Saturday, June 4, 2011

Autism and IQ Why did my son's double??

Get ready for "proof" of effectiveness of "therapies" as shown by increase in IQ.  Ben's went from 79 at age 4 to a guess of 140 now, if it followed the trajectory started then.

age 4    ------    IQ 79
age 8    ------    IQ 99
age 9    ------   IQ 115

These are all documented.  An increase of 36 points in 4 years.  In this time, his speech was still echolalic.  By the time he reached 5th grade, at age 11, we no longer accused him of  "t.v. talk".  He was able to communicate without scripted language, although he was very reticent to do so.

Now wouldn't you figure someone who only knew the meaning of nouns would probably only figure out the pictorial aspects of the test?

I'm not sure where his IQ is now, but in 7th grade when I asked the school psychiatrist to give him an IQ test, just so I could know for my own purposes, he advised against it.

"He would lose all his Special Ed services." he tells me.  Like the "behaviorally disordered classroom" and the need for ritalin?  Hmm....

But I backed off.  Wish I wouldn't have now.






http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17401607

Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2007 Sep;16(6):405-10. Epub 2007 Mar 30.

Stability and change of IQ scores in preschool children diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder.

Source

Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, P.O. 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands. cdietz@umcutrecht.nl

Abstract

AIM:

To investigate cognitive development in preschool-age children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD; N = 39) compared with that of children diagnosed with mental retardation (MR; N = 14) and normally developing children (NC; N = 36).

METHOD:

In a prospective longitudinal study, cognitive development was tested at age 24 months (T1; SD = 6 months) and 43 months (T2; SD = 5).

RESULTS:

Group IQ scores were stable between T1 and T2 as evidenced by high correlations (r = .81, P < .01) and consistency of average group scores. At the same time however, about a third of children with ASD showed an increase of cognitive scores of 15 points or more. This increase of IQ was correlated with lower scores at the early screening of autistic traits (ESAT) at T1, higher IQ level at T2 and higher expressive language skills at T2. Intensity of treatment was not related to IQ increase.

CONCLUSIONS:

High correlations between cognitive scores in preschool children with ASD suggest that measurements of cognitive function are valid at this age. We found indications of both stability and change of IQ scores. Findings suggest that some children with ASD show catch-up intellectual development. To the best of our knowledge, this increase in IQ scores cannot be attributed to treatment effects.  (emphasis mine)

PMID:
17401607
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

8 comments:

Usethebrains Godgiveyou said...

http://www.prometheussociety.org/articles/Outsiders.html

The thing is, Ben has learning differences that make him appear "slow".

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

The thing is, it's very hard to see your kid almost 5 and not using the potty. What kind of mom would NOT pursue therapies or something, anything that even might help??

I don't know that we really know exactly what helps just yet, is what is very disheartening. So I do flash cards and all that for all the good it does. I just can't do *nothing* though I can't afford the fancy stuff which might or mightn't be quackery. :)

Usethebrains Godgiveyou said...

I couldn't sit back either, so I researched about (at the time) $62,000 dollars worth of therapies on my own, for FREE.

The thing is, Mrs. C, I have a nephew that fits the bill for autism, whose mother never did a thing. He is extraordinarily gifted. Mensa material, you know?

I babysat a little girl who wasn't potty trained at 6 years at night. Totally "normal" kid, if there is such a thing.

I also knew a kid who was in the same boat as your son when Ben first got his label. I don't know what ever happened to him...but I wish I did know now so I could tell you.

Quackery = fear. ANYONE who makes you afraid NOT to use their "therapy" is full of .... it.

I used Catherine Maurice's book to teach Ben language, in a flashcard way. It's the same thing some ABA people use for $60,000 a year. Ever heard of it? It would give you direction to how to do flash cards and explain language visually. Let me know, and I'll work you through it, if you are interested.

Usethebrains Godgiveyou said...

If you want to be more private, ala email, I'll do that, too. But I think some people might learn from us.

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

I'd love to see a post on this! In any event, it sure can't hurt to see what other people are doing and what might work for other folks reading. :)

Thanks!

Usethebrains Godgiveyou said...

I'll start up tomorrow. Eghad, Mrs. C...I've been trying to get someone to listen to me for 13 years!!!!

<3 Rose

Anonymous said...

Es serio? No!~ Es no posible!

Usethebrains Godgiveyou said...

Donde estas ahora? Quien es usted?