IQ tests for people with Autism are a horrible idea!

[Tom]

Really I think they are a horrible idea for everyone. I think task specific tests for choosing areas of study or job placement can be useful. The military uses such to see where your strengths are, ie. admin, mechanical, electronics, languages, etc.

 

[Crossbreed]

A good IQ test will help a teacher to cater to your strongest learning styles. That is especially important if your ability to communicate is impaired.

 

[Progster]

I have never taken a formal IQ test and have no idea what my IQ is, but based on my level of education, probably slightly above average. I don't have this super high IQ giftedness that may Aspies claim to have, but I'm not dumm either.

I probably wouldn't do very well on a formal IQ test because there is a time limit. I don't do well in timed tests.

 

[AloneNotLonely]

D. There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years).

I had significant speech delay, to the point where I was thought to be deaf and unable to speak. My diagnosis was Aspergers (and this was after years of observation), so either my diagnosis is wrong or this is not correct. Not that I think "Aspergers" is separate from Autism at all...

 

[WildCat]

This is why we have entrance exams, other standardized tests and opportunities to shine. IQ only goes so far in determining a person's capacity to learn and reason, and the emphasis on people with autism really loses its relevance if they're able to demonstrate their capacity in another fashion.

Stephen Wiltshire can draw an entire cityscape after one ride on a helicopter, and he's been rewarded handsomely for his talents. Is a standardized IQ test going to measure that?

 

[the_tortoise]

I had significant speech delay, to the point where I was thought to be deaf and unable to speak. My diagnosis was Aspergers (and this was after years of observation), so either my diagnosis is wrong or this is not correct. Not that I think "Aspergers" is separate from Autism at all...

It is correct. You can look up the official criteria yourself from multiple sources (I have looked at it from multiple sources over the years). Or go to the library and see if they have a copy of the DSM-IV in the reference section. Or if you have a psychologist or psychiatrist, they might still have a copy you could ask to look at.

Many clinicians basically used their own criteria, or chose diagnosis based on socio-political factors rather than strict adherence to the criteria as they were written. The inconsistent application of the criteria (fuelled by fundamental disagreement about what the criteria should really be and where the lines should be drawn when subdividign autism into categories) was one of the big reasons the DSM was changed to have one big ASD category; It was determined that clinicians were able to consistently agree about who had an ASD versus who didn't, but not so much about who had which subtype of ASD.

 

[Mr Allen]

These are the relevent criteria (source: https://iancommunity.org/cs/about_asds/about_asds_dsm_iv_criteria_for_aspergers_syndrome:

D. There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years).

E. There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

Actually, as I recall I didn't speak at all till I was about 3 years old (circa 1979), but I wasn't diagnosed till about 20 years later.

@Adora, I had a test last year and still don't know my score, but if I did I'd probably post it, and then the world and his dog would be right back at me calling me the R word (Retarded) and every other insult they can think of.

 

[Crossbreed]

..., and then the world and his dog would be right back at me calling the R word (Retarded) and every other insult they can think of.

I'm in Mensa and I still get called the "R" word once in a while...!

 

[the_tortoise]

I'm in Mensa and I still get called the "R" word once in a while...!

The original meaning of insults like that don't matter as much as the message of hostility/rejection/denigration (that is, if the original meaning matters at all). Literally anything can be transformed into a slur in the right social circumstances.

 

[Crossbreed]

Literally anything can be transformed into a slur in the right social circumstances.

It has been meant as a slur.

 

[Tesseract]

Typical IQ tests are built around the assumption that test-takers can understand and use spoken language at an age-appropriate level. Children with autism, however, almost never have age-appropriate communication skills. This means that they start at a disadvantage. In addition, children with autism may react badly to a new situation and an unknown tester. Even the physical conditions under which they're asked to take the test (usually a room with bright fluorescent lights) can create challenges.

Yet more reasons to believe that autism and Asperger's Syndrome are not the same condition. "Use spoken language at an age-appropriate level" - by this they probably mean the child's own age, but many of us (i.e. those who were diagnosed not with 'autism' but A.S.) were years ahead in our language skills when we were in school, not behind, which is the unstated implication here. The DSM-IV needs to be done away with, and 'Asperger's Syndrome' reinstated as a separate condition. I've never had any problems understanding the riddles presented in I.Q. tests, so if I were to take a modified test that was designed for those with autism, my result would not reflect my true intelligence (not that I.Q. tests do anyway, but I mean the result would be even more misleading).

 

[HidinginPlainSight]

At my last IQ test, the neurologist seemed to be either offended or insecure when he saw my scores.* (I had been in the gifted class in junior high and had been versed in the basics of giftedness. He had not been so versed.)

It is better to find one with a background in autism. If you suspect that you are gifted, an expert in giftedness would work, too. They are both forms of neuro-diversity.

*He over-pathologized my scores and it took an independent 2E expert to straighten out my records.

A lot of that is beside the point I was making. Sure, I was in fact, in the gifted program as a kid.......and I was also kicked out of the gifted program as a kid for various scholastic failures. There are many different forms of intelligence and much that I am lacking.

If you want to know what a 90 degree turn looks like from one card to the next, which box gets coloured in sequence, what order the dinner guests were sitting in, or what the capitol of Liechtenstein is......well then I am probably the person you would want.

On the flip side, I am forgetful, I mess up benign details in every day life that make me seem stupid, without a routine I'm prone to delinquency, I can't manage people, I am clumsy, I kill any plant that comes into my sphere of influence, I stutter when I try to fit too many words in, I'm often detached from reality and, worst of all, even knowing all this I am powerless to change it.

The IQ test, no matter who administers it, is incomplete at best. Everything I mentioned in the third paragraph is a form of intelligence. Dealing with people, kicking a soccer ball, oratory skills and even managing a garden are all feats of the brain.

I have met many intelligent people who wouldn't know that 21 follows 8 and 13 and is consequently followed by 34. That is the point I am making here.