I found this while I was perusing the Education Week site, the link is: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/20...label.html

By Nirvi Shah on April 13, 2012 2:30 PM

If a child has autism and doesn't respond to verbal cues, how can an IQ test in which they are asked questions be a real measure of their intelligence?

At the Council for Exceptional Children's annual convention, a pair of researchers from universities in Florida today shared those and other concerns about using some types of IQ tests with children with autism, tests that may wrongly find these children have intellectual disabilities.

"Are we saying there aren't a lot of kids that have autism that don't have [intellectual disabilities]?" said Douglas Carothers, of Florida Gulf Coast University. "We're saying there's no good way to tell."

He noted that many children with autism don't respond to verbal stimuli and may speak little themselves, but some psychologists expect them to respond to questions on an IQ test out loud. If asked to create a sequence from a series of pictures in order to test their social skills, "they may be more interested in the pieces than the whole," Carothers continued.

In fact, the examiner's manual of one IQ test, the WISC-IV, cautions that "it is important not to attribute low performance on a cognitive test to low intellectual ability when, in fact, it may be attributable to physical, language, or sensory difficulties."

Fellow researcher Ronald Taylor, of Florida Atlantic University, said that by some measures, 70 percent of children with autism have also been labeled as intellectually disabled.

"We're wondering, first of all, why does the IQ have to be tested," Taylor said. If schools already know a child has autism, they can determine what supports and resources they need in the classroom based on that assessment.

IQ tests given to children with autism who don't know the person testing them can also pose a challenge.

"Think about the characteristics of the child," Carothers said. "It's really important that the child be really comfortable with the examiner. That's a real tough one to get around."

Some school psychologists in the room said they often note on evaluations of children that test results may underestimate IQ. But they said they are also under pressure from schools to assess students in certain ways: The results may play a large role in deciding what kinds of state tests the student takes, tests that end up being used as measures of schools and teachers.

Carothers and Taylor, who have a forthcoming paper on this issue, said the additional label of a student with autism as intellectually disabled can be stigmatizing, and there are other measures that can work much better, such as a portfolio of their work that demonstrates students' capabilities.

"Do what you have to do to satisfy your districts," Carothers said, "and then do with the kids what serves them best."

This post was last modified: 04-16-2012 03:18 PM by Alison.

Wow... these guys are somewhat getting it... I'm somewhere in that category the sameway those kids are.... Then again... everyone tests differently.

As mom apparently married for smart genes, she said she could have married for looks if intelligence was carried through the mother, I am glad she had smart misfits, what would she have done if we were really intellectually disabled? She seemed upset that I was fat for instance...

Of all the autistics I've met, some are within the average range of intelligence, and many are downright brilliant. That pretty much encompasses all of them that could demonstrate their intellectual abilities. I have met several where you just can't tell how smart they are.

IQ tests also overstate how intelligent some autistic people are. They are a poor measure any way you look at it.

Why give an IQ test to a child, that is having trouble with communication?  Wait till they are older.

Then again they didnt say how old the 'kids' were.

I've met some adults that have some major issues with communication, as well.

Why give IQ tests at all? I've always thought, especially in auties/aspies that IQ testing is a load of pointless bog's dollocks. Instead of trying to generate an artificial numeric value as a reflection of intelligence, focus on testing to see what adaptations and/or support the kids need to learn best. People learn in very different ways as it is. Some people learn best by doing, some by reading how to do, some by being guided by one who has already done.

Agreed here.
To me, those IQ tests are merely simple, ordinary tests. They are very much as fallible as a typical classroom test. Only I feel the IQ test is geared toward certain ways of learning, and doesn't encompass ALL ways in which others learn. That is just simply asking for criticism, and failure on their part.

As far as communicating in an NA fashion we all have problems. Some just more servere

Perhaps AutSpks could spend some of their funds and develop a proper IQ test for all ND`s

depends.

is there an 'IQ test' for LFAs?

otherwise... YES, the label is VERY wrong!

I used to score in the mildly retarded range and then in the borderline range until I was about ten. That was because of my communication issues and I didn't talk well. Even when I did become a talker, my verbal IQ was low.

I (usually) get unrealistically high scores on IQ tests and aptitude tests. They unduly reward my natural aptitude for mathematics and pattern recognition, and fail to take into account the deficits that hold me back in the real world.

I'm not complaining, mind you. I've scored some of my best IT jobs on the back of these sort of tests.

The inaccuracy of these tests for autistic people cuts both ways, I think.

Why have IQ tests to begin with? I know it was developed in France to determine where the students were at, but what else is there that I do not know about?

I was just in France two weeks ago, and it didn't occur to me why this question has been hovering over my head for years. Why did the French develop this test?

My verbal IQ lags behind my nonverbal IQ