low functioning vs. high functioning... difference?
Prof_Pretorius
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Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Age: 66
Gender: Male
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IQ 100 down to 86 - 34.1% of population(normal range)
IQ 85 down to 71 - 13.6% of population(low normal)
IQ 70 down to 56 - 2.1% of population - mild intellectual impairment.
IQ 55 down to 40 - 0.1% of population - moderate intellectual impairment.
Under 40 severe intellectual impairment - Percentage? Very small.
Under 25 - profoundly intellectually impaired. Percentage? Even smaller.
Strictly speaking low functioning autistics comprise all those who have intellectual impairments. - about 2.3%+/- of the total population and about 80% of all autistics.
GEE, I have known a number of people that have intellectual impairments, like my stepbrother. MOST, like he, are NOT autistic! As for the being 80% of autistics? I doubt that. Of course, rules have changed to allow MORE people to be considered autistic.
Steve
Steve, you have misinterpreted here. As we were talking about the high/low divide in the autistic population, the autistic man who shared this information with me had hoped it be understood that he meant "Strictly speaking low functioning autistics comprise all those autistics who have intellectual impairments." Sorry for any confusion.
In regard the 80% figure, as he's studied and worked in the field for over 30 years and is highly respected, I don't doubt the figure.
I do doubt the figure, given that (among many other things) conventional IQ tests are being shown to be totally unreliable on autistic people. People can work in that field for their entire lives and be mostly clueless about these things, and simply working in the field for 30 years does not guarantee any understanding of this.
_________________
"In my world it's a place of patterns and feel. In my world it's a haven for what is real. It's my world, nobody can steal it, but people like me, we live in the shadows." -Donna Williams
I find that interesting. Probably the fact that Kanner was the first to professionally describe autism (of any severity) at all is the reason that his name is associated with the low-functioning end of the spectrum. I wonder how the stereotypical "autistic" became known as a "Kanner's autistic?"
-OddDuckNash99-
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Helinger: Now, what do you see, John?
Nash: Recognition...
Helinger: Well, try seeing accomplishment!
Nash: Is there a difference?
The stereotype originated -- as far as I can surmise anyway -- largely from institutionalized autistic people, similar to how stereotypes of Down's syndrome and intellect originated in institutions. But a lot of people were added to the autistic spectrum later on who became that stereotype -- that was not the initial people Kanner saw.
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"In my world it's a place of patterns and feel. In my world it's a haven for what is real. It's my world, nobody can steal it, but people like me, we live in the shadows." -Donna Williams
I share your view on IQ tests and am generally wary of statistics. I also agree with the above statement. However, the autistic man who shared this information could never be said to have "simply worked in the field for over 30 years." With respect, he has a M.Sc. in adapted physical education, over 30 years experience in disability, primarily autism and the development of autism in the blind. He has been a classroom and specialist P.E. teacher in special shools. Has also worked in the early intervention, primary(N,K, 1-6) and high school streams in Australia and the USA and trained student teachers in teaching methods while employed at James Madison University in Virginia. He specialises in working with autistic people presenting with the most extreme and dangerous patterns of behaviour. He also worked full time in behaviour intervention in the Behaviour Intervention service of Disability Services in Victoria, Australia and more. Though we know how terribly unreliable IQ tests are, his score was in the top 1% of the population and autism is his main obsession.
But all of that still doesn't mean he knows anything about whether IQ tests accurately measure the intellect of autistic people are not. It is currently -- in research -- being shown that they in fact don't, and that 80% is not even close to the right figure. And all of the things you just cited about the person you described still don't count a lot towards him being right in my book (especially since I count world-renowned autism "experts" who've devoted their entire lives to the study of autism in the category of people whose "authority" still doesn't mean they know anything about this), at least not when compared to recent evidence to the contrary. Facts trump credentials -- any credentials -- in my book.
And there is recent evidence to the contrary, so recent it's still in press:
Dawson, M., Soulières, I., Gernsbacher, M.A., & Mottron, L. (in press). The level and nature of autistic intelligence. Psychological Science.
_________________
"In my world it's a place of patterns and feel. In my world it's a haven for what is real. It's my world, nobody can steal it, but people like me, we live in the shadows." -Donna Williams
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