Baker (1979), in arguing that not all autistic children are normally intelligent, also implied that the cognitive functioning of autistic and mentally retarded children was the same. The research reviewed in this paper challenges the validity of this implication. Differences between the two groups have been demonstrated in subtest profiles from standardized intelligence tests; the use of syntax and interrelatedness in facilitating recall; and language rules. Taken together, these lines of research suggest that there is a cognitive deficit unique to autism that is manifested in impaired language development and use of abstraction.
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