Your IQ as a child vs your IQ as an adult

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Mumofsweetautiegirl
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13 Sep 2010, 8:18 am

Hi there,

My daughter is 5 years old and has autism. She recently did her first IQ test and the result was an IQ of 80. I'd hoped it would be a little higher than this but I've also heard that the first IQ test is to be taken as a benchmark and that IQ can change as people grow up.

So I was wondering whether any of you had your IQs tested as a child and how do they compare to your IQs now that you're an adult? Has your IQ changed since you were a child?

Thanks,
Laura



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13 Sep 2010, 8:58 am

I had an IQ test at age nine in a super stressful situation and the lady giving it was super pushy. It came back 79 and I have to wonder if it was accurate becuase of the intense stress. I've heard that IQ tests don't really get a true idea of an autistic child's inteligence anyway.


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13 Sep 2010, 9:26 am

IQ are not an accurate way to "measure" intelligence (I do not think anyone could measure it by the way). The most intelligent person I know has an IQ of about 90, she does very well academically and is now a teacher.

Furthermore, it is not accurate with people who have a disability (as long as it is not mental retardation) such as Autism or Learning Disorders (even Dyspraxia may affect one's IQ depending on the way it affect their life).

IQ may change depending on the conditions : when you are stressed, sick or tired it usually drop. Children may also don't take it seriously and have a lower IQ due to a lack of attention, some people "fail" because they want to do it too seriously, even for NTs, it's not accurate. I can become higher when you grow older because of the knowledge you have but not necessarily as I told you before. It can also drop.

It does not mean one is stupid or unable to do anything. You could have an IQ of 150 and live at home with your mother or have an IQ of 80 and have a job and a family, it really does not mean a lot as it depend on what else can affect your life and why your score is low or high.
My father has an IQ of 162 but has failed at his exams and cannot find his underwear if my mother is not there. She does not have a high IQ, it is about 90 (she did not have any exams but do well at work, is highly sociable and a great manual worker, she sure can live on her own and plan everything properly).

80 is still in the normal range I think and the result could change in the future. However, it means nothing, it's just that people feel better when they know they have a high IQ.

My brother scored 80 once, not on an official test however, and he's able to do maths to high levels, study electrical engineering, can live on his own, is sociable though he has some difficulties (but less than I do and I scored average-above average though I suck at math), adatp to new situations pretty fast, have learned another language, he is creating a robot, passed all his exams, have a job and can keep it...

Really, there are many people I know whose IQ should be higher than what they have been told in my opinion, and many people who should have had a lower IQ because they do not seem intelligent to me. You should not worry now, take care of her as an autistic child, not as a mentally ret*d child. :D



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13 Sep 2010, 9:51 am

There's a great section in Po Bronson's recent book called "Nurtureshock" on IQ and how it's grossly inaccurate for ALL children
of your daughter's age. The research used for the book--including findings from the IQ test makers themselves-- shows that IQ tests become useful indicators around the 3rd grade.

It's a great read.

This is a great piece by another WP member, Callista, on IQ as well:

Look for her April 6th entry-

http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com/ ... 0cognition


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13 Sep 2010, 10:36 am

I got a score of 87, on my first IQ test. It got higher, as I got older. My last score was 115.


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13 Sep 2010, 11:29 am

I scored in the mildly ret*d range and then in the borderline range. At age 8 I scored a 83 and then at age ten I scored a 88. I scored a 99 on the IQ test at age 11. In 6th grade I somehow scored in the above average range somewhere in the 120's.



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13 Sep 2010, 11:47 am

Mumofsweetautiegirl wrote:
Hi there,

My daughter is 5 years old and has autism. She recently did her first IQ test and the result was an IQ of 80. I'd hoped it would be a little higher than this but I've also heard that the first IQ test is to be taken as a benchmark and that IQ can change as people grow up.

So I was wondering whether any of you had your IQs tested as a child and how do they compare to your IQs now that you're an adult? Has your IQ changed since you were a child?

Thanks,
Laura


---

If a child has ADHD Inattentive or a form of epilepsy (petit mal/absence/complex partial/TLE and so on), the IQ test will be inaccurate.

IQ tests do a bad job at measuring hearing, vision, gross and fine motor control, the perception of motion, and so on.

An IQ test score can change a lot from age 5 to age 21.



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13 Sep 2010, 12:41 pm

tenzinsmom wrote:
This is a great piece by another WP member, Callista, on IQ as well:

Look for her April 6th entry-

http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com/ ... 0cognition


I like Callista's point that perhaps IQ tests don't so much predict future success but rather they influence how a child is perceived and that is what predicts future success.

I think IQ tests would be greatly improved by doing one small thing. IQ tests as they are now are potentially harmful to children because of how that one little Full Scale IQ number skews adult perception and changes adult behaviour towards the children. (It shouldn't, but it inevitably does.) To make IQ tests useful instead of harmful, they could be administered with literally with no change to the test at all. But instead of calculating a Full Scale IQ, the results would be left as a bunch of different subtest scores. Those subtest scores show the actual cognitive strengths and weaknesses in a meaningful way and they don't reduce the child to a point on a line which influences adults no matter how hard the adults try to stay un-influenced. But it's a lot harder to be influenced by a bunch of subtest scores and at the same time you get actual information which can help with school.



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13 Sep 2010, 12:52 pm

On a good day I get exactly what I got when I was 7 years old.


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13 Sep 2010, 1:19 pm

Mumofsweetautiegirl wrote:
Hi there,

My daughter is 5 years old and has autism. She recently did her first IQ test and the result was an IQ of 80. I'd hoped it would be a little higher than this but I've also heard that the first IQ test is to be taken as a benchmark and that IQ can change as people grow up.

So I was wondering whether any of you had your IQs tested as a child and how do they compare to your IQs now that you're an adult? Has your IQ changed since you were a child?

Thanks,
Laura




This is very common for autistic children. Many autistic children (and adults) do not perform well on IQ tests, especially the conventional ones like WISC/WAIS. This usually has nothing to do with their ultimate abilities and everything to do with IQ tests being standardized for NTs. The unique set of issues people with ASDs often have can reduce their performance on these tests and they wind up receiving a "false" low score. These issues include, but are not limited to, language difficulties (expressive/receptive), processing speed, working memory, psychomotor skills, executive functioning issues, etc....


For example....if you have problems with processing speed...you may not perform well on the timed subtests.

If you have problems with WORKING memory....you may not do so well on the mental arithmetic subtest and other subtests like digit span. If you have some psychomotor issues....those may affect your performance on subtests with a motor componant like block design. The reasons why many people with ASD often don't perform well on the common IQ tests like WISC/WAIS could go on and on. Again...most of these reasons have nothing to do with the actual intellectual capabilities of the person in question. My own IQ scores have changed dramatically and i've taken seven professionally administered tests in my life. I scored 120 on the first one I took in 9th grade. I only scored 94 on the next one I took at 23. On the five tests i've taken since....i've scored as high as 143 and as low as 104. It's important to keep in mind that these were my FULL SCALE IQ scores though.


Full scale IQ is often pretty meaningless for people on spectrum since we often display alot of "scatter" in terms of the skills that IQ tests purportedly measure. Rather...it's more useful to look at each individual subtest when alot of "scatter" is evident. When it comes to those of us with alot of scatter on IQ tests, a better idea (though hardly a PERFECT idea mind you) of our strengths and weaknesses can be obtained by considering the individual subtest scores.

In my case...my highest scores have always been in the Verbal subtests and my lowest in the Performance ones. This again is very common for people with Asperger's/NLD at least, but the opposite often occurs too when it comes to people on the autistic spectrum. In short....i'd bet the farm that this IQ test isn't an accurate representation of your daughter's abilities. The most important thing is that she gets the help which is suited for her particular needs at school, home and life in general.



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13 Sep 2010, 1:31 pm

I did not try on the IQ test when I was in primary school. Therefore, my score (106, which is deemed 'average') did not accurately depict my level of general intelligence. I got a 143 on a test I took approximately a year ago (at thirteen).



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13 Sep 2010, 1:33 pm

I'm more stupid than when I was a child. When I was 6, my IQ was 180, when I was 20, my IQ was 163.


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13 Sep 2010, 1:47 pm

Valoyossa wrote:
I'm more stupid than when I was a child. When I was 6, my IQ was 180, when I was 20, my IQ was 163.


You aren't "more stupid". Your IQ measures your general intelligence when compared to peers. The general population does not know this, so they just think, "Hey! I scored 140 in first grade, why do I score 124 now that I'm 19? It must've been all that alcohol in secondary school."



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13 Sep 2010, 2:08 pm

you need to have her nonverbal IQ test done.
When I was 8 years old, my standard IQ scored in the moderately mental retardation range, but I scored 135 on a nonverbal IQ test at that same time.

With much intervention, my standard IQ score is, now, 120, but I dont know what my nonverbal IQ score is currently.

The standard IQ test does not reflect the actual intelegence of those who have a language processing dysfuction which sometimes occurs in ASD.


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13 Sep 2010, 2:17 pm

Valoyossa wrote:
I'm more stupid than when I was a child. When I was 6, my IQ was 180, when I was 20, my IQ was 163.


Holy s**t, I feel humbled!


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13 Sep 2010, 2:54 pm

Mumofsweetautiegirl wrote:
Hi there,

My daughter is 5 years old and has autism. She recently did her first IQ test and the result was an IQ of 80. I'd hoped it would be a little higher than this but I've also heard that the first IQ test is to be taken as a benchmark and that IQ can change as people grow up.

So I was wondering whether any of you had your IQs tested as a child and how do they compare to your IQs now that you're an adult? Has your IQ changed since you were a child?

Thanks,
Laura
I had my IQ tested as a child, but wasn't told the result, only that I had "done well", which could mean anything from having tried my best to having gotten a score in the gifted range.

My current score is about what would be expected of an engineering student, with the scattered subscales that are typical of autism. Whether that's an increase or not, I don't know. My percentile score on the ACT (an academic achievement test) is lower than my percentile on the IQ test, meaning that I am what they call an "underachiever" (i.e., the IQ test is inaccurate for me partly because it overestimates my academic abilities). Similar reports exist of people whose IQs are measured as relatively low, but who have completed advanced degrees; and there are a great many people who score in the sixties or lower, who are nevertheless completely independent and have never needed assistance. (This is why the diagnostic criteria for "mental retardation" include not just a <70 IQ score but difficulty in daily living--it's to filter out the many cases where people's IQ test scores don't match their adaptive skills.)

Remember that the IQ test does not measure intelligence. It measures performance on the specific tasks on the IQ test. The idea of "intelligence" being a single quality is quite doubtful in the first place; apply that to a child with atypical development--the IQ score is based on the presumption of typical development--and an IQ test score approaches meaninglessness. And if that weren't bad enough, communication impairments and difficulty sustaining concentration and effort will often block a child's ability to demonstrate her abilities, whereas splinter skills can inflate scores in one area while leaving others untouched, an effect that gets averaged out in the final score and throws off the accuracy pretty dreadfully.

As far as intelligence and autism are concerned, it's very common for IQ scores to change unpredictably, either upwards or downwards. IQ predicts outcomes only weakly.

You are probably best advised to take your daughter's skills as they are, to try to find out what she is good at, and to let her use those strengths. That is what she'll use to find herself a job later on. If she is good at one thing and gets a job doing it, then it doesn't matter if she's horrible at something totally unrelated to her job.


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