DS - 5 - recently not diagnosed with ASD - now they say he has an IQ of 140

[Mercythompson]

Have name changed for this - as don't want to out myself.

DS - 5 - has social communication difficulties and has been assessed for autism - though his difficulties were not considered severe enough at this time to diagnose - though they may revisit it as he gets older.

In the meantime -they decided to do a cognitive assessment on him - which shows that he has an IQ of 140.

I have no idea what the implications of this are. - I knew he was fairly bright - but had always considered that part of his autism - now it seems that the school are planning on treating him as very bright - with the social communication difficulties being part of that.

Anyone have any experience of any of this?

(Have put this in G&T too but think its really a special needs question)

Hi, have a look at the potential plus website there is a bit on there about dual or multiple exceptionality which is basically being gifted but also having special needs.

It is worth a read

Why would be being very bright cause social communication difficulties?

Its not uncommon for children with autism to also be very bright but still would would need to provide intervention for the autism bit as well as academic work pitched at the gifted bit.

Some very bright children at school can be quite disruptive (as they get bored), shout out all the time etc But some also have social communication difficulties on top eg I can think of one boy who on top of being super bright also wants to dictate what the other children do in games, always wants to win, doesn't recognise authority, speaks to adults like another adult would (eg at 4 I felt he was talking down to me). I would say his social skills are poor enough to say there is something more going on than just being bright for his age as his social skills are significantly below typical for his age and therefore massively below his intellectual ability.He actually comes across as very rude and I worry other children will shun him when he is older. At the moment the other children are a bit in awe of him but eventually they will decide they don't like being put down / dictated to / manipulated all the time. I worry he could end up quite isolated and school have done nothing to help his social skills I think they too are amazed by how clever he is they don't see him as a child in need of social skills intervention. I would imagine without intervention he would be the person no-one would want to employ / work with if things are not turned around.

I have one child who is gifted with no SN and a DS with autism who would not surprise me if he ended up as gifted when his language improves as his non verbal abilities are well above average. My NT child has normal social skills despite being far ahead of his peers academically. He is mature for his age across the board there is not a big gap between his social and intellectual abilities.

If you see a big gap between social and academic ability then I would not just ignore it. It is quite possible he is behind in one area despite being hugely ahead on IQ.

Agnesdipesto - I did not mean that being super bright could cause social communication difficulties - just that for DS - I think the school are now looking at the brightness being the dominant factor - whereas before they were looking at the social aspects being the dominant factor.

DS sounds very like the super bright boy you describe, specifically in his social skills - he wants everyone to do what he wants - won't be at all flexible about play - tries to change the rules if he is loosing, can come across as very rude, when for him he is just being factual etc - which is why for me there is definitely an issue there and that is what we have focused on. As I said - we did know he was bright, but the report today (commissioned by the local authority, not us) has come as a bit of a shock.

ineedmorepatience - I will, thanks.