I recently experienced something really special. A parent of an autistic child in mid-primary school, who expresses concern around behaviours and academic results, showing genuine delight that their teacher had said they had nothing to report except improvement. There was no reference by this parent as to whether this meant the child was now exceeding academic expectations for their age, meeting them, working towards them, or still finding some aspects very challenging. It just didn’t matter. Because she’d been told there was progress, and that made her heart sing. Limitations were not the focus. Success was.
Compared To What?
School curriculum is largely based on the expectations it is reasonable to have of an average neurotypical kid, who lives a life in which they have adequate sleep, nutritious food, clean clothes, and support. Kids who exceed these expectations often have a higher IQ, parents who value education, engaged caregivers from a young age, and/or fewer learning difficulties. Kids who are working towards expectations may have learning difficulties, social challenges, experience neglect or abuse, have disengaged or unsupportive parents, or have a lifestyle that is not conducive to learning (poor sleep, poor hygiene, poor nutrition, for example), or other limitations.
So when we look at what a child of a certain age “should” be achieving, we aren’t necessarily setting a realistic target for our neurodivergent kids.
It is believed around 62% of autistic kids, for example, experience learning difficulties; over 50% experience communication difficulties; and about 30% have intellectual differences.
Is Autism a Learning Difficulty?
Autism is not a learning or intellectual disability. Only around 10% of kids with an intellectual disability (defined as an IQ of 70 or less, and difficulties in adaptive functioning) have a confirmation of autism; though this may be due to the processes and methods used to assess neurotypes. Conversely, around 30% of autistic kids are considered to have an intellectual disability.
However, 60-70% of autistic people have some form of learning disability.
Autistic kids are more likely to experience School Can’t, executive function issues, sensory overwhelm or distraction, communication differences, generalisation, or dysregulation due to changes in routine. These, and more, can also impact on their ability to hear, process, and apply information academically.
How To Know What to Expect?
If your child is struggling academically, it can be very difficult to determine if there are factors at play (such as emotional dysregulation or sensory overwhelm) that can be helped, or if expecting improved results over time is unrealistic because their brains simply aren’t wired for spelling, for example.
Talking to your child is always the first step, where it is an option. A child who is not doing well in maths might share that they:
- Don’t understand what the teacher is explaining
- That they keep getting told they wrote things down in the wrong order
- Get teased by the kid they sit next to in maths class
- Don’t like how loud the clock in the maths room is
- Are really bored because it’s too easy so can’t find the motivation to fill out the test sheets
- Don’t like maths because it’s the only class their best friend isn’t in with them
- Find it hard to pay attention in maths because it’s the only class their best friend is in with them
- Can’t remember which number is which
- Always have maths just before lunch and they can’t stop thinking about how hungry they are
- Have maths at the end of the day when their ADHD meds are tapering
- Do maths tests on Thursday, which is the same day they have PE, and PE makes them feel dysregulated
- Can do the worksheets but when they do a test they don’t understand what the question is asking them to do
- Get the right answers but don’t know how their brain processes the information to get there, so are doing badly because they don’t get marks for showing their working (this was me in high school!)
- Many, many other options
In all of these scenarios the outcome is a poor maths result. In some of these they just need stimulation. Some of these need supports. And in some of these they appear to be experience a learning or intellectual difficulty or limitations.
How to Test for Differences
There are many ways to assess a child’s learning and academic limitations and differences.
Due to the spiky nature of autistic profiles, you would be amazed at what can be uncovered.
A WISC-V is a comprehensive assessment of cognitive skills and intellectual ability. It covers general areas of:
- verbal comprehension
- visual spatial
- fluid reasoning
- working memory
- processing speed
- general ability
- cognitive proficiency
- and nonverbal index.
It takes about an hour to be assessed, and provides great insight into why a kid might be finding something difficult. For example, a child might be perfectly capable of doing the maths, but their processing speed is lower than expected and therefore they’re missing out on learning the specific skill itself… and therefore fail when asked to apply it, even though they easily could.
The WIAT-III assesses areas that are more aligned with academic fields, including:
- reading skills
- spelling
- listening comprehension
- maths problem solving
- and numerical operations.
Again, you may find that a child can be great at all of these except listening comprehension, and that their maths teacher tends to give more verbal instructions, or teach the class verbally while they’re expected to follow in their textbook. You might even find a child who is amazing at maths problem solving, and struggling with numerical operations!
Assessments such as these may give you insight into where your child needs additional support or accommodations, or even has expected limitations.
Comparative Difficulties
There’s a tricky situation for bright kids with spiky profiles, where they can be achieving perfectly acceptable grades, and therefore not flagged as needing accommodations or assistance. For some kids, this is fine, and they’re happy trundling along as they are. Their limitations aren’t preventing them from reaching the expected targets. But if you feel like your child isn’t achieving what you’d expect them to in terms of results at school, they might benefit from the assessments above. Many kids who aren’t thriving are quietly frustrated, even if they’re not consciously aware of it. The sense of annoyance, boredom, or lack of stimulation can lead to dysregulation and meltdowns. It can also be very damaging to self-esteem if a child feels like they should be good at something – because it seems easy or makes sense to them – but they’re only achieving average results.
Sometimes the “disability” can be comparative. A child who scores around the 99% percentile for verbal comprehension, visual spatial, fluid reasoning, working memory, general ability, cognitive proficiency, and nonverbal index, but only 60-70% for processing speed is still considered to be above average. So no problem, right? Wrong. Having a brain that functions at the 99th percentile in all areas, but just above average in processing speed, in likely to lead to frustration, boredom, anger, incomplete tasks, poor motivation, lack of engagement, and average results for a person capable of amazing things. Very spiky profiles can create difficulties and limitations in themselves.
When To Get Help
Imagine there’s a class test. Kids are expected to score around 65% if they’re on track with the class work.
If your child is capable of getting 100%, but goes through social problems with friends that has a negative impact and results in an 82, you’re going to want to help them out emotionally and socially so they can thrive next time, and in general.
If your child is capable of getting 90% but they get 80%, I reckon you pick your battles. Acknowledge there’s potential to do better if/when it’s important (HSC, etc), but that life isn’t always about achieving your absolute best all the time. I’d say 80% is a great mark given the expected score, and one worth praising.
If your child is capable of getting 40% and they get 38% they are well below the expected score. Celebrate. 38% for a kid whose ceiling is around 40 is wonderful!
If your child is expected to get around 15% and they get 22%? Buy them a Playstation! Take them out for pizza! Let them eat ice cream for breakfast! Tell them non-stop for a week how immensely proud of them you are! What a result!
So yes, sometimes 82% in an exam where 65% is an expected score is something worth reacting to with concern. And in the same class and same exam 22% is worth a celebration.
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So while I am in no way suggesting your child cannot or will not achieve great things, there is great strength in recognising limitations. Not because it tells us when to give up. But because it allows us to stop encouraging our kids to keep swimming hard when they’ve already reached the end of their lane. Because it allows you and your child to make educated decisions when at a fork in the road. And because it helps you know when help is needed.