IQ test?

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My son is in the process of being evaluated by the school system. He has already been diagnosed at 2.5 as PDD-NOS/possible AS by a developmental pediatrician. He has been attending special needs pre-k since he was 3. He is now 4.5---Right now he is receiving services based on "significant developmental delay" They want to do another eval to see how to best place him for next school year. I am just curious---how do they test the IQ of such a young child?

They usually give tests to see if the children can see patterns. You can look at some sample tests online. You might want to ask which IQ test he is being given and look it up, because there are tons of different IQ tests and people will score differently on them all. I took a test like that when I was in fourth grade when my school said the reason I wasn't learning was because I was mentally ret*d. I scored 126. They stopped making that argument but refused to get me what I needed...

IQ tests seem to be a joke. I had one when I was nine years old and it was said I had an IQ of seventy something. I am told that IQ tests aren't a good thing to have an autistic person, let alone an autistic child do.

Yeah, I think it makes more sense to use one of the tests that analyzes what he can do in school (academic achievement type tests) and adaptive skills. At his age, and being autistic, his intelligence isn't going to be either easily testable or any predictor of what he'll be able to do as an adult. I think you should pull for getting him an assessment based on what skills he has, and what he needs to learn, rather than letting him be pigeonholed by an IQ test. If he scores high, he stops getting help with his weaknesses; if he scores low, his strengths don't get recognized; either way, he gets shortchanged by the stupid IQ-worshiping system.

Quite honestly I think IQ tests don't really test people effectively anyway. Different IQ tests measure different things and really no one seems to agree on what an IQ is in the first place. But it seems to make NT's more comfortable that they somehow know how intelligent a person is. With autism, though, IQ will vary greatly depending on what test a person is given.

You should ask them which IQ test they are using. If you get the name of it, you can find a description of it on the internet.

I don't think IQ tests are helpful when it comes to determining school services or placement. Your child may test well and they can use that as a basis for denying special services. Or, your child may test too low. That can also lead to an incorrect placement. However, schools insist on these tests.

The scores are pretty much meaningless. There is a social component to taking the test. I sat in on one of my son's and he did not participate in the process. Hard to test someone who is uncomfortable and wanting to escape the scenario.

IQ tests are fine, within the scope of what they're designed to accomplish. The problem comes when they are treated as an absolute measure of intelligence, or worse, of personal worth.

That's funny, that's almost exactly what my boyfriend said when he read this thread. He said, "IQ tests are really good at testing whatever it is they're testing--and I'm not sure what that is, but it's not intelligence."

My son's IQ test was used to help determine IEP qualification. It can be used at least in two different ways: (a) to show a gap between ability and performance, which when large enough becomes an IEP qualifier in our state, or (b) to show extreme highs and lows between the different components in the score, which is a pattern common to those on the autistic spectrum (this is what my son's showed). As a score on it's own ... I don't think it's all that meaningful. It is the other information that can be gleamed from the testing process that is useful.

Thanks all! I feel pretty confident that the school my son is attending has his best interests at heart. I am hoping they are doing this to make sure he gets the services he needs. I could be surprised with the test results, but in the past, my son is capable of so much more than he is willing to do on tests!! ! We shall see----

Hi there, my son had an iq test which came out at below average. He can tell me about planets, nebulars, stars, matter and so many things that I do not even understand it all. His psychologist even said that this result was not a true result. Autistic people have so many things going on and my son finds it really frustrating to be questioned. This is a grey area I think for autistic people.