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A recent study has shown that non-Asperger autistics given an IQ test that does not require them to engage verbally with a stranger score significantly higher, with a third scoring in the high intelligence range. I’d be very curious to see if Aspies also score higher on this test (neurotypicals, apparently, do not); I suspect we would (though obviously not as dramatically) since engaging with a stranger requires us to expend attention on our mental workarounds and creates a lot of discomfort. If we haven’t developed those workarounds sufficiently, we may misinterpret or be misinterpreted in a way damaging to our scores. We may also act outside the bounds of appropriate or expected test-taking behavior. When I took the test for admission to the gifted program before first grade, I argued about the concept of the test. You see, I didn’t think it was right that a test that’s supposed to measure potential relied on the test taker having seen particular symbols before. (I can’t remember if it was less-than or more-than that set me off in that direction.) To this day, I have no idea how that little diatribe affected my score, though it couldn’t have done me too much harm.

Whatever the case may be, this study would seem to eliminate one of the oft-perceived differences between Asperger’s and other forms of autism, as it demonstrates that there is not necessarily an intelligence gap. This doesn’t surprise me at all, because I used to babysit kids with special needs, and some of the autists certainly didn’t strike me as mentally delayed.

I also want to note that I strongly appreciate this portion of the Newsweek article about the study:

Many experts dismiss autistics’ exceptional reading, artistic or other abilities as side effects of abnormal brain function, “not a reflection of genuine human intelligence, which it is likely to be,” says Mottron. They advise parents to steer their child away from what he excels at and obsesses over, such as letters and words and details, and toward what he struggles with, such as faces and the big picture. Dawson, who is autistic, thinks that’s a prescription for intellectual failure; autistics should be encouraged to build on their strengths, as everyone else is.

The strengths of the autistic intellect are unusual, which paradoxically makes them not only more valuable but also easier to devalue. I’m in a position to advocate for my strengths, to some degree, myself. But it is in the nature of autism to limit this ability. Those on the spectrum are hit hard by the unfortunate fact that, in so many disciplines, it isn’t how good you are that matters but how well you advertise how good you are. (Yes, poetry, I’m looking at you, too– the left-hand path as much as the academic.)

Related posts:

1. Helping Whom?
2. No More Asperger’s?
3. I Am Autism

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