The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Dunn, 1965) was adapted to facilitate administration to low-functioning autistic children who do not have a pointing response. By cutting the plates into individual pictures, children can respond by giving the examiner the target picture. Ten autistic and 10 preschool-aged children were given both the standard form (Form A) and the adapted form (Form C) by the same examiner less than one week apart. Several f-tests were calculated to test the hypotheses that the adaptation would not affect raw scores of normal, preschool-aged children; yet low- functioning autistic children would score significantly better on the adapted version. It was concluded that the two forms of the PPVT are equivalent forms when a pointing response exists, and it is therefore valid to use the published norms for the adapted version.
Until recently, it was assumed that most autistic children were "untestable" because of their poor ability to relate to an examiner, their short attention span, and other interfering behaviors. Although there is still controversy surrounding the testing of autistic children, there is increasing evidence that these children can be tested, and that their IQ scores have the same predictive value as those of the rest of the population (Alpern, 1967; DeMyer, Barton, Alpern, Kimberlin, Yang, & Steele, 1974; Rutter, 1978). Rutter and DeMyer, et al., have found that IQ is the single most important factor in the prognosis of autistic children. As is the case with all children, IQ scores must be based on reliable and valid measures in order to predict academic achievement.
Recent concerns surrounding the abuses of intelligence tests have resulted in a mandate for the use of multiple measures for estimating a child's functioning level (U.S. Congress, 1975). Multiple scores permit the psychologist to compare and contrast results, taking into account the dimensions or abilities being measured, the strengths and weaknesses of each test, and the known disabilities of the child being tested. Because of time constraints under which most psychologists operate, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Dunn, 1975)' is a very useful instrument to supplement the more comprehensive and widely accepted measures of intelligence used with autistic children, such as the Leiter International Performance Scale (Leiter, 1948), the Psychoeducational Profile (Schopler & Reichler, 1979), and the Merrill-Palmer (Stutsman, 193 1). The PPVT measures word comprehension without relying on expressive language skills, and therefore can be used with autistic children and other low-functioning children who do not speak. However, a pointing response is essential. In the majority of cases, this is of relatively little concern, since a child usually points by age one, and this response is therefore in the repertoire of almost all children for whom the test is appropriate. This is not true for autistic children, who do not develop skills in the same sequence as other 'The author would like to thank Katherine Mudroncik for her assistance in collecting the data.
zThe Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, (Dunn & Dunn, 1981) was nof yet available at the time that these data were collected.