Aspies For Freedom

Autistics smarter than believed, experts say


Reuters
02.20.2006

ST. LOUIS — People with autism are more intelligent and able to function better than previously believed, but mistrust of doctors, biased tests and the Internet have bred myths about the condition, experts said Sunday.
At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, researchers presented reports showing that even autistics who do not speak can have above-average intelligence. They also offered additional studies disputing claims that vaccines can cause autism.

"The current figures are that 75 percent of autistic people are mentally retarded, with the mute the most … impaired," said Dr. Laurent Mottron, an autism researcher at Montreal's Hopital Riviere des Prairies.
But Mottron believes the wrong intelligence tests are used to assess autistic children. Many are tested using the Wechsler scale, a common IQ test that includes questions about words and concepts learned in school.
The Raven's Progressive Matrices test measures abstract reasoning and consistently gives autistic children higher scores, Mottron said.
The average boost in score is 30 points, Mottron said, enough to put someone previously considered mentally retarded into the normal range and the average to gifted status.

Mottron was so impressed by the abilities of one autistic student, Michelle Dawson, that he made her a co-author of some of his papers.

Autism is a term used to describe a broad range of symptoms, from an inability to use language normally, to exhibiting deeply disturbed and repetitive behaviors. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it affects anywhere between one in 500 and one in 166 children.

The studies found no link with vaccines, said Dr. Irving Gottesman, a psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota, who also said the CDC has initiated four new studies "to tie up the loose ends."

ENDS

Hallelujah. I hope this information spreads around the world, and people take note!
Autistics deemed less intelligent from wrongly used IQ tests can lose vital opportunities in life.

It is wonderful to read that  :smile: , but let's not forget that we have a new case of an AS man murdered whilst in residential "care" in our news today.

Reality goes on.

I've been told my husband was a very late speaker, but he went on to study at a selective high school, and he proves his intelligence every day when he fixes things and installs things and modifies machines etc.

I am always sceptical of low IQ scores recieved by autists. There is still so much that that the scientists don't understand about intelligence and abilities in non-standard type people.

...Why are you only skeptical of IQ scores recieved by autistics? There is a hell of a lot that scientists don't understand about intelligence in NTs, and I'm yet to see a purely unculturally biased method of assessing IQ (though I think it's theoretically possable, for some types of intelligence). I don't trust IQ tests in general...

The last time I did an IQ test - years ago - it said I had an IQ of about 70, so I was said to be slightly "sub-normal"

When this was re-investigated later, it gave a different picture. Here is a sample question I can remember.

Glove is to hand as shoe is to .......?

I replied:

Glove is to hand, as shoe is to elephant.

because this sounded much more interesting than just putting "foot" which anyone might have thought of.

So on the basis of questions like this, it was determined that I was sub-normal. The test did not, it seems to me now, consider the possibility of idiosyncratic reactions to the test format.

(though technically they'd be wrong. Glove is to hand as sock is to foot, but only if they're the sort of socks with those individual toe-slips that look absolutely ludicrous but in a really fun sort of way... So glove is to hand as shoe is to... Well, sock I suppose, but that's a horrably inaccurate comparison)

Last IQ test I did was during assessment for extra time on exams, while I got 127 on the thing, I do remember that I got 90s on some sections, which just goes to show how dependent it is on the test that you're given as to the result of the things. And what you had for breakfast, and how much sleep you got. As I said earlier, IQ tests are a horrendous way of assessing IQ. Especially poorly written ones.

I took an IQ test they give to adults years ago as part of a psych evaluation.  The test had several parts to it, including the usual stuff about memorizing numbers and seeing patterns.  But one noteworthy part, for me, was to put 5 cards with pictures on them into the proper sequence to tell a story.  I just stared at those darn things and could not figure it out. After several minutes (knowing they were measuring reaction time) I just guessed.  I think I came out 120something.

glove is to hand as foot is to elephant.

Well if I have an nasty job to do I will put a rubber or latex "glove" over my "hand".  Where I can not put my "hand" or I need the strength of my "foot" to stomp and it is a nasty job, I would rather use an "elephant" to stomp on it - of course if it would not harm the elephant.  Of course an elephant is much more suited for the job than my ballroom satin "shoe".  How stupid are the people who make up these tests?

It appears to me that pure intelligence and common sense are two quite different things, but some IQ test sub-tests actually measure common sense (like the shoe and glove question), rather like those TV quiz shows that have questions which have correct answers that are not the most correct answer, but the answer that most people give, or the most popular answer. I have read about aspies doing well at quiz shows, but I reckon I would be hopeless at the kind of quiz show in which you have to guess the most popular answer, as that is a test of how ordinary and undivergent one's thinking is. Aspies are supposed to lack common sense, so obviously IQ tests that actually measure common sense will give an under-measurement of the intelligence of an autistic person.

I remember reading a journal paper about IQ and AS, and it said that aspies do well in some test that is a test of "pure" intelligence.

I did an IQ test in high school and it was found my IQ was 110.  Then when I was diagnosed with Hashimotos I was given another test, as this particular autoimmune disorder can lead to cretinism if it begins early enough.  My IQ was measured as 130.  Where'd the extra 20 points come from?  Maybe I've just got smarter as I get older.
Alison

My only response to these 'findings' are NO F***ING SH** !!  Its been a well known fact for a long time and these people have only just caught onto it ???

Does anyone have the names and sources of the papers that Michelle Dawson co-authored with Dr. Mottron? It would be interesting to read them.

Thanks!

Here's what I found:
J Autism Dev Disord. 2006 Feb 14;:1-16 [Epub ahead of print] Related Articles, Links
 
Impaired Face Processing in Autism: Fact or Artifact?
Jemel B, Mottron L, Dawson M.
Research Laboratory in Neuroscience and Cognitive Electrophysiology, Hopital Riviere des Prairies, Montreal, Canada.
Within the last 10 years, there has been an upsurge of interest in face processing abilities in autism which has generated a proliferation of new empirical demonstrations employing a variety of measuring techniques. Observably atypical social behaviors early in the development of children with autism have led to the contention that autism is a condition where the processing of social information, particularly faces, is impaired. While several empirical sources of evidence lend support to this hypothesis, others suggest that there are conditions under which autistic individuals do not differ from typically developing persons. The present paper reviews this bulk of empirical evidence, and concludes that the versatility and abilities of face processing in persons with autism have been underestimated.

J Autism Dev Disord. 2006 Feb 2;:1-17 [Epub ahead of print] Related Articles, Links
 
Enhanced Perceptual Functioning in Autism: An Update, and Eight Principles of Autistic Perception.
Mottron L, Dawson M, Soulieres I, Hubert B, Burack J.
Pervasive Developmental Disorders Specialized Clinic, Riviere-des-Prairies Hospital, & Fernand Seguin Research Center, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
We propose an "Enhanced Perceptual Functioning" model encompassing the main differences between autistic and non-autistic social and non-social perceptual processing: locally oriented visual and auditory perception, enhanced low-level discrimination, use of a more posterior network in "complex" visual tasks, enhanced perception of first order static stimuli, diminished perception of complex movement, autonomy of low-level information processing toward higher-order operations, and differential relation between perception and general intelligence. Increased perceptual expertise may be implicated in the choice of special ability in savant autistics, and in the variability of apparent presentations within PDD (autism with and without typical speech, Asperger syndrome) in non-savant autistics. The overfunctioning of brain regions typically involved in primary perceptual functions may explain the autistic perceptual endophenotype.

To see papers by Mottron, go to the link below and type Mottron into the search window.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query...&DB=pubmed