August 22, 2006
IQ Scores Can Help Prove Disability
According to social security rules, when a person has obtained a valid IQ score that is between 59 and 70, and can show deficits in “adaptive functioning” that began before the person reached 22 years of age, and has another medical condition that impacts his ability to work in more than a minimal way—-if a person can show all of that—-then he is disabled. This rule is commonly called “Listing 12.05(c).”
Unfortunately, the tests for determining IQ are a bit flawed. More specifically, over time the test results become inflated. This is important because an IQ score of 70 will qualify for favorable treatment under Listing 12.05(c), but an IQ score of 72 will not, unless it can be shown that the 72 IQ score is not accurate. Because of something known to psychologists as the “Flynn Effect,” showing that a test result of 72 is inaccurately high may be easier than one might assume. Psychologist John R. Goff, Ph.D. explains this in more detail in this letter.