copy some of them according to the letters given above the line. He was playing... he was required to write A to Z following each alphabets but instead, he left 'A' blank and started to write A in the 'B' column and so on and laughing cheekily as he did this), folding paper, threading beads.
Sub-scale E: Performance: Visuospatial skills including speed of working and precision.
Scoring: Raw score: 60, percentile score: 45 = Age equivalent 54 months (Time of testing 55 months 7 days)
He was tested on time based activities. Doctor concluded that he has problem with time based activities. This is true. He didn't want to follow instruction and timing him was impossible. So much coaxing to get him to do things within a time limit.
Sub-scale F: Practical Reasoning: ability to solve practical problems, understanding of basic mathematical concepts and understanding of moral issues.
Scoring: Raw score: 90, percentile score: 99 = Age equivalent 70.5 months (Time of testing 55 months 7 days)
He did very well in this subscale. There are certain things that the doctor missed out and he was not very co-operative as well. He was tired and moody. Didn't want to answer some questions or simply being his cheeky self and gave the wrong answers and laugh about it! :) He definitely could have done better.
So in conclusion, Reese's main problems involve gross motor, personal and social awareness. Remedial actions would be to allow Reese to do more things for himself and enhance his social skills with the help of a psychologist/therapist.
Now, honestly... this assessment is not entirely accurate (or maybe I am bias) but at least it does give us an idea why Reese is the way he is. He is simply not mature for his age! I wonder what the developmental pediatrician is going to say when we see her in August. Oh well, at least Reese doesn't display sighs of dyslexia or AD/HD.
