The nature of the neuropsychological disability in autistic children

In previous studies the author and her associates found that the IQs of autistic children can be measured and are also predictive of the child's future functioning. Contrary to earlier opinion, autistic children were found to have subnormal intelligence and more signs of neurological dysfunction than subnormal controls. In this study test data were reviewed to see what subtests differentiated a group of 66 autistic children from a group of 29 children with subnormal intelligence. Results indicated that "high autistic" children were similar to subnormal children on verbal subtests. However, subnormal children were superior to autistic children in some performance areas as in ball play. Findings are interpreted to suggest that autistic children with severe visual/motor disabilities as indicated by low ball play scores may be propelled into emotional withdrawal, even though they are only moderately retarded on verbal subtests.