Discrepancies Between Academic Achievement and Intellectual Ability in Higher-Functioning School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Academic achievement patterns and their relationships with intellectual ability, social abilities, and problem behavior are described in a sample of 30 higher-functioning, 9-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Both social abilities and problem behavior have been found to be predictive of academic achievement in typically developing children but this has not been well studied in children with ASD. Participants were tested for academic achievement and intellectual ability at age 9. Problem behaviors were assessed through parent report and social functioning through teacher report at age 6 and 9. Significant discrepancies between children's actual academic achievement and their expected achievement based on their intellectual ability were found in 27 of 30 (90%) children. Both lower than expected and higher than expected achievement was observed. Children with improved social skills at age 6 demonstrated higher levels of academic achievement, specifically word reading, at age 9. No relationship was found between children's level of problem behavior and level of academic achievement. These results suggest that the large majority of higher-functioning children with ASD show discrepancies between actual achievement levels and levels predicted by their intellectual ability. In some cases, children are achieving higher than expected, whereas in others, they are achieving lower than expected. Improved social abilities may contribute to academic achievement. Future studies should further explore factors that can promote strong academic achievement, including studies that examine whether intervention to improve social functioning can support academic achievement in children with ASD.

A Comprehensive Examination of Reading Heterogeneity in Students with High Functioning Autism: Distinct Reading Profiles and Their Relation to Autism Symptom Severity

“…Previous research has provided evidence that reading comprehension is negatively associated with ASD diagnosis and symptom severity (Åsberg et al 2010;Estes et al 2011;Jones et al 2009;Norbury and Nation 2011;Ricketts et al 2013). Results of this study are consistent with these previous findings: reading comprehension scores were highest when ASD symptomatology as measured by the ADOS-2 was lowest.…”

“…There is converging evidence that many individuals with ASD demonstrate difficulties with reading; the majority of previous studies have concentrated specifically on reading comprehension disturbance (Estes et al 2011;Jones et al 2009;Nation et al 2006;Norbury and Nation 2011;Ricketts et al 2013). There is some evidence that beyond reading comprehension disturbance, there are different profiles of readers in school-aged children with ASD (e.g., Brown et al 2013;Jones et al 2009;Nation et al 2006).…”

“…Current research suggests that the risk for reading comprehension disability may be related to ASD symptomatology and be a component of the social-communicative and cognitive phenotype of school-aged children with ASD; several studies have reported significant associations between individual differences in reading development and diagnostic status, social functioning, or autistic symptom severity in samples of school-aged children with ASD (Åsberg et al 2010;Estes et al 2011;Jones et al 2009;Norbury and Nation 2011;Ricketts et al 2013). Reading is a written form of communication between the author and the reader, and as such, is likely to be impacted by deficits in social communication abilities such as understanding an author's intentions or purpose for writing a text, which impedes learning from the text.…”

“…One specific difficulty that has been empirically demonstrated in the literature is in reading; these difficulties share similarities to students identified as reading disabled. Multiple studies report symptomatology similar to reading comprehension disability, or individuals who are able to fluently decode words, yet have difficulties understanding the meaning of written text, in 33-65% of the samples (Estes et al 2011;Jones et al 2009;Nation et al 2006;Norbury and Nation 2011;Ricketts et al 2013). Furthermore, poor reading abilities have been shown to be substantially discrepant from IQ in many children, leading to the concern that many students are underachieving (Jones et al 2009).…”

Metacognitive monitoring and control processes in children with autism spectrum disorder: Diminished judgement of confidence accuracy

“…Findings that individuals with ASD show impaired metamemory monitoring thus need to be taken into account in educational environments. This is particularly important given that intellectually high-functioning individuals with ASD often show significantly lower academic achievement than would be expected on the basis of their intelligence (see Estes, Rivera, Bryan, Cali, & Dawson, 2011).…”