How Common are Academic Overachievement and Underachievement in Children with Autism or ADHD?
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How Common are Academic Overachievement and Underachievement in Children with Autism or ADHD? Susan Dickerson Mayes 1 & Daniel A. Waschbusch 1 & Susan L. Calhoun 1 & Richard E. Mattison 1 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract The prevalence of academic underachievement or learning disabilities in children with autism or ADHD (two groups at increased risk for such problems) has been extensively researched, but little is known about overachievement in these groups. The frequency of overachievement across academic domains compared to nondiscrepant achievement and underachievement in children with autism versus ADHD was determined. WISCIII/-IV and WIAT/-II scores were analyzed in 164 children with autism and 499 children with ADHD (6–16 years of age, IQ > 80). Academic overachievement (achievement test standard scores ≥1 SD above IQ) in word reading, reading comprehension, math, and written expression was rare in autism (14.6%, 9.1%, 5.5%, and 1.8%) and in ADHD (4.2%, 3.6%, 2.4%, and 0.8%, respectively). Academic underachievement (achievement test scores ≥1 SD below IQ) was more common, with percentages of 12.8%, 17.7%, 15.2%, and 52.4% for autism and 27.9%, 21.4%, 24.0%, and 57.1% for ADHD. Overachievement was more common in autism than in ADHD. In contrast, underachievement was greater in ADHD than in autism, except that underachievement in written expression was similar and found in the majority of both groups. Keywords Academic overachievement . Academic underachievement . ADHD . Autism
The prevalence of academic underachievement or learning disabilities in autism or ADHD (two of the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorders and two groups at increased risk for such problems, Mayes and Calhoun 2006), has been extensively researched, but surprisingly little is known about academic overachievement. When academic achievement skills have been studied in children with autism or ADHD, the * Susan Dickerson Mayes [email protected]
1
Department of Psychiatry H073, Penn State College of Medicine, 500 University Dr., Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities
emphasis has understandably been on underachievement and its subsequent intervention and programming implications. However, increasing knowledge of overachievement (academic achievement significantly exceeding IQ) in these childhood disorders could have its own educational applications. No published studies were located investigating the prevalence of academic overachievement in ADHD or autism, but a few studies examined overachievement in general population samples. Group IQ scores were compared with academic grades in 1398 Spanish high school students showing that 17.6% were overachieving and 16.4% were underachieving (Iniesta et al. 2017). Among 519 elementary school students, 13.9% performed 1 standard deviation or more above their WASI IQ in word reading and 8.7% in math on the WRAT-3 (Mayes et al. in press). WISC-R Verbal IQ and Woodcock Reading Mastery scores were analyzed in 300 1st - 3
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