Comments on: He Looks So Smart

By: Rapamycin Reverses Learning and Memory Deficits in Mice

Rapamycin Reverses Learning and Memory Deficits in Mice — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:41:47 +0000

[...] his backpack and run down the stairs for the bus with minimal asking. What is this thing called intelligence, I sometimes wonder? Tags: asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, disabilities blog, disability, [...]

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:04:26 +0000

@Burt Wasserman,
Thanks for your messages—apologies about the letter not going through. You can also reach me at this email address:

autismland [at] gmail [dot] com

Your DVD sounds interesting—-is there a website or other way to learn more about it?

By: Burt Wasserman

Burt Wasserman — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:42:27 +0000

Hi,
I just wrote you a long letter which was rejected for some mysterious reason. Please contact me, I need your help!

By: Burt Wasserman

Burt Wasserman — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:38:22 +0000

Hi,
You are obviously very intelligent person, so I,m hoping you can help me. For the past 18 months I’ve been working on an interactive DVD for ASD children. After reading this article, it should appeal to you. Although the animation isn’t ready, the 20 page intro/rationale is. Would you be kind enough to read it and tell me what you think. I will be glad to send a complimentary copy when it’s finished? Thank you so much, I would really appreciate it.

By: “”We label them as retarded because they can’t express what they know”

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:40:09 +0000

[...] I know one boy who struggles to talk and to read and to answer the question “who many crackers?” after he’s [...]

By: Tiggerr

Tiggerr — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:54:22 +0000

I have always had problems with IQ tests. I have Aspergers. On paper I have an IQ of 165. But I can’t seem to keep my opinions to myself. Things like rolling my eyes when my boss claims his computer is broken, but in reality he forgot to turn the monitor on. Bosses don’t like that.

When my daughter was tested (she also has Aspergers), she was shown a bath tub and asked what was missing. The “official” answer was supposed to be the drain. She said that the soap and water were missing. In her mind, a bath tub was useless with out those things, and she had seen Baby tubs with out drains before. Personally I agree with her logic. And they say we are Rigid.

My IQ never got me a dime more at work. My bosses were usually much stupider than I was. My daughter at ten is frequently smarter than her teachers, but so far they have been very forgiving when she corrects them. We are working on that.

By: Is IQ Testing Still Necessary?

Is IQ Testing Still Necessary? — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 20:09:39 +0000

[...] lead me to think that IQ testing only provides a limited measure of his actual intelligence; in a prevous post, I’ve considered whether a different test than that usually used to test IQ (the Wechsler ) [...]

By: David N. Andrews M. Ed. (Distinction)

David N. Andrews M. Ed. (Distinction) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:18:51 +0000

“The Wechsler measures ‘crystallized intelligence’—what you’ve learned. The Raven’s measures ‘fluid intelligence’—the ability to learn, process information, ignore distractions, solve problems and reason—and so is arguably a truer measure of intelligence, says psychologist Steven Stemler of Wesleyan University.”

Not quite, and I’d expect better form a psychologist, unless he has been misquoted there.

The RPM is ‘g’-saturated, and doesn’t separate out the component parts of intellectual ability involved in completing a task. This is often seen as being fluid intelligence, but it is best described as ‘general intelligence factor’, as Spearman called it. This factor underlies not only the tasks on the fluid intelligence tasks in IQ tests, but also the so-called crystalised aspects of ability. The Wechslers tap into many different aspects of ability, and some more narrowly than others… and so the readings on that are more accurate in terms of assessing the strength of each individual aspect of ability. The RPM, like many other non-verbal tests of ability, gives a good average over all the several aspects of ability involved in taking the test – but which are not assessed individually, as with the Wechslers.

By: KC'sMommy

KC'sMommy — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 23:17:15 +0000

This is such a interesting post Kristina. I have always thought IQ testing for K.C. was totally unfair because they don’t get to see K.C. at home, what he can do and just really get to know the child. I remember K.C.’s first test was from a child Psychologist and it was in the 50’s. Do I think he has an IQ in the 50’s? No way. That was just their testing. I hope someday maybe he can take Raven’s test. I hate the word retarded and maybe someday with the some new testing just for Autistic kids they can remove that label of retarded.

By: GS

GS — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:56:51 +0000

Completely agree to your thoughts here. Its so unfair to do such assessments when the child is autistic. There are many other talents within an autistic child which people fail to see. Have you heard of the phrase ‘elephant in the room’. They just ignore the best (which is so obvious) and search for bad.

The cute child I know of (she is autistic), is so talented in doing puzzles and in music – which I am sure is way more than what other kids of her age would exhibit.