How come Donna Williams has a low IQ?

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AlexWelshman
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21 Jun 2011, 5:37 pm

I'm kind of curious as to how come Donna Williams is really intelegent & high functioning, but yet she has an IQ lower than 70? Any idea's why that is? I know IQ's ~& autistic people don't go together well, but seriously... How can Donna have an IQ lower than 70?



Graelwyn
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21 Jun 2011, 5:49 pm

Maybe because IQ tests only test certain, specific skills and ignore the rest?



Janissy
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21 Jun 2011, 5:55 pm

Donna Williams herself wrote an explanation on her website.

http://www.donnawilliams.net/notintelli ... ugh.0.html

It's skill scatter, mainly.



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21 Jun 2011, 7:21 pm

Donna is an intelligent and highly talented woman, I think she would have been illustrating that IQ tests are an inaccurate measure of IQ in autistic people. When my IQ was tested 10 years ago they said it was 97, and yet since then I have consistently scored in the top 1st-3rd percentile in academic tests, therefore meaning my actual IQ would be over 130.


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lostonearth35
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21 Jun 2011, 7:54 pm

You're gonna think I've been living under a rock, but who's Donna Williams? :lol: Anyway, IQ tests are pretty overrated IMO. I've heard how they make them gender and/or racially biased, and when I was a kid in school I scored above average in reading and writing but my math IQ was abysmal. But I used to think anyone could be good at reading and writing. It takes brains to do math! At least that's what a nasty teacher said to a little girl in a book I read as a tween.
I don't even know what my IQ is today. I'd like to know, but I don't know where to get a good, unbiased one that won't think I'm mentally challenged just because I stink at math. I'm not in school anymore, and you can't trust the Internet.



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21 Jun 2011, 8:07 pm

I don't put much stock in IQ tests. Having said that, I wonder how an Army IQ test measures up against the regular ones. I scored 145 in the Army IQ test.


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Ettina
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21 Jun 2011, 8:35 pm

Given the severe sensory problems she describes, I can imagine her having a lot of trouble understanding the verbal questions and processing the visual input for the nonverbal ones. Her receptive skills sound very shaky, both verbal and nonverbal, meanwhile her expressive skills seem a lot better.



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21 Jun 2011, 8:39 pm

lostonearth35 wrote:
You're gonna think I've been living under a rock, but who's Donna Williams? :lol: Anyway, IQ tests are pretty overrated IMO. I've heard how they make them gender and/or racially biased, and when I was a kid in school I scored above average in reading and writing but my math IQ was abysmal. But I used to think anyone could be good at reading and writing. It takes brains to do math! At least that's what a nasty teacher said to a little girl in a book I read as a tween.
I don't even know what my IQ is today. I'd like to know, but I don't know where to get a good, unbiased one that won't think I'm mentally challenged just because I stink at math. I'm not in school anymore, and you can't trust the Internet.


The whole 'IQ-tests-are-biased-against-ethnic-minorities' is just a politically correct excuse for the fact that some ethnic minority groups score on average lower than whites. Asians actually score higher than whites, but nobody would suggest that the tests are biased in favor of Asians. The differences in IQ test scores between races are not concentrated among culturally loaded questions.

But most IQ tests are lacking anyway, they don't factor in certain afflictions (dyscalculia, to name but one) which distorts the results.



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21 Jun 2011, 9:36 pm

Does it really matter ?


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21 Jun 2011, 9:49 pm

WOW! With the way she describes her ability and all, it is hard to know! Her writing style suggests that she jas a normal IQ. The whole college thing is immaterial. You might as well FORGET that. Some other things, that she says, say she DOES have a low IQ.



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21 Jun 2011, 10:50 pm

look, I've spent time with her, have been in contact with her, and I believe she is a very intelligent women. I'm just saying this because I don't want anyone to have a misunderstanding of this wonderful lady who has been very supportive to me and many others.

Regarding IQ tests, the reason why many autistic people score a very low IQ is because of extreme peaks and troughs (as previously mentioned). For this reason, the majority of the scientific community consider IQ tests to be an inaccurate measure of IQ or intelligence in autistic people.


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22 Jun 2011, 12:01 am

I used to score low on IQ tests too. Dad said it was because I couldn't talk very well so it made me score low. But even though I was talking, I still scored low on the tests until I got to age ten I started to score normal. But when I was 12 I scored above average.



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22 Jun 2011, 12:43 am

I know I was given an IQ test when I went for a security clearance because I was going to be working with NBC materials and I admitted I had ADHD. The army IQ test did not have anything to do with memory I managed to score 138. But the tests I took for my Aspergers evaluation I score a 95 there was a lot of memory tests. My verbal IQ was 112.


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22 Jun 2011, 2:30 am

I scored everywhere from moderately mental redardation to 138 on tests. my last test was 120 ....it is never the same number because my level of functiong is constantly changing which proves that it is not reliable for people with ASD. I have talked to Donna personally, she is very inteligent and a wonderfully giving person.


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22 Jun 2011, 3:38 am

AlexWelshman wrote:
I'm kind of curious as to how come Donna Williams is really intelegent & high functioning, but yet she has an IQ lower than 70? Any idea's why that is? I know IQ's ~& autistic people don't go together well, but seriously... How can Donna have an IQ lower than 70?
Because she sucks at taking IQ tests?

That's the only reason anybody ever has a low IQ, ya know.


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flyingdutchman
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22 Jun 2011, 5:51 am

I don't think IQ realy means that much. My IQ is 130 and I have been an underachiever most of the time (school, work). I guess in my case executive function problems are the cause. So maybe the other way is also possible. Still wonder though why executive dysfuntion does not result in a low IQ score. Maybe the IQ test is not designed to pick up on that.