Wait, I have another question. How far does this go? So, if it needs to be standardized on different populations, where does it stop? Is it standardized on men vs women? How about people with autism? People who use wheelchairs? Where is the line?
As far as someone in a wheelchair goes, that is too broad. The consideration comes in play with regard to WHY they are in a wheelchair. If someone uses a wheelchair because of a spinal injury then, no, cognition would not be affected. However, someone who uses a wheelchair because of traumatic (either pre or post natal) brain injury, may be affected cognitively or may have difficulties with standardized testing because of both motor issues and because of areas of the brain which may be damaged, which cause difficulties in the ability to perform the requirements of the testing.
My son has CP (neurological/ motor disability) which requires him to use a wheelchair, and has testing done, including IQ testing, every three years because of his disabilities. He is very bright, and scores very high in the areas involving verbal intelligence, perceptual reasoning, and working memory; however he scores very low in areas involving processing speed, due in great part to difficulty for visual scanning and fine motor ability, which results in unreliable scoring.
At the beginning of the results and interpretation of results, his report states "Please note that for the most part, standardized tests are designed for use with typical children and must be interpreted with caution when used with children who have motor/ neurological difficulties."
So, he has the same testing, but it is interpreted slightly differently and can often not result in a reliable overall score.
