I read an article that talked about defining kids with autism by giving them two sets of Intelligence test's, which were the WISC (a test that uses a great deal of language) and the Raven's Progressive Matrices (which tests fluid intelligence skills such as creation and management of goals, high level abstractions, and interference of rules) None of the children with autism in the study scored in the "high intelligence" range on the WISC, but thirty-three percent did so on the Raven's Progressive Matrices. Thirty-three percent of the children with autism scored in the range of mental retardation on the WISC, but only five percent scored in this range on the Raven's Progressive Matrices. The current study, as well as future research in this area may lead to more accurate testing of individuals with autism.


These tests show that there are different methods to dealing with different types of disorders. Later in the article it talked about a student who was shown a pattern of shapes and then was supposed to pick the correct shape that would continue the sequence. When there was no direction as to how he was to go about the procedure he just stared at the paper, but when the teacher decided to cut out all the different shape choices and handed them to the student the student was able pick out the correct answer and glue it on the paper. Even after that the teacher forgot to cut out the answers, so the student took the scissors, cut out the correct shape, and glued it on the paper. Overall the people who give out Intelligence Tests should really consider the people who are taking the test, because it could have a major impact.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-autism/200805/intelligence-testing-and-autism