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Verbal Intelligence Quotient
Written in April 2011. Descriptions of people, programs and availability below describe that time.
Verbal Intelligence Quotient (VIQ) is a numerical measurement of your child's spoken language abilities. It is used to gauge your child's ability to reason out and understand others through spoken words. Teachers and education professionals use this as a basis and guide as to what form and level of intervention should be given to a child.
Verbal IQ Test
A VIQ test is a test that gauges your child's capacity to use language in expressing himself and understanding the people in his surroundings. It usually includes measurement in reading skills, writing skills, the extent of vocabulary, and how a person communicates with words. It is also a way of determining your child's capability in using verbal skills in providing reasoning for his choices and explaining verbal and conceptual information.
A child's VIQ test consists of six categories:
These are the subtests of older Wechsler editions; current editions report a Verbal Comprehension Index instead of a separate VIQ.
- Information test - Your child is asked general-knowledge questions.
- Digit span - Your child will be asked to repeat a series of digits recited by the one giving the test.
- Arithmetic test - This is a test in basic arithmetic skills.
- Vocabulary test - This test is to determine the extent of vocabulary.
- Comprehension test – In this test, the child is asked to solve simple and practical problems and explain why.
- Similarities test - The child is asked about similarities in a pair of items.
A school or clinical psychologist administers IQ tests. Results are kept private among the child, the parents, and the examiner. Whether your child attends a special education setting or a general education school, IQ tests are almost always done to serve as baseline data of your child's abilities. IQ tests are best taken when the time to make decisions about formal schooling becomes a concern, so children ages 5–8 are most suitable for a VIQ test.
How to Prepare Your Child for a VIQ Test
IQ tests measure what your child can do now; there is nothing to study for. What you can prepare your child for is the introduction to new surroundings such as the testing site. Children with autism find their security in routines. A new setting can be unsettling. Familiarization with the setting can help your child be at ease during the exam. Using social stories in explaining why the exam is needed and how it is going to proceed will aid in gaining your child's cooperation.
Reference:
Jeena Hope for Kids. jeena.org: Tests, retrieved March 22, 2011, from http://www.jeena.org/autism/tests.htm
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