IQ tests, what’s the point?

[WeirdScenesInsideTheGoldmine]

My son is v clever. He’s ckwarly superbright with some bizarre mathematical gift.

I think he has Aspergers and this is undiagnosed currently as his speech and language has completely normalised and he now mainly has social difficulties. So they’re still waiting

Anyway my sis is a clinical psychologist and has told me I should get his IQ tested so I know what I’m dealing with

I don’t want to, because it’s not fair on my other child who is bright and mathsy but not to the same extent. There would be inevitable comparisons.

Also I think it’s irrelevant ... i was very advanced with literacy and levelled out by secondary school. I’d rather just not make s big deal out of him and his square numbers etc etc

Just wondering seeing if anybody else has tested IQ or what true benefit there would be?

So they’re still waiting

Don’t understand what you are saying?

As a parent with a child with Spld (who is bright). Understanding strengths and weaknesses is useful- just iq is not

So for my child it was useful to understand his fluid reasoning skills despite low processing

He is in the top 4 % of children for this but has slower processing and dyslexia

They’re still waiting means just that!

Three years of paediatric appointments etc etc. I know he’s autistic but I’d like a diagnosis. So that he can access the correct support should he ever need it.

Anyway the point of the IQ is because when it is administered it highlights strengths and weaknesses which can help in managing him. He’s has Gwen an utter nightmare, he’s not now but it’s peaks and troughs and I want to understand him better.

So did he do an IQ test and was the report detailed enough to warrant the effort?

So you are still waiting for a diagnosis? Sorry I didn’t understand

I think it is useful in the context of Spld you will understand any weaknesses and strengths.

My sister had an IQ test as a kid because the teachers were fobbing my mum off about her reading difficulties and saying she was "average but lazy" and didn't need any special help.
Mum got to go into school waving Dsis mensa membership and a dyslexia diagnosis quickly followed.

That just have been A KEY MOMENT for your mum!

@unlimiteddilutingjuice That's what happened for me too... it made no sense that someone with a IQ of c. 150 wasn't able to perform better in standardised tests. I was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia not long after... hugely helpful.

An IQ test gives you an idea of someone's potential which can be helpful if there are reasons that they aren't reaching that potential.

Weirdscenes It really was!

IQ tests can be useful for children who may have an undiagnosed learning disability (and very bright children can have learning disabilities). The total IQ figure is of extremely limited use but the individual test items can give useful information about a child's specific difficulties.

It's a clinical test. You don't need to test your second child unless there is a good reason to do so. You don't get blood tests for both your kids if only one child needs one. Why should you give IQ tests to both?

The usefulness of IQ tests is vastly overrated however, outside of their originally intended use (to diagnose specific and general learning disabilities). We live abroad, where IQ tests seem to be more widely administered. My DD took one aged 6 (WISC IV); for the most part it didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. The one "interesting" figure (for processing speed, which was "only" average) was plainly wrong, ie an artefact of testing too young.

Yes, I was wondering about the whole picture, not after a number as such.

It never incurred to me until my sister who is a clinical psych suggested it.

Yes but it was part of an Educational Psychologist report and was not for the number itself but to look at my child holistically and give recommendations

You can have the IQ tests done and not tell them until they're much older. Just make sure anyone who Needs to know, knows not to share it with your children.

My sister and I had a sizeable gap between our IQ's, it did our relationship as children no favours. We would have been far better off being told as teens or adults even.

Both of mine have been tested as part of an Ed Psych report.

It threw up some interesting disparities between and the spiky profile was very iseful in getting the right support for them.

OP, just wondering why you think ASD if it hasn’t been diagnosed? Could he just be in the highly gifted range where there are sometimes a lot of sensitivities?

I think a lot of parents get the IQ test to take to school to explain to the teacher how to help their kids.

An IQ test will help choose which assessment to use. eg the CARs scale when checking for autism
The cut off is iq of 70. I think this is more common in the US so you have ‘high functioning’ with an iq of over 70.

We haven't; I might consider it. Basically as long as kids are happy and learning there's no need. When school stops working properly and they seem to be underperforming, which could be because very bright and getting bored and acting up, or dyslexia, or ADHD, or any number of possible reasons, then I can imagine wanting a test to rule out "child's just not as bright as we thought" as explanation. And also as others have said the aspect of having a report explaining their strengths and weaknesses to help us help the child learn going forwards.

Who's still waiting? Have you spoken to your GP about getting on waiting lists? I wouldn't wait for school to finish just waiting if you think a diagnosis might help you understand. Perhaps that's a more valuable route to take than IQ testing.

It’s also useful to know, as a job seeker, before you get tested as part of an interview process and it becomes a millstone.
I tested higher than my CEO and he never let me forget it. If I’d known in advance I’d have adjusted my approach.

:o kings, do you still work there? CEO sounds very insecure, possibly misogynist if you're female? Most workplaces aren't like that and I wouldn't advise anyone to try to tone down IQ tests. The selection processes are so competitive these days, you're likely to select yourself out of the running if you try to second guess it.

That was supposed to be a shock smiley not a laughing one. Not funny.

No, it was a total pain. Every time anything I did wasn’t a complete 100% perfect success, he’d haul me out in front of everyone and say “not so bloody clever now, are you”. I got fed up and moved job.

Haven’t mentioned it to anyone in RL since