Ashley, an 8 year old African American girl was referred to her school counselor for testing due to difficulties in reading in class. She scored a 68 on the Standford-Binet, two standard deviations below the mean. Her scores for quantitative reasoning, abstract/visual reasoning and short-term memory were within the normal range, however her verbal reasoning score was considerably lower. Ashley lives alone with her mother who is illiterate and for whom English is her second language. The social worker is concerned about Ashley’s verbal reasoning sub-score and arranges to meet with Ashley’s mom to discuss her concerns and develop a plan for supporting Ashley’s verbal development.
Based on the information above, what factors could be influencing Ashley’s low verbal reasoning score? What information would you want to gather in a meeting with Ashley’s mom?
List 3 areas of concern related to Ashley’s case:
What biopsychosocial challenges do you anticipate for working with Ashley and her mom?
