Does WISC-IV Underestimate the Intelligence of Autistic Children?

Nader, A. M., Courchesne, V., Dawson, M., & Soulières, I. (2014). Does WISC-IV Underestimate the Intelligence of Autistic Children? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(5), 1582-1589. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2270-z

Publication date: 12 Oct 2014 Added to AutiHub: 3 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)

Abstract

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) is widely used to estimate autistic intelligence (Joseph in The neuropsychology of autism. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011; Goldstein et al. in Assessment of autism spectrum disorders. Guilford Press, New York, 2008; Mottron in J Autism Dev Disord 34(1):19-27, 2004). However, previous studies suggest that while WISC-III and Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM) provide similar estimates of non-autistic intelligence, autistic children perform significantly better on RPM (Dawson et al. in Psychol Sci 18(8):657-662, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01954.x , 2007). The latest WISC version introduces substantial changes in subtests and index scores; thus, we asked whether WISC-IV still underestimates autistic intelligence. Twenty-five autistic and 22 typical children completed WISC-IV and RPM. Autistic children's RPM scores were significantly higher than their WISC-IV FSIQ, but there was no significant difference in typical children. Further, autistic children showed a distinctively uneven WISC-IV index profile, with a "peak" in the new Perceptual Reasoning Index. In spite of major changes, WISC-IV FSIQ continues to underestimate autistic intelligence.

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Cited references
72
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
8 / 72 (11.1%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
8 / 175 (4.6%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 8 / 75 (10.7%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 2 / 125 (1.6%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
75 / 175 (42.9%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 31 / 125 (24.8%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
67 / 75 (89.3%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 67 / 175 (38.3%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 29 / 31 (93.5%).
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