Preschooler/Autism?

Question

My 3 yr old was evaluated for Early Intervention preschool. He is extremely shy and doesn't participate in games with children his age unless he knows them well . He has 4-5 word sentences, has eye contact with everybody , can count to 10 in 2 languages, knows all shapes,almost all letters (Uppercase) , some colors,knows his name and age . However he is very shy and is not too social with people or other kids , smiles but doesn't talk to strangers . He plays nice with his siblings. He was evaluated and I saw in the report he has an IQ of only 82 ( Whesler -sp? )which means low average . How can that be? I think he is at least average if not above average his age for his academic skills. How much more do they want for a kid who just turned 3 ? I did not know that much when I was 5 or 6 and I have above average IQ. How can they do an IQ accurately for preschoolers ? Does he have autism?

Answer 1

I have to agree with Miss Behavior. Although you can test kids with the WPPSI starting at age two and a half, a classification is never made solely based on an IQ test. First of all, there are many factors which can skew the results, such as a kid being tired, or not feeling well or being distracted. Also, a lower score on one or two of the subtests can lower the whole score. If your son is very shy, he may not have responded well to the verbal tests and this could throw off the entire score.

Also, keep in mind that at the age of three, there is a huge range of what is considered developmentally appropriate. It sounds like your son is just very shy, not autistic. You many want to consider bringing your son to some play groups or other activities that could help bring him out of his shell a little. The bottom line is that you know your child best.

Answer 2

My first question would be why did you have him screened through the program?  Other than possibly being shy, nothing you said would make bells go off and make me think he needed the program. Is there an issue with the ability to understand his speech?  And how does he respond to others when they ask him to complete a task?  Those are two areas that would be taken into consideration for placing him in the program, as well as being part of diagnosisng spectrum disorders.  Also, keep in mind a diagnosis through the schools is not a medical diagnosis.  It is used to provide him the services they feel he is most in need of if he qualifies.  An autism diagnosis throught he schools is often made, but when you follow up with your pediatrician (and you should) you may find they come up with something else, or explain it in greater detail.

That being said, your child encountered one of the biggest problems many children face.  If he is shy or has communication issues, he probably did not understand or was unresponsive to the tester.  This can lead to somewhat skewed results.  My son, who is autistic, tested extremely poorly the first time the schools evaluated him.  In fact, according to what his results were, he was severely retarded.  We all knew that was not true, but because of his autism and age, he simply was unable to work in the enviroment they used.  A few years later, it is time for his three year re-eval and he did beautifully.  He did three hours of testing without missing a beat and the results were far better and definitely in line with what we saw on a daily basis.

If he is accepted into the Early Intervention program, they will do a full screening.  I do not see any autism "red flags" in what you wrote, but there are areas you did not comment on that would be helpful to know.  Children on the spectrum tend to have social problems, but communication issues tend to be something more focused on in the diagnosis progress.  In any case, if he is accepted into the program, I would still suggest seeing your pediatrician and having him send you to the appropriate person to confirm the school;s diagnosis.   I tend to think he is simply shy and that affected his ability to respons to the testers.  That's not autism, just his personality.

Answer 3

He just sounds to me like a very shy little boy.  You should talk to his doctor and see if the doctor can see signs of autism.

Answer 4

Wow that must have been weird to hear that his I.Q,. is estimated to be low.. You should look at the sub-tests.. he probably scored high in some areas like general knowledge and low in others maybe communication or gross motor ar adaptive skills which brought his overall score down. I'm not sure what the subtests are but usually there is a verbal I.Q and a non-verbal then the scores are averaged.. try to look on the bright side that the preschool is looking out for him and he could qualify for services that will help him before he gets to kindergarten. I teach in a special ed class for 1st-3rd graders and find that many kids aren't identified as needed services until later sometimes too late. Autism is definitely being over diagnosed these days but again on the bright side parents often like to hear this diagnosis because kids qualify for services through regional centers and school districts. If you really suspect autism check on line for symptoms checklists and evaluate.. in my humble opinion if he shares "moments" with you like brings things to show you, falls down and looks at you to see if you noticed or says "look at me" when he's learning new things, he's fine. If he treats you and others like furniture or simply as a way to get what he wants there may be something there.

Answer 5

Hello!

In America we are known for placing tremendous weight on what I have coined as "alphapathology" the pathological construct of the alphabet people. You know them as MFCC, MD, MFT and so on. Basically your instincts are working beautifully in that you recognize your child's strengths. Which area of their testing identified his? Which section of the test looked for what he is gifted at. In my book, Fearless Parenting I identify several characteristics that can help us hone in on our child's unique purpose where I use my own my child as well as case histories of clients I've coached as examples. These include: love language, social inclination, slow to warm, voracious learner, hyper like Mom, variety preferable... Aside from these loose observations I have developed Adelogic Aptitudes for more in depth analysis. Verbal, visual,  physical, musical, math/logic, introspective, and interpersonal. I say its time we started a revolution that restored our legacy and our children's future. Just like the families of Einstein, Newton and host of others we can be the parents that set this generation on its heels too. Our children really are the future. We just need to believe it! You go fearless one. :)

Answer 6

There is NO WAY they can assess your child's IQ accurately at 3 years old. The test is more accurate as children get older because of the significant differences in development at very early ages.

Here are some of the things that can happen to lower an IQ score:

*Shyness - These tests are dependent to a great degree on the cooperation of the child. If a child is very shy, he or she will not respond as well to questioning. This can lower the Verbal score.

*Physical and motor development - If your child is slow developing in these areas, it can lower the score because he has to manipulate items on the test and may not be in the "norm" in this area.

*Language Delays - If your child is somewhat behind in developing language, it will lower the score.

*Eyesight - It is hard to know when children this age need glasses.

The test your son took is the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence II. This test consists of 12 subtests. They are Object Assembly, Geometric Design, Block Design, Mazes, and Picture Completion in the Performance Scale and Information, Comprehension, Arithmetic, Vocabulary, and Similarities in the Verbal Scale. Each subtest yields a score and the scores are averaged. A very low score in one or two areas will lower the entire score.

I suspect that in your son's case that you will see some very different scores across the subtests. You may see 100 in one area and 79 in another area. Can you see how this would lower the entire score?

My suggestion is that you call the school and request that the school psychologist go over the test in detail and explain each subtest. This will help ease your mind because you will understand the number 82 better. Even so, 82 is within the average range.

I would get the explanation for the test and then forget about it until he is at least seven and then have them redo the test. Kids do considerable catching up through these ages, so what you get then will be much more representative of his true intelligence.