People with autism 'are more intelligent than previously thought' (extract)

ST LOUIS, USA: People with autism are more intelligent and able to function better than previously believed, experts say, but mistrust of doctors, biased tests and the Internet have bred myths about the condition.
    At a meeting in St Louis of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, researchers presented reports showing that even people with autism who do not speak can have above-average intelligence. They also offered additional studies disputing claims that vaccines can cause autism.
    "The current figures are that 75 per cent of autistic people are mentally retarded, with the mute the most ... impaired," says the Canadian researcher, Dr Laurent Mottron, an autism specialist at Montreal's Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies.
    But Dr Mottron believes the wrong intelligence tests are used to assess autistic children. Many are tested using the Wechsler scale, a common IQ test that includes questions about words and concepts learned in school. The Raven's Progressive Matrices test measures abstract reasoning and consistently gives autistic children higher scores, Dr Mottron says ...

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