Little Smarty

Little Bean at 13 months. Pretty much all he did was look at books and pretend to read the words.

One comment that we have always gotten about Little Bean is that he is SO smart. Even as a little seven month old baby my mom would read to him and he would sit and listen for hours at a time (totally not kidding. My mom used to babysit him while I worked, and I looked at her funny when she informed me of this). He memorized books before he was two. He could read simple stuff at 3. He is reading around a 4th or 5th grade level at 5. I'm not bragging, this kid really is smart! ;)

Continuing with Little Bean's testing related to the Autism diagnosis, he was given the WPPSI-III, namely, an IQ test. There is no question that an IQ test doesn't provide one with a picture of the total person and his or her limitations or full abilities. So many things can affect an IQ test on any given day. But it is often a great tool to use for teachers to know how their student learns. As a homeschooling family, we went into Little Bean's IQ test with this mindset.

Little Bean did very well in both verbal and non-verbal tasks, and was average on processing speed:

For verbal tasks, Little Bean's IQ was 129, and exceed the scores of 97% of his peers.

For Performance-based tasks (non-verbal), Little Bean's IQ was 127 and exceed the scores of 96% of his peers.

For Processing Speed, Little Bean scored 102 and exceed the scores of 55% of his peers.

His Full Scale IQ was 127. Most "normal" people fall between 90 and 110.

Going in, I knew next to nothing about IQ scores, so here is a little chart that explains what the ranges are for scoring in case you're anything like me (btw, really poor wording choice on this chart, please know this is not my wording, I just copied this chart from the internet)!

Classification IQ Limits

Very Superior 128
Superior 120-127

Bright Normal 111-119
Average 91-110

Dull Normal 80-90

Borderline 66-79
Defective 65 and below

Since Little Bean did about equally well on both verbal and non-verbal tasks, this test didn't tell us much other than that he can learn equally well from both verbal and written instructions, and that indeed, he IS really smart.

I look at his intelligence as a wonderful blessing in light of his diagnosis of ASD (autism). It's something that will carry him through, help him learn coping skills and social skills via his brain and his intelligence rather than naturally the way "normal" people learn. Where he lacks intuition, he can make up for it with brain power and excellent memory skills.

To close, I just wanted to add that this post has been in my drafts for a while; I didn't want to offend anyone or make anyone feel bad because "I have a kid who is so smart", so I have hesitated with posting it. I know many (most, maybe?) children with autism have speech delays which would affect IQ scores, and I know not everyone has such a verbal child. Little Bean has his strengths and weaknesses. Most of the time, professionals focus on his deficits--social problems, behavior problems, anger problems, sensory problems--this post is about celebrating his strengths for once. I hope it's alright to brag on my kids once in a while, and I sincerely hope it is taken as just that, and not as saying anything about anyone else's kid.