Centre for Research in Autism and Education, Department of Psychology and Human Development, Institute of Education, London, UK.
Psychol Med. 2011 Mar;41(3):619-27. doi: 10.1017/S0033291710000991.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was once considered to be highly associated with intellectual disability and to show a characteristic IQ profile, with strengths in performance over verbal abilities and a distinctive pattern of 'peaks' and 'troughs' at the subtest level. However, there are few data from epidemiological studies.
Comprehensive clinical assessments were conducted with 156 children aged 10-14 years [mean (s.d.)=11.7 (0.9)], seen as part of an epidemiological study (81 childhood autism, 75 other ASD). A sample weighting procedure enabled us to estimate characteristics of the total ASD population.
Of the 75 children with ASD, 55% had an intellectual disability (IQ<70) but only 16% had moderate to severe intellectual disability (IQ<50); 28% had average intelligence (115>IQ>85) but only 3% were of above average intelligence (IQ>115). There was some evidence for a clinically significant Performance/Verbal IQ (PIQ/VIQ) discrepancy but discrepant verbal versus performance skills were not associated with a particular pattern of symptoms, as has been reported previously. There was mixed evidence of a characteristic subtest profile: whereas some previously reported patterns were supported (e.g. poor Comprehension), others were not (e.g. no 'peak' in Block Design). Adaptive skills were significantly lower than IQ and were associated with severity of early social impairment and also IQ.
In this epidemiological sample, ASD was less strongly associated with intellectual disability than traditionally held and there was only limited evidence of a distinctive IQ profile. Adaptive outcome was significantly impaired even for those children of average intelligence.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）曾被认为与智力障碍高度相关，并表现出特征性的智商特征，即表现能力优于言语能力，且在子测验水平上呈现出独特的“高峰”和“低谷”模式。然而，来自流行病学研究的数据很少。
对 156 名 10-14 岁的儿童（平均年龄（标准差）=11.7（0.9））进行了全面的临床评估，这些儿童是流行病学研究的一部分（81 名儿童自闭症，75 名其他 ASD）。通过样本加权程序，我们可以估计整个 ASD 人群的特征。
在 75 名患有 ASD 的儿童中，有 55%有智力障碍（智商<70），但只有 16%有中度至重度智力障碍（智商<50）；28%有平均智力（115>智商>85），但只有 3%有高于平均智力（智商>115）。有一些证据表明存在临床显著的表现/言语智商（PIQ/VIQ）差异，但言语与表现技能的差异与以前报道的特定症状模式无关。有一些证据表明存在特征性的子测验模式：尽管支持了一些先前报道的模式（例如，理解能力差），但其他模式则不支持（例如，积木设计中没有“高峰”）。适应技能明显低于智商，与早期社交障碍的严重程度以及智商相关。
在这项流行病学样本中，ASD 与智力障碍的相关性比传统观点要低，而且只有有限的证据表明存在独特的智商特征。即使对于那些智力正常的儿童，适应性结果也明显受损。
