[blindkid] IQ testing

Wed Mar 21 17:55:09 UTC 2012

Sorry for the delayed response...

In response to the original question, yes, a visual impairment *is* a valid reason not to give a child a "complete"
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-fourth edition (WISC-IV). When a test such as the WISC-IV is standardized, it is given to many children (in this case, over 2000). The performance of all children within specific age groups is then ranked from very low to very high. Once the test is published, the performance of a child who takes the test is compared to that of others in the standardization sample who are within his/her age group. That child is then ranked based on how his/her performance compares to the sample. To my knowledge, the WISC-IV standardization sample did not include any students with uncorrectable visual impairments.

Many of the nonverbal (visual) subtests of the WISC-IV are not only visual tests, they are timed tests. If a blind or visually impaired student takes one of those subtests, his/her performance, including the time it takes him/her to complete the task, is compared to that of sighted kids. So if a child with low vision takes, say, 35 seconds to arrange a specific array of colored blocks based on a pictorial representation of the blocks, while the average fully sighted child took 8 seconds to complete the array, the child with low vision would receive a very low score. Obviously, such a comparison would be completely invalid. On top of that, scores from those visual tests are combined into composite scores which are used to describe the child's overall "ability" or IQ. Again, it would not be valid to give a child an IQ score based on a timed comparison with a sighted child. Additionally, there are legal and ethical guidelines for choosing tests that are validated for the specific purpose for which they are being used. 

While it would be possible to adapt the tests, for example, ask the child to arrange blocks that have been modified to have different textures rather than different colors, the available standardized scores would still only be based on the sighted performance rather than the adapted performance, so the scores would lack validity (especially for timed tests). Also, ethical guidelines prohibit using standardized scoring procedures when a test has been modified and given in a drastically different (non-standardized) way.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB, a British organization) just released a comprehensive report in February 2012 about the issues surrounding psychometric assessment of B/VI individuals. Although it is British, they discuss a number of US tests as well as the many factors to be considered when assessing someone with vision loss. It also addresses issues relating to reading speed, decoding, and comprehension for B/VI students. Given the recent threads on this list about reading speed, this article may interest some of you.  At the end there is a long list of references for those interested in learning more about the research on this subject. It is a very fascinating read! Here is a link to the article:

http://www.rnib.org.uk/aboutus/research/reports/2012/psychometric_testing_report.doc

In response to the person who commented, "I have always been curious, has there been any attempt to make these tests accessible to blind and visually impaired children?" the answer is that there has. However, these attempts have been few and far between. One of the most common tests is the Blind Learning Aptitude Test (BLAT). Unfortunately, this test has not been re-standardized since it came out in the 1970's, so it is no longer considered a valid test. The reason there are not more tests specifically developed for assessing the blind is, in my opinion, simple: Money. It costs test publishers many tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop, standardize, print, and market these types of tests, and they want to make their money back plus a hefty profit. The numbers of people who would purchase these kinds of tests are too low for test publishers to feel motivated to develop them. Most school districts have at the very least one WISC-IV test kit (at a cost of $1000+ for each kit, not to mention the cost of replenishing the test protocols as they are used). Large school districts such as Los Angeles Unified probably have well over 100 WISC-IV kits. Multiply that by the nearly 100,000 schools around the country and it's a pretty huge number. While a district as big as LAUSD might purchase one or two cognitive tests specifically designed for blind or visually impaired kids (if they were available), most smaller districts would probably be less likely to purchase a kit given the low incidence of visual impairment compared to other disabilities... And test publishers know this. Thus, a lack of tests. While there are researchers working on these tests, I think finding a test publisher willing to publish a test with low projected sales rates is a big part of the problem.

In regards to the Woodcock-Johnson-III available from APH, this is the academic version of the WJ-III. The cognitive (IQ) version of the WJ-III has not been developed into an accessible format.

Sorry for the long message, but I hope the information is helpful.

Best,
Gina O.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dr. Denise M Robinson
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2012 8:52 AM
To: Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] IQ testing

The WWJIII is now in a braille format to access blind children and is adapted appropriately--You can get it from APH Denise

On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 8:43 AM, Patricia <bcsarah.fan at gmail.com> wrote:

> As a blind aspiring counsellor who has my Bachelors in psychology, I 
> am familiar with these IQ tests and have always been curious, has 
> there been any attempt to make these tests accessible to blind and 
> visually impaired children? Or is the answer just "they're not, and 
> that's the way it is." I don't expect a definitive answer on this as 
> I'm sure no one here would know, but it's always been one of those 
> things that I've been curious about.
>
> Patricia
>
> On 3/19/12, Tom and Deb OConnor <toc6642 at charter.net> wrote:
>
> > Is a vision impairment a valid reason not to give a child a "complete"
> > Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-fourth edition?  The final 
> > conclusion was that it would be inappropriate?  Given 5 subtests only.
> >
> > Thanks for any information on this.
> >
> > Tom & Debbie O'Connor
> > toc6642 at charter.net
> >
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--
 Denise

Denise M. Robinson, TVI, Ph.D.
CEO, TechVision, LLC
Specialist in Technology/Training/Teaching for blind/low vision
509-674-1853

Website with hundreds of informational articles & lessons all done with
keystrokes: www.yourtechvision.com

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