Re: Is your IQ so high it can't be measured? ADHD superpowers

[Wgreen]

For the record:

The following paragraph is excerpted from http://www.continuingedcourses.net/active/courses/course003.php

Apparently, according to clinical studies, ADD does NOT enhance intelligence. If anything, it diminishes it…

“Clinic-referred ADHD children often have lower intelligence than control groups used in these same studies, particularly in verbal intelligence (Barkley, Karlsson, & Pollard, 1985; Mariani & Barkley, 1997; McGee et al., 1992; Moffitt, 1990; Stewart, Pitts, Craig, & Dieruf, 1966; Werry et al., 1987). Differences in IQ have also been found between hyperactive boys and their normal siblings (Halperin & Gittelman, 1982; Tarver-Behring, Barkley, & Karlsson, 1985; Welner, Welner, Stewart, Palkes, & Wish, 1977). The differences found in these studies often range from 7-10 standard score points. Studies using both community samples (Hinshaw, Morrison, Carte, & Cornsweet, 1987; McGee, Williams, & Silva, 1984; Peterson et al., 2001) and behavior-problem samples (Sonuga-Barke, Lamparelli, Stevenson, Thompson, & Henry, 1994) also have found significant negative associations between degree of ADHD and intelligence (rs = -.25-.35). In contrast, associations between ratings of conduct problems and intelligence in children are often much smaller or even nonsignificant, particularly when hyperactive-impulsive behavior is partialed out of the relationship (Hinshaw et al., 1987; Lynam, Moffitt, & Stouthamer-Loeber, 1993; Sonuga-Barke et al., 1994). This implies that the relationship between IQ and ADHD is not likely to be a function of comorbid conduct problems (see Hinshaw, 1992, for a review).”

This is not to say that there aren’t some brilliant ADDers out there. But it does suggest that their brilliance probably has nothing to do with their ADD. Having said that, I wonder how one weights test scores for ADDers who may have trouble concentrating while taking an “IQ” test. And thus another question: What are we to make of aptitude that dwells in the mind but cannot be fully utilized or properly measured because of a “disability?” If a tree falls in a forest…

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