The Puzzle of Hidden Ability

Wow. It is incredibly insensitive to refer to people with autism as "autistics." It was difficult to even read this article due to the poor choice of words and phrasings. When will society wake up and realize this? I am disappointed that Newsweek published this article as is. A very poor decision was made.

I am a School Psychologist in Ohio and I work very closely with children with autism from preschool to grade 4. I believe this article is not only offensive to parents but it also gives very inaccurate information about intelligence tests. I am sure if you were to poll 100 School Psychologists and asked them what test they would use for a nonverbal child they would not give the WISC -IV! That makes no sense. It also makes no sense to given a Raven's, which may take about 15 minutes to administer and draw a conclusive IQ from that test. If anything it may be a screener before giving a more reliable and accurate test.

I do not want to be called a 'person with autism'. Autism is not something I have, it's a name for fundamental differences in how my brain works compared to the majority. Michelle Dawson is autistic herself, and regularly refers to 'autistics'.
I do find comparing a child's intelligence to a carrot offensive.

First, to refer to children with autism as "autistics" is simply disrespectful. When talking about people with disabilities, it's best to use people first language. We shouldn't define children by their disability. For example you wouldn't say autistic child, you should say child with autism. He/she is a person first. Autism does not define him/her. Second, to compare the cognitive ability of a child to that of a carrot is the most outrageous, disrespectful sentence I have ever read in Newsweek. I am a graduate student in a school psychology program and have worked with children with autism for the last 3 years and must express my extreme disappointment with this article. I hope that your writers and editors are more sensitive to others in the future.