Autism: What Do We Measure With IQ Tests?

Some autistic individuals are said to have intellectual disability. This claim is based on the results of standard IQ tests. The key word here is 'standard': the IQ tests are designed to determine whether a person is developing within 'normal' range or is 'slow' or 'stuck' in his or her

development. However, as autistic individuals follow a different path in their development, they are not 'less developed versions' of non-autistic people but rather persons who have developed, sometimes substantially, along a very different track from non-autistic people, while acquiring a whole range of adaptations, compensations and strategies on the way. The problem with standard IQ tests is, they do not identify 'autistic intelligence'. (This is very unfortunate, because if carers and educators had the knowledge of the 'inner abilities' and mechanisms autistic children have acquired they could better teach them and help them function in non-autistic world and, consequently, they could score a higher IQ.

The abilities of individuals with autism, while 'invisible', are so unusual that no existing test can measure them. As autistic individuals have different information processing strategies and styles, they might struggle with tasks presented in a conventional non-autistic way. It is the same as testing the IQ of a blind child by asking him to name the colors of the objects he was given. Even using his hands he would not be able to pass the test successfully. What do we really measure with IQ tests if they do not take into account perceptual and cognitive differences? No wonder there are so many people with labels of 'intellectually disabled' or 'retarded'. If somebody behaves differently from the 'norm' people are quick to doubt the person's intelligence.

And the problem is, 'normal environment' is built to the specification and limitations of a normal human perceptual system that may be not very suitable for autistic people. What's to be done? Some say, "They [autistics] are in a minority. Let them adjust to our world." Others cry out, "Society must accommodate and adjust the environment to the needs of autistic people! They have the right to be who they are!" Who is right? - Both and neither. The fact of the matter is, different autistic individuals have different needs, sometimes contradictory to each other. For example, one person may love the sound of running water and another would find it nearly impossible to tolerate. How can you accommodate these two in one and the same environment?

There is another solution of this situation: One side would try to take into account different ways of functioning and adjust the environment to make it easier for autistic people to access. For example, fluorescent lights are not a necessity, or non-autistic people could teach their non-autistic offspring good manners and supervise them on public places. The other side could seek and get help to overcome treatable difficulties (e.g. hypersensitivities can be addressed via different exercises, tinted glasses, earplugs and so on). Besides, both sides have to educate themselves about differences and learn to respect each other.