Autism is considered a neurological condition. It is generally characterized by social and communication difficulties, repetitive behavior, as well as various physical symptoms (digestive issues, etc.) This has nothing to do with intellectual abilities. As a matter of fact, many autistic children have unusually high intelligence and skills in certain things. I personally believe that people with autism simply learn and see the world differently.

Most kids with Autusim are very intelligent. They just learn differently. The issue often arise when people don't want to teach in a non traditional way not wanting to meet the child where they are to help bring out all they know. I too go head to head with my sons school and teaches and I don't settle for less from my son or his school. He's advanced in math and science and reads on grade level.

Many times an IQ measure is not valid for children with Autism. The tests are not normed on this population. For instance, Laurel has scored in both the high end and low end of the same measure depending on her mood

No, many Autistics have average or above average IQs. I myself am Autistic and do not have any intellectual disabilities; the same thing goes for most of the Autistic people I know. There's a chance that one or both of my clients may have intellectual disabilities, but the tests used to diagnose intellectual disabilities weren't designed with non-speaking Autistics in mind, so there's no way to be certain whether or not either of them do until we find effective communication systems for them.

Whether or not your daughter has an intellectual disability, remember to presume competence. The problem with treating Autistic people like we have intellectual disabilities isn't that many of us don't have them - it's that many people treat those with intellectual disabilities like they're incompetent and can't learn. Julia Bascom, another Autistic adult who works with Autistic kids, wrote a great article about this topic entitled "Dangerous Assumptions," here's a link to that article: https://juststimming.wordpress.com/2014/12/21/d...

All cases are different although majority of them are very highly intelligent. When my daughter was first evaluated there was no nerve damage or neurological disorder. It was all a development delay. Visial skills were stronger than verbal. And even though she couldn't express herself at that point and time, was very observant! I even remember by the time she was 3 1/2 a stunt she pulled that was learned through observance. Her father was always doing work around the house. One day when I went out her dad was home with her. Anyway, while he was preoccupied, Gab got bored and went in our cellar and grapped the power drill. Came up in our hallway and used the drill to disconnect our 25 ft banister! When she did so there was not one crack or scratch on the wall!! She learned how to operate the drill by watching her father.
Kids in their shoes are very bright and intelligent! I know if I tried doing that with the power drill there'd be cracks and scratches gallore on the wall of the staircase, lol