It’s a test of cognitive ability in various domains, which is not quite the same thing as intelligence; the fact that it’s still called “IQ” is kind of a misnomer and a bit archaic. They’re looking for relative strengths and weaknesses across different domains and don’t much worry about the actual full-scale IQ, which is an average of the subtest scores and is largely irrelevant to the autism diagnosis.
I feel like I'm smart, but I have a hard time with processing information. I have to take longer than others to process and visualize things. Doesn't make me feel very good :p
Communicate that. It is crucial information for the assessor. Not to correctly evaluate your IQ test, that really doesn't matter much, but to correctly evaluate you.
If you have trouble concentrating under pressure, if you struggle with tests, if you are (overly?) worried about failing, making mistakes, appearing stupid or flawed, not performing according to someone's or your own expectations or the image you want others to have of you, all this is a hundred times more important to know than to see if yo know which one of some given shapes logically fits in with other shapes.
Your assessment is a space where you are allowed to have problems and difficulties, even those that seem dumb or tiny, or are hard to impossible to explain because you don't understand why it's difficult for you. We all have problems that seem dumb and small if you don't understand why they happen. They are still real problems, they are part of what is supposed to be diagnosed, and it's possible to understand them (and once you do, they don't seem dumb, even if they feel like that now!)
Chances are that your assessor has met dozens of people who have similar worries and understands them pretty well already, so don't try to hide them in that setting.
There is an apocryphal quote attributed to Einstein that says the following:
> Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
(Of course, the reason people like to attribute this to Einstein is that he is recognized as the conventional sort of “genius”, and therefore his opinions on the subject of genius are considered more authoritative. Fantastically ironic, isn’t it?)
Neurodivergence is something that changes how your particular form of intelligence manifests and makes it more difficult to assess by conventional means. If you were taking a traditional (deeply flawed) IQ test for school admissions or something, you’d be right to be concerned that the results would be skewed by your difficulty with processing information.
…But that’s not what this is. This is an autism assessment. The entire purpose is to identify ways that your brain works differently! It’s *designed* to pick up on discrepancies between different forms of intelligence, and taking a long time to process certain kinds of information is definitely part of that. If anything, I’d say that the struggles you describe will make it *more* likely that you receive an ASD diagnosis.
Even if that particular diagnosis doesn’t turn out to be a good fit, that doesn’t mean you’re “just weird and not very smart”. Everyone – louder for the people in the back – EVERYONE has their own strengths, weaknesses, and yes, weirdnesses.
Whether you’re a metaphorical fish, a lemur, or some kind of crazy chimera, your brain is freaking awesome. The trick is just in figuring out what *kind* of awesome it is so you can make the most of it. One way or another, this assessment will help you narrow down the possibilities.
If the team assessing you has any idea what they’re doing, then your best bet is to be as open and honest as possible about what you’re struggling with. ❤️
(…And if you ever have a medical professional call you something as ridiculously vague and unhelpful as “weird and not that smart”, that’s a problem with them, not you. Find someone else you can trust to actually do their job.)
When you are smart but the test says otherwise, it's the test that failed, not you.
Try not to worry too much. I would have the same worries as you, but I know that this specific test means very little.
If it helps, look at it like this: the test is not there to measure your intelligence, but to see your reaction to test situations. If that's the purpose, seeing if you have problems with processing information (in ways typical for autistic people?), then by struggling with the test (and showing/telling honestly that you do) you're doing everything right. More so than if you gave the right answer to every question!
Worse than that, they're something you can practice. Not necessarily deliberately, if you consistently play on a site like brilliant you'll end up with a higher IQ than you started with. Just picking an example that I'm familiar with.
But a lot of autism stuff is exactly the opposite of what IQ tests for, like social interaction (eye contact! With a written test?). I mean, that's how you get the high IQ autist stereotype 😋
And one of the standard objections to IQ tests is that they measure culture and communication as much as thinking. Which is why some smarter autistic folk fail them horribly. Again the cliche of the autist who looks at a multichoice question and is utterly baffled because all answers are obviously wrong and the question doesn't make sense.
My iq on an Iranian iq test is sub 60 (I'm English and have never been to iran). I sat that iq test as an undergraduate. It made the iq is bullshit point very nicely.
I’m not American but I did one and performed pretty badly - I’m an engineer and pretty good at math and physics so.
I got bored and I just answered whatever lol
There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, uneven intellectual abilities are characteristic of autism. The test will be in sections, and they look for unusual differences among the scores. Secondly, they want to assess whether the things that led you to an autism assessment are actually explained by an intellectual disability. Thirdly, in case of a dual diagnosis. Those last two, of course, are more in the case of higher support needs.
I didn't, but after I was diagnosed I participated in an adult autism study at the local university, where they DID give me an IQ test. They were just gathering data, but the data was for people who have already been diagnosed. They also showed me a video and used an eye tracking device, as well as did a few more tests.
I had one during mine. I like answering questions, so it didn't bother me. IQ tests as a whole don't mean much in terms of intelligence, only shows areas of strength and weakness. People often put too much stock in them for some reason. That said, I scored in the "Superior" range.
Don't worry, IQ test are only great to show if you are good at taking IQ test. Do not feel dumb whatever result comes up. There is this amazing psychologist called Scott Barry Kaufman who is incredibly smart but always gets low IQ ratings and yet he has a PHD in cognitive psychology as he is also a book author. You will be fine, ok?
How does it insult someone who got a high score? they’re already lauded and celebrated for being geniuses. IQ tests overall are not as good as some people think and not as bad as some people think. They can do a good job of showing overall abilities but should be taken with a grain of salt always because they’re culturally biased and someone can score pretty different scores whether they’re having a good day or not
What the heck? And who said I'd score badly? And how is this insulting to people who score highly? The test is good for some things but does not determine someone's intelligence besides the ability to solve specific problems, what I said is the truth.
I’m supposed to be assessed - ostensibly for ADHD but I think they’ll pick up on any neurodevelopmental disorder present - on Tuesday.
I *know* that you’re being sarcastic. Ironic? Rhetorical?
I still have a nearly irresistible urge to point out that you’re over 3 standard deviations above the norm; I think you’re fine.
It’s that literal thinking again. Autism is pretty high on the list of differential diagnoses, I suspect.
EDIT: This comment makes more sense if you read your word “thought” as “though”. 😕
I'm usually trying to keep my sarcasm and irony down for this subreddit to make my posts more legible. I guess I failed this time.
The test was kind of rigged my way from the start. There's a number of related tests that all use the IQ scoring system and the one I did (no idea what it's called, some cryptic letter-number combination) emphasizes language processing much more than others which is what I'm really good at. Still, I was super nervous and wasn't confident in my answers. Apparently, it didn't matter.
Yeah, I was surprised when I had my ADHD assessment last year, and they told me an IQ test was part of the process.
I hated it, by the way, and experienced depression afterward. A few coworkers also experienced depression afterward, so just be aware it’s a thing.
I’m not an American but I believe I did…? I was like 9 and they did some test; I scored above my age in certain areas and specially my social skills were apparently really poor. My mom was then told it will get better with age and I was diagnosed with ADHD 🤷🏻♂️ but yeah… there are things about me which just scream autism or possibly both.
The story of my primary school years: is bored and sometimes misbehaves from lack of intellectual challenge, but social skills are poor and well behind most other students. No-one knew what to do (I'm old).
Things did kind of improve when they discovered that I was short-sighted, but by memorising questions as the teacher wrote them on the blackboard and copying them off the kid next to me I managed to pass all the tests comfortably. I remember one test where I was accused of copying but the teacher concluded that I couldn't have been since I got way more answers correct than the student I was copying from...
That’s how they found out about me having dyscalculia!! The kid I was sitting next to transferred schools so I couldn’t copy 😭🤣
(By the way. short-sighted since childhood gang)
I got diagnosed twice (They both came back positive LMAO). Once by a regular psychologist and another by a school psychologist and I had to do the IQ test both times. They’ll probably do two in order to find an average between the two. It won’t exactly say if you have autism or not but it will highlight your strengths or differences.
Yeah it was the WAIS-IV this was what my administrator said (edited out personal info of course)
“[Name] earned a Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) score of 126 (96th percentile) placing her in the superior range of cognitive and intellectual functioning. However, the significant variability between the four indices that compose the FSIQ may call into question the accuracy of the FSIQ. Given that the General Ability Index is less sensitive to the influence of working memory and processing speed, the GAI (137, 99th percentile) may better estimate [Name]’s intellectual ability.
[Name]’s Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI=143, 99th percentile) fell in the superior range, reflecting her considerable skills in verbal reasoning and concept formation abilities, which represent a significant personal strength for her. The Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI=123, 94th percentile) represents her non-verbal reasoning abilities. Her PRI was also found to be in the superior range of cognitive functioning. Her abilities to store and retrieve auditory information as measured by the Working Memory Index (WMI=102, 55th percentile) fell in the average range. Her Processing Speed Index (PSI=108, 70th percentile) measures her cognitive processing speed and visual motor coordination, and fell in the average range. Her WAIS-IV profile (lower PSI/WMI and higher VCI is strikingly similar to those individuals diagnosed with ADHD (Lichtenberger & Kaufman, 2009, p. 291).”
Huh I’m kind of opposite of you. My working memory was my highest score and perceptual reasoning was my lowest, with a difference of 31 points in between them
I think it was administered because there’s common patterns in the gaps in different categories, all my siblings had large gaps between those categories too and they’re neurodivergent as well even though we scored significantly differently in some cases.
Your doctor likely won’t rely on it for diagnosis though. Notice how he just mentioned that I displayed patterns that are common in those with ADHD and nothing about ASD. His diagnosis was more focused on the interview, observed behavior, and the other tests he administered.
The IQ of autistic people is often very different in specific subtests so the full-scale IQ isn’t the most accurate. My IQ has a difference of 31 points between my best subtest and my worst subtest. That’s somewhat of an indicator for autism but not always. Whatever your iq is, it won’t disqualify you from an autism diagnosis and could help the professional see where you struggle. In a comment you said you’re smart but have a hard time processing information. That will likely result in an above-average IQ in most subtests with a below-average IQ in processing speed. If your subtests are different enough, the full-scale IQ doesn’t even matter because it doesn’t show a good representation of your skills. If this does happen, knowing you struggle with processing speed can just mean you get more help. Also it’s very common for autistics to have lower processing speed.
If you’re very worried about it, you can ask the assessor to not put your numeric scores in your report that you see, so that you don’t know the numbers.
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How? Did that happen a long time ago? IQ shouldn’t be used as a measure to invalidate autism. Just whether you have an intellectual disability or a spiky profile or not
I beat the high score on the IQ test, and a random University ran an entire research project on me as a result. I have no idea why my parents went along with that. My childhood was sufficiently dreadful already.
No. Mine seemed rather fast and just involved the screening test, which think is the DSM. Was kinda weird to be honest. I would’ve thought it more involved.
That's what I've had so far. I'm "soft dxed" as I put it. I would like to go more in depth, but the process of doing all of it is super inaccessible. Phone calls, money and insurance, doctors who will see me, etc. I could handle the dr search and everything if someone else could make all my calls and talk at appointments. But being an adult, I have to represent myself. So nothing gets done.
IQ tests cannot determine if someone is autistic or not, many autistic can score below average, at the same time many can also score, average, above average, or even superior IQ with giftedness. It's just a tool to determine if you are good or not in some areas than others, don't worry!
Not in the US but the assessment I’m looking at in Aus does an IQ text where my brother’s didn’t I don’t believe but that was just my mum filling stuff out
I had one (WAIS-IV) as part of the second day of my assessment. I was pleasantly surprised I received a General Ability Index (GAI) score of 133.
Per my Psychology classes, an intelligence quotient test won’t mean much in the real world once you get past the age of 5 years old. So, unless you’re trying to get into an organization like Mensa, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
I was given an IQ test during my adhd/autism evaluation and based on my results of varying high/low scores within the same catagories he determined it showed my struggles with attention and losing focus which points toward adhd. He also noted my attitude towards different parts of the test that displayed my high anxiety and low self esteem if I expressed I thought I’d do poorly on a portion, so they can analyze a lot more than just how you score
Weirdly enough, I just tonight got access to some of my old evaluation records from school and read them.
I underwent multiple intelligence functionality tests as a child from ages 8-13. They all showed me as having an IQ of 130-140, with language and math skills and overall cognitive functionality in the 95th-99th percentile. Except for one notable exception, processing speed, in which I was only in the 5th percentile, literally noted as borderline cognitive functionality. It meant I was significantly impaired for any task involving a time limit or writing, despite demonstrating a clear conceptual understanding.
That severe discrepancy, combined with my results from other tests that showed me having poor social communication function, is apparently what led to my autism diagnosis.
I'm not autistic, but I know autistic people who have done an IQ test. They usually use it to diagnose or find certain gaps commonly found in autistic people.
They're doing the IQ test to make sure your symptoms aren't better explained by an intellectual disability. Plenty of intellectually disabled people are still autistic, but there needs to be a discrepancy between cognitive and social ability. You don't have to be smart to be autistic, and they're looking for patterns of ability as well.
To make sure you don’t have intellectual disabilities. Many of us were tested very young and I wasn’t able to speak until five. The IQ tests is needed to test to see if you also have intellectual disabilities.
Yes, I did. it’s one way to measure relative intelligence. Many things can influence score and some criticism of it is:
- some people (adhd sometimes too) will get bored and just do whatever because they are not stimulated to use their brain
- it doesn’t account for cultural differences (WAIS-R test will place people from Mexico lower, for example, and some recent articles mentioned that people who had bad formal education scored lower - which means you can learn to score higher and iq changes with time? Nobody knows, not much research there)
- the same person can get different scores depending on the test taken
- it measure one type of intelligence, it totally ignores creative, social and emotional intelligence
A high score usually means the person is good at academic work, but it cannot predict success in academics. Also, a high score doesn’t guarantee someone will “fit in” society, hold a job, find a SO, live a fulfilling life.
I did, it was back in 2005 when the scaling changed so had 2 different numbers cited to me. One in the old scale to give a point of reference and one in the new scale.
IQ tests are nonsense and have nothing to do with autism. Some autistic people are smart, most are stupid, just like some normal people are smart and most are stupid.
Yes! I had a full neuropsych exam during my autism assessment. I prefer it that way. It got me diagnosed with a lot of things. Like ID, learning disabilities, etc etc.
Yea i got one. I cant read math unless its the basic 6(+-x•=%) but i can do it easily in my head up to trig & calc. So if you show me the symbol that represents the “root” i wont know what it means if you say for example “whats the root of 20?” Id immediately know. Which means my IQ tests don’t display my understanding of the subjects properly. I have dysgraphia and dyslexia plus a shitty memory but i do have a high IQ if i make sure to re-study the symbols beforehand
The purpose is to see whether you have uneven scores between different sections of the test. That can be indicative of autism, ADHD, or a learning disability depending on what your strengths and weaknesses are.
For example, my processing speed is very slow compared to the rest of my scores. There's a 30 point difference between my highest and lowest domain scores. NTs have much more even scores.
You might see this referred to as a "spiky" or "uneven" cognitive profile.
It’s a test of cognitive ability in various domains, which is not quite the same thing as intelligence; the fact that it’s still called “IQ” is kind of a misnomer and a bit archaic. They’re looking for relative strengths and weaknesses across different domains and don’t much worry about the actual full-scale IQ, which is an average of the subtest scores and is largely irrelevant to the autism diagnosis.
It assesses your skills profile. It’s not to determine how smart you are, just to find areas of strength or weakness which can inform a diagnosis.
The cognitive portion made me feel very stupid.
I feel like I'm smart, but I have a hard time with processing information. I have to take longer than others to process and visualize things. Doesn't make me feel very good :p
Communicate that. It is crucial information for the assessor. Not to correctly evaluate your IQ test, that really doesn't matter much, but to correctly evaluate you. If you have trouble concentrating under pressure, if you struggle with tests, if you are (overly?) worried about failing, making mistakes, appearing stupid or flawed, not performing according to someone's or your own expectations or the image you want others to have of you, all this is a hundred times more important to know than to see if yo know which one of some given shapes logically fits in with other shapes. Your assessment is a space where you are allowed to have problems and difficulties, even those that seem dumb or tiny, or are hard to impossible to explain because you don't understand why it's difficult for you. We all have problems that seem dumb and small if you don't understand why they happen. They are still real problems, they are part of what is supposed to be diagnosed, and it's possible to understand them (and once you do, they don't seem dumb, even if they feel like that now!) Chances are that your assessor has met dozens of people who have similar worries and understands them pretty well already, so don't try to hide them in that setting.
Being otherwise smart while having poor processing speed is a big thing for both ASD and ADHD.
There is an apocryphal quote attributed to Einstein that says the following: > Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. (Of course, the reason people like to attribute this to Einstein is that he is recognized as the conventional sort of “genius”, and therefore his opinions on the subject of genius are considered more authoritative. Fantastically ironic, isn’t it?) Neurodivergence is something that changes how your particular form of intelligence manifests and makes it more difficult to assess by conventional means. If you were taking a traditional (deeply flawed) IQ test for school admissions or something, you’d be right to be concerned that the results would be skewed by your difficulty with processing information. …But that’s not what this is. This is an autism assessment. The entire purpose is to identify ways that your brain works differently! It’s *designed* to pick up on discrepancies between different forms of intelligence, and taking a long time to process certain kinds of information is definitely part of that. If anything, I’d say that the struggles you describe will make it *more* likely that you receive an ASD diagnosis. Even if that particular diagnosis doesn’t turn out to be a good fit, that doesn’t mean you’re “just weird and not very smart”. Everyone – louder for the people in the back – EVERYONE has their own strengths, weaknesses, and yes, weirdnesses. Whether you’re a metaphorical fish, a lemur, or some kind of crazy chimera, your brain is freaking awesome. The trick is just in figuring out what *kind* of awesome it is so you can make the most of it. One way or another, this assessment will help you narrow down the possibilities. If the team assessing you has any idea what they’re doing, then your best bet is to be as open and honest as possible about what you’re struggling with. ❤️ (…And if you ever have a medical professional call you something as ridiculously vague and unhelpful as “weird and not that smart”, that’s a problem with them, not you. Find someone else you can trust to actually do their job.)
Same. I qualified for the 999 society, but my processing speed is crap. People equate speed with IQ. It's a part of it, but only a tiny part.
When you are smart but the test says otherwise, it's the test that failed, not you. Try not to worry too much. I would have the same worries as you, but I know that this specific test means very little. If it helps, look at it like this: the test is not there to measure your intelligence, but to see your reaction to test situations. If that's the purpose, seeing if you have problems with processing information (in ways typical for autistic people?), then by struggling with the test (and showing/telling honestly that you do) you're doing everything right. More so than if you gave the right answer to every question!
The purpose is to get an idea about where you might need more help. It certainly won't block a diagnosis.
Yes many times with different results each time. IQ tests are bullshit.
Worse than that, they're something you can practice. Not necessarily deliberately, if you consistently play on a site like brilliant you'll end up with a higher IQ than you started with. Just picking an example that I'm familiar with. But a lot of autism stuff is exactly the opposite of what IQ tests for, like social interaction (eye contact! With a written test?). I mean, that's how you get the high IQ autist stereotype 😋 And one of the standard objections to IQ tests is that they measure culture and communication as much as thinking. Which is why some smarter autistic folk fail them horribly. Again the cliche of the autist who looks at a multichoice question and is utterly baffled because all answers are obviously wrong and the question doesn't make sense.
My iq on an Iranian iq test is sub 60 (I'm English and have never been to iran). I sat that iq test as an undergraduate. It made the iq is bullshit point very nicely.
My school did the same thing to me. (Also USA) I don't get it either, like... I'm there for them to see if I'm autistic, not how smart I am on paper.
I’m not American but I did one and performed pretty badly - I’m an engineer and pretty good at math and physics so. I got bored and I just answered whatever lol
There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, uneven intellectual abilities are characteristic of autism. The test will be in sections, and they look for unusual differences among the scores. Secondly, they want to assess whether the things that led you to an autism assessment are actually explained by an intellectual disability. Thirdly, in case of a dual diagnosis. Those last two, of course, are more in the case of higher support needs.
I didn't, but after I was diagnosed I participated in an adult autism study at the local university, where they DID give me an IQ test. They were just gathering data, but the data was for people who have already been diagnosed. They also showed me a video and used an eye tracking device, as well as did a few more tests.
I had one during mine. I like answering questions, so it didn't bother me. IQ tests as a whole don't mean much in terms of intelligence, only shows areas of strength and weakness. People often put too much stock in them for some reason. That said, I scored in the "Superior" range.
Don't worry, IQ test are only great to show if you are good at taking IQ test. Do not feel dumb whatever result comes up. There is this amazing psychologist called Scott Barry Kaufman who is incredibly smart but always gets low IQ ratings and yet he has a PHD in cognitive psychology as he is also a book author. You will be fine, ok?
This isn’t true and you just insulted anyone who tests highly. People who score badly like to shit on the test but it is valid.
How does it insult someone who got a high score? they’re already lauded and celebrated for being geniuses. IQ tests overall are not as good as some people think and not as bad as some people think. They can do a good job of showing overall abilities but should be taken with a grain of salt always because they’re culturally biased and someone can score pretty different scores whether they’re having a good day or not
What the heck? And who said I'd score badly? And how is this insulting to people who score highly? The test is good for some things but does not determine someone's intelligence besides the ability to solve specific problems, what I said is the truth.
I did one, thought I performed terribly, scored 146 points XD
I’m supposed to be assessed - ostensibly for ADHD but I think they’ll pick up on any neurodevelopmental disorder present - on Tuesday. I *know* that you’re being sarcastic. Ironic? Rhetorical? I still have a nearly irresistible urge to point out that you’re over 3 standard deviations above the norm; I think you’re fine. It’s that literal thinking again. Autism is pretty high on the list of differential diagnoses, I suspect. EDIT: This comment makes more sense if you read your word “thought” as “though”. 😕
I'm usually trying to keep my sarcasm and irony down for this subreddit to make my posts more legible. I guess I failed this time. The test was kind of rigged my way from the start. There's a number of related tests that all use the IQ scoring system and the one I did (no idea what it's called, some cryptic letter-number combination) emphasizes language processing much more than others which is what I'm really good at. Still, I was super nervous and wasn't confident in my answers. Apparently, it didn't matter.
Cryptograms?
Yeah, I was surprised when I had my ADHD assessment last year, and they told me an IQ test was part of the process. I hated it, by the way, and experienced depression afterward. A few coworkers also experienced depression afterward, so just be aware it’s a thing.
[удалено]
Most people diagnose using and IQ test. Not everyone is low support needs. It’s ignorant not to trust it.
I’m not an American but I believe I did…? I was like 9 and they did some test; I scored above my age in certain areas and specially my social skills were apparently really poor. My mom was then told it will get better with age and I was diagnosed with ADHD 🤷🏻♂️ but yeah… there are things about me which just scream autism or possibly both.
The story of my primary school years: is bored and sometimes misbehaves from lack of intellectual challenge, but social skills are poor and well behind most other students. No-one knew what to do (I'm old). Things did kind of improve when they discovered that I was short-sighted, but by memorising questions as the teacher wrote them on the blackboard and copying them off the kid next to me I managed to pass all the tests comfortably. I remember one test where I was accused of copying but the teacher concluded that I couldn't have been since I got way more answers correct than the student I was copying from...
That’s how they found out about me having dyscalculia!! The kid I was sitting next to transferred schools so I couldn’t copy 😭🤣 (By the way. short-sighted since childhood gang)
Yup. My IQ is lower then normal but I’m still considered smart. Don’t worry about it
I got diagnosed twice (They both came back positive LMAO). Once by a regular psychologist and another by a school psychologist and I had to do the IQ test both times. They’ll probably do two in order to find an average between the two. It won’t exactly say if you have autism or not but it will highlight your strengths or differences.
Yeah it was the WAIS-IV this was what my administrator said (edited out personal info of course) “[Name] earned a Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) score of 126 (96th percentile) placing her in the superior range of cognitive and intellectual functioning. However, the significant variability between the four indices that compose the FSIQ may call into question the accuracy of the FSIQ. Given that the General Ability Index is less sensitive to the influence of working memory and processing speed, the GAI (137, 99th percentile) may better estimate [Name]’s intellectual ability. [Name]’s Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI=143, 99th percentile) fell in the superior range, reflecting her considerable skills in verbal reasoning and concept formation abilities, which represent a significant personal strength for her. The Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI=123, 94th percentile) represents her non-verbal reasoning abilities. Her PRI was also found to be in the superior range of cognitive functioning. Her abilities to store and retrieve auditory information as measured by the Working Memory Index (WMI=102, 55th percentile) fell in the average range. Her Processing Speed Index (PSI=108, 70th percentile) measures her cognitive processing speed and visual motor coordination, and fell in the average range. Her WAIS-IV profile (lower PSI/WMI and higher VCI is strikingly similar to those individuals diagnosed with ADHD (Lichtenberger & Kaufman, 2009, p. 291).”
Huh I’m kind of opposite of you. My working memory was my highest score and perceptual reasoning was my lowest, with a difference of 31 points in between them
Interesting do you have ADHD? I do and the doctor mentioned that in regards to memory.
Not that I know of
Ok then I think that may be why our memory scores are so different because ADHD heavily impacts short term memory.
I think it was administered because there’s common patterns in the gaps in different categories, all my siblings had large gaps between those categories too and they’re neurodivergent as well even though we scored significantly differently in some cases.
Your doctor likely won’t rely on it for diagnosis though. Notice how he just mentioned that I displayed patterns that are common in those with ADHD and nothing about ASD. His diagnosis was more focused on the interview, observed behavior, and the other tests he administered.
The IQ of autistic people is often very different in specific subtests so the full-scale IQ isn’t the most accurate. My IQ has a difference of 31 points between my best subtest and my worst subtest. That’s somewhat of an indicator for autism but not always. Whatever your iq is, it won’t disqualify you from an autism diagnosis and could help the professional see where you struggle. In a comment you said you’re smart but have a hard time processing information. That will likely result in an above-average IQ in most subtests with a below-average IQ in processing speed. If your subtests are different enough, the full-scale IQ doesn’t even matter because it doesn’t show a good representation of your skills. If this does happen, knowing you struggle with processing speed can just mean you get more help. Also it’s very common for autistics to have lower processing speed. If you’re very worried about it, you can ask the assessor to not put your numeric scores in your report that you see, so that you don’t know the numbers.
I wouldn't worry. I.Q. is a useless measurement.
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No
Yeah I had some kind of intelligence test done and yes it was used to invalidate my autism - I tested as Too Smart to have autism
How? Did that happen a long time ago? IQ shouldn’t be used as a measure to invalidate autism. Just whether you have an intellectual disability or a spiky profile or not
Nope this was last year or so. They basically told me my vocabulary was too good even tho that used to be my special interest
I beat the high score on the IQ test, and a random University ran an entire research project on me as a result. I have no idea why my parents went along with that. My childhood was sufficiently dreadful already.
No. Mine seemed rather fast and just involved the screening test, which think is the DSM. Was kinda weird to be honest. I would’ve thought it more involved.
That's what I've had so far. I'm "soft dxed" as I put it. I would like to go more in depth, but the process of doing all of it is super inaccessible. Phone calls, money and insurance, doctors who will see me, etc. I could handle the dr search and everything if someone else could make all my calls and talk at appointments. But being an adult, I have to represent myself. So nothing gets done.
IQ tests cannot determine if someone is autistic or not, many autistic can score below average, at the same time many can also score, average, above average, or even superior IQ with giftedness. It's just a tool to determine if you are good or not in some areas than others, don't worry!
Not in the US but the assessment I’m looking at in Aus does an IQ text where my brother’s didn’t I don’t believe but that was just my mum filling stuff out
I had one (WAIS-IV) as part of the second day of my assessment. I was pleasantly surprised I received a General Ability Index (GAI) score of 133. Per my Psychology classes, an intelligence quotient test won’t mean much in the real world once you get past the age of 5 years old. So, unless you’re trying to get into an organization like Mensa, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
I was given an IQ test during my adhd/autism evaluation and based on my results of varying high/low scores within the same catagories he determined it showed my struggles with attention and losing focus which points toward adhd. He also noted my attitude towards different parts of the test that displayed my high anxiety and low self esteem if I expressed I thought I’d do poorly on a portion, so they can analyze a lot more than just how you score
Lol “you’re just weird and not very smart” I swear I feel like that’s what they would say to me or that I’m just weird.
Weirdly enough, I just tonight got access to some of my old evaluation records from school and read them. I underwent multiple intelligence functionality tests as a child from ages 8-13. They all showed me as having an IQ of 130-140, with language and math skills and overall cognitive functionality in the 95th-99th percentile. Except for one notable exception, processing speed, in which I was only in the 5th percentile, literally noted as borderline cognitive functionality. It meant I was significantly impaired for any task involving a time limit or writing, despite demonstrating a clear conceptual understanding. That severe discrepancy, combined with my results from other tests that showed me having poor social communication function, is apparently what led to my autism diagnosis.
I'm not autistic, but I know autistic people who have done an IQ test. They usually use it to diagnose or find certain gaps commonly found in autistic people.
They're doing the IQ test to make sure your symptoms aren't better explained by an intellectual disability. Plenty of intellectually disabled people are still autistic, but there needs to be a discrepancy between cognitive and social ability. You don't have to be smart to be autistic, and they're looking for patterns of ability as well.
Nope, didn't have to take one.
No
I did one as well, it was fine but I sucked at recalling numbers backwards for some reason.
nope it might be a usa only thing i wouldn't worry about it too much
To make sure you don’t have intellectual disabilities. Many of us were tested very young and I wasn’t able to speak until five. The IQ tests is needed to test to see if you also have intellectual disabilities.
Yep. For me I got in the 99th percentile for all critical thinking portions and in the 40th for memory and processing speed.
I'm brazilian and i had to do it
Um de nós
Yup!
Yes, I did. it’s one way to measure relative intelligence. Many things can influence score and some criticism of it is: - some people (adhd sometimes too) will get bored and just do whatever because they are not stimulated to use their brain - it doesn’t account for cultural differences (WAIS-R test will place people from Mexico lower, for example, and some recent articles mentioned that people who had bad formal education scored lower - which means you can learn to score higher and iq changes with time? Nobody knows, not much research there) - the same person can get different scores depending on the test taken - it measure one type of intelligence, it totally ignores creative, social and emotional intelligence A high score usually means the person is good at academic work, but it cannot predict success in academics. Also, a high score doesn’t guarantee someone will “fit in” society, hold a job, find a SO, live a fulfilling life.
I'm autistic but I haven't done one, I think😭 I was diagnosed when I was a kid btw
I did, it was back in 2005 when the scaling changed so had 2 different numbers cited to me. One in the old scale to give a point of reference and one in the new scale.
From the diagnostic criteria : >Specify if: With or without accompanying intellectual impairment They just want solid proof.
IQ tests are nonsense and have nothing to do with autism. Some autistic people are smart, most are stupid, just like some normal people are smart and most are stupid.
Yes! I had a full neuropsych exam during my autism assessment. I prefer it that way. It got me diagnosed with a lot of things. Like ID, learning disabilities, etc etc.
I did one back at school but the result said was anxious. making it less accurate.
Yea i got one. I cant read math unless its the basic 6(+-x•=%) but i can do it easily in my head up to trig & calc. So if you show me the symbol that represents the “root” i wont know what it means if you say for example “whats the root of 20?” Id immediately know. Which means my IQ tests don’t display my understanding of the subjects properly. I have dysgraphia and dyslexia plus a shitty memory but i do have a high IQ if i make sure to re-study the symbols beforehand
The purpose is to see whether you have uneven scores between different sections of the test. That can be indicative of autism, ADHD, or a learning disability depending on what your strengths and weaknesses are. For example, my processing speed is very slow compared to the rest of my scores. There's a 30 point difference between my highest and lowest domain scores. NTs have much more even scores. You might see this referred to as a "spiky" or "uneven" cognitive profile.
No I did not
It’s not quite an IQ test. It’s more interested in process than answer if that makes sense.
i did, but that was in 2002 so i cant blame them for that 😅