Brief report: IQ split predicts social symptoms and communication abilities in high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorders.

Towle et al. (2009) looked at high-functioning kids with autism. They wanted to see if a big gap between verbal IQ and nonverbal IQ meant anything for daily life.

They gave each child the WISC IQ test. They also asked parents about social skills and daily communication.

Kids who had higher verbal or nonverbal IQ scores showed better everyday communication skills.

But there was a twist. Kids with a very large verbal edge over nonverbal skills had more social problems, not fewer.

Kocher et al. (2015) later counted how often these splits show up. They found about one in three youth with ASD have a big VIQ-NVIQ gap, backing up that the pattern is common.

Cramm et al. (2009) and Busch et al. (2010) looked at the same kind of kids. First they linked a nonverbal>verbal profile to weak inner speech. A year later they showed it is absolute verbal ability, not the gap, that drives inner speech. This sharpens the warning: the split flags risk, but low verbal skill is the core to address.

Jennett et al. (2003) add an odd body clue: children with big heads were more likely to show the high nonverbal/low verbal pattern, giving you one more free piece of data during intake.

When you see a wide VIQ-NVIQ split, plan extra social teaching even if the child talks well. Target real-life conversation, not just vocabulary. Pair your program with parent coaching so they know the split can hide social struggles. Re-check progress with both performance tasks and parent report; the gap often stays, but skills can still grow.