ABSTRACT

Intellectual abilities factor into levels of functioning used to characterize autism. Language difficulties are highly prevalent in autism and may impact performance on measures of intellectual abilities. As such, nonverbal tests are often prioritized in classifying intelligence in those with language difficulties and autism. However, the relationship between language abilities and intellectual performance is not well characterized, and the superiority of tests with nonverbal instructions is not well established. The current study evaluates verbal and nonverbal intellectual abilities in the context of language abilities in autism and the potential benefit of tests with nonverbal instructions. Participants were 55 children and adolescents on the autism spectrum who underwent a neuropsychological evaluation as part of a study examining language functioning in autism. Correlation analyses were performed to examine relations between expressive and receptive language abilities. Language abilities (CELF−4) were significantly correlated with all measures of both verbal (WISC-IV VCI) and nonverbal intelligence scores (WISC-IV PRI and Leiter-R). There were no significant differences between nonverbal intelligence measures with verbal or nonverbal instructions. We further discuss the role of assessment of language abilities in interpreting results of intelligence testing in populations with higher prevalence of language difficulties

摘要

智力因素会影响用于表征自闭症的功能水平。语言困难在自闭症患者中非常普遍，可能会影响智力测量的表现。因此，在对语言困难和自闭症患者的智力进行分类时，通常会优先考虑非语言测试。然而，语言能力和智力表现之间的关系尚未得到很好的表征，并且非语言指令测试的优越性尚未得到充分证实。目前的研究评估了自闭症语言能力背景下的语言和非语言智力能力以及非语言指令测试的潜在益处。参与者是 55 名自闭症谱系儿童和青少年，他们接受了神经心理学评估，作为检查自闭症语言功能研究的一部分。进行相关分析来检查表达能力和接受语言能力之间的关系。语言能力 (CELF−4) 与言语 (WISC-IV VCI) 和非言语智力评分 (WISC-IV PRI 和 Leiter-R) 的所有测量值显着相关。口头或非口头指示的非语言智力测量之间没有显着差异。我们进一步讨论了语言能力评估在解释语言困难患病率较高人群的智力测试结果中的作用