New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline - Ministry of Health

Part 3: Education for learners with ASD
with change, reduced forward planning and
ineffective problem-solving skills (a lack of
coordinated reasoning and difficulties adjusting
to feedback). There is a general lack of flexibility
in thinking 55 96 .
Limitations and emerging areas of study
As mentioned previously, neuro-biological
research suggests that there is involvement
with broader interrelated systems which is not
consistent with the notion of a ‘core deficit’ as
suggested by each of the psychological theories
outlined above 55 .
A theory that is currently re-emerging suggests
that a derailment of social motivation is a core
deficit. This means that the young child is not
motivated to observe and imitate other people in
their environment. This has huge implications for
the child’s early learning and explains difficulties
with joint attention and imitation. This lack of
social motivation is seen as the basis for the
difficulties described in the above theories 55 .
An emerging area of study, made possible
by new techniques, focuses on the cognitive
processes used by individuals with ASD
rather than just the results obtained. There is
early evidence that individuals with ASD may
achieve higher than expected results on a given
task, but use cognitive processes that contrast
markedly from their typical peers. This work
has useful future implications for understanding
how individuals with ASD think and learn,
and consequent lessons about appropriate
educational interventions and strategies 55 .
Assessment
The cognitive ability of children with ASD
has been assessed traditionally using IQ tests.
The information about IQ in populations of
individuals with ASD has changed. Up to 70%
were considered to be intellectually disabled,
whereas current estimates suggest that fewer
than half of children with ASD have non-verbal
IQs less than 70 55 96 . This change may be due to
more extensive identification of children who
are not intellectually disabled and a broader
definition of ASD, as well as greater educational
opportunities for children 96 . IQ scores have been
found to be relatively stable with older children,
but problematic with very young children and
those who are more severely impaired 96 .
There is debate about the role of IQ testing
for this population 245 . There are difficulties in
assessing children with ASD which include:
• the amount of verbal understanding and the
verbal responses required
• slower responses, particularly related to
auditory processing, which can affect scores
on timed tasks
• difficulties related to the child’s motivation
and subsequent compliance
• difficulties in establishing a ceiling and
baseline because the usual test norms may
not be appropriate
• difficulties in following standard procedure
• scoring protocols which may be
inappropriate 11 .
Part 3
Implications for professional practice
The way in which cognitive abilities and deficits
are interwoven with social and communication
difficulties for each child means that no
educational intervention can assume a typical
sequence of learning. A careful assessment
is required of each child and young person’s
abilities and approaches to learning.
There are also challenges in interpreting the
results. The scatter of abilities which often
appears in the profile of children with ASD
means that composite scores are misleading 96 .
Children’s responses during testing may provide
valuable information on their ability to tackle an
unfamiliar task. Data on the following may be
collected:
• reactions to challenging stimuli
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