Cognitive profiles of children with autism spectrum disorder with parent-reported extraordinary talents and personal strengths.
Vanessa H Bal, Ellen Wilkinson, Megan Fok
PMID 34088226WHAT IT FOUND
Nearly half of autistic children with average or above-average IQ have a parent-reported extraordinary talent, and many more have personal strengths.
These talents map onto specific cognitive profiles, so clinicians should assess strengths explicitly rather than assuming they are rare.
Key findings
0145.5% of the analyzed sample had at least one parent-reported extraordinary talent, and 38.1% had at least one personal strength.
02Children with talents in specific areas like visuospatial or computation showed distinct cognitive profiles that differed from children without those talents, rather than just having globally higher IQs.
03Standardized cognitive testing did not always corroborate parent reports, suggesting some children's strengths may be underestimated by parents or missed by brief diagnostic assessments.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was not representative, consisting mainly of white children from highly educated families. Children with IQs below 70 or those who were minimally verbal were excluded, so findings do not apply to these groups. Classifications relied on clinician judgment of parent reports, which may underestimate the number of children with talents. The ADI-R only assesses six specific skill areas, potentially missing strengths in other domains.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing or potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a child's lack of a significant difference on standardized cognitive tests means they do not have a talent. The study found that parent-reported strengths often did not align perfectly with test scores, suggesting standardized tests may miss or underestimate certain abilities.