Intelligence tests and autism

IQtests are sometimes used during the process of an autismdiagnosis. However, this is controversial.

Criticism of intelligence tests

Some people believe intelligence tests are designed to test the intellectual abilities in neurotypicalsand are therefore inappropriate for autistics. Some people believe separate intelligence tests need to be designed, specifically with autistics in mind. In addition, there has long been controversy over IQ tests in general. Some people don't believe intelligence is testable at all, and others believe IQ only tests a person's ability to do well on IQ tests and doesn't test anything useful.

Some autism rights activists would either oppose IQ testing at all, or would support the idea that new tests should be designed specifically for autistic people. This issue is controversial in and outside the autism rights movement.

A fundamental shortcoming of IQ tests is that while a person with high IQ may be said to be intelligent, a low IQ score does not necessarily indicate the opposite. There are a number of factors that may come into play. There is considerable anecdotal evidence that autistic individuals once thought to be retarded have turned out to be actually quite intelligent. Sue Rubin(subject of the documentary Autism is a world) was believed to be mentally retarded until age 13, after which she was tested to have an IQ of 131.

Some people believe too much emphasis is placed on IQ within autism and that divisions between those who are classified as having high IQ scores and those who are classified as having low IQ scores are wrongly made.

Uses

Intelligence tests are sometimes used to distinguish between autism and Asperger's, and to distinguish between high and low functioning. Sometimes the distiction between high and low functioning is to classify autistic people who score over 70-80 on an IQ test as high functioning and autistic people who score an IQ under 70-80 as low functioning. A common way to distinguish between Asperger's and autism is to use verbal IQ. This is discussed in more detail in the article on controversies about functioning labels in the autism spectrum.

IQ score is sometimes used to determine an autistic person's eligibility for services. Some autistic people with high intelligence believe this is problematic because they assert they still need services despite a high IQ.

See also

• Autism
• Autism is a world(Documentary)
• Autism rights movement
• Controversies about functioning labels in the autism spectrum
• Controversies in autism

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence+tests+and+autism Wikipedia article Intelligence tests and autism.