ADD*ADHD and Higher Levels of Intelligence

[Anonymous]

I’ve heard that there is a link between ADD*ADHD and high IQ’s/levels of intelligence.

Is this true?

If yes…then what is the link? How can we harness this intelligence? How can we make it work for us?

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[Anonymous]

That intelligence is the only reason a lot of us manage to get by – we figure out or own coping strategies, and we can make enough links and connections at school that we still get a decent mark, despite the missed bits of information and unsubmitted work assignments.

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[Anonymous]

Just look at some of who they say were ADD…google it…

I for one know I’m above my peers and it really shows when I’m able to focus… that’s the rough part lol

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[Anonymous]

I think there’s a connection too. When my son was initially diagnosed with it, some of the criteria didn’t fit at all. Same with me. I stumbled upon a web site that discussed high IQ getting misdiagnosed with ADD. People with high IQ may have several thoughts at the same time, get bored with trivial conversations etc. and daydream, and fall behind in school/work projects etc. because they are just, basically, boring. We both have high IQ’s. Google “gifted” and ADD. You’ll find interesting.

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[BuxomDiva]

I spent public school in a gifted program, but it wasn’t until after 40 that I was diagnosed with ADHD so school was hell for me

when my son got his diagnosis a decade ago my mom gave me a hard time about “why would you want to label a child” – I managed to refrain from pointing out that she had not hesitated to label me as gifted!

while most of the ADD’ers I know happen to be gifted as well, there are many ADD’ers with normal IQ’s as well, from what I’ve been told over the years

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[Rick Green – Founder of TotallyADD]

I was going around spreading the story that 50% of Gifted Children had ADHD. Dr. J corrected me. It was an observation made by a doctor that 50% of Gifted Children displayed the symptoms of ADHD. But there could be many reasons for the restlessness, such as boredom, etc..

That said, I personally and everyone who has ADHD, is a freakin’ GENIUS!

As yet I don’t have the hard statistics or evidence to prove that.

So in the meantime I’m relying on religious faith that this is true until it can be proven.

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[BuxomDiva]

Rick I suspect the reality is more like the gifted kids might get diagnosed because more is expected from them than the kids who are not the brightest tool in the shed.

But everybody I know with ADHD is, as you pointed out, a freakin’ genius.

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[Anonymous]

We may be genuises in things that are not measured on a standard scale…………..

I can talk nonstop for three days with no sleep. No caffiene.

Name some non-ADHD folks who can do that, huh?

: ))

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[BuxomDiva]

@MerryMac – one of the best lines I’ve come across in the decade plus that I’ve been looking into this ADHD business was “you know you have ADD when people think you’re on speed but you’re not but you should be and if you were nobody would know you were”

as a teenager, a friend of a friend meeting me for the first time literally thought I was on speed cuz I talked so fast and so incessantly!

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[Anonymous]

@BuxomDiva- that is the best line I’ve ever heard!

More ADD/HD super-human intelligent traits=

Smelling things no one else can…and being able to identify what it is!

Top restauranteurs AD/HD?? What skills matter most when being a chef?

Academic????

Doesn’t it make you think about what society values as intelligence vs perceived high status jobs….How much is influenced by this perception?

Who comes up with the criteria for intelligence tests?

Academics? How does their narrow view (being steeped in ‘Macademia’ for their whole careers) afford a non-prejudicial view for the rest of us?

Hmmm….

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[BuxomDiva]

actually that smelling thing is genetic I believe and completely unrelated to ADHD – I’ve had chronic allergic rhinitis my whole life and for the most part cannot smell ANYTHING, which is problematic when I have a menagerie and the neighbours complain about pet odours ~sigh~

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[Anonymous]

The difference with bipolar is that it is cyclical and so pressured it comes out as spitting splutter at the end. ADDers talk fast because they want to get it all out both because they perceive a captive audience and because they can think quickly.

With regard to smelling issues, I am not aware of a smell problem propensity. Just the opposite, I think there may be a hypersensitivity. You know the very first branch of the olfactory nerve (i.e. the smelling nerve) is to the amygdala which is where we have the rage center. Of course, being animals, smell and aggression are closely tied together. This is the anterior part of the temporal lobe. However, a lack of smell doesn’t necessary mean you are without aggression. Don’t right know what it means. But hey…..

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[Ivriniel]

Merry Mac, if you want to know more about the development of IQ tests, might I suggest reading The Mismeasure of Man by the late, great Stephen Jay Gould?

Depending on how you feel about Math, you may want to skim over the first section which talks about the (rather dodgy) use of statistics to come up with a single combined IQ score, but the stuff in there about the history and development of the IQ test is a real eye opener.

The original Binet test was meant to be diagnostic, and identity areas children’s areas of strengths and weakness so they could receive support in those areas. Then it got turned into something that was intended to pigeonhole people into a place in society based on their score.

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[Patte Rosebank]

I remember reading that book when I took a Sociology course, as part of the breadth requirement, at university.

It was fascinating, yet horrifying to see how the earliest IQ tests included questions like “What is Crisco?” and “Who is Babe Ruth?”, and were administered to immigrants who didn’t even know how to read or write. This is precisely what created the myth that “Polish people are all abnormally stupid”, which led to all those “dumb Polish” jokes.

Ultimately, what we learned in that class was that IQ is whatever the people who made the test decide IQ is. If they think that IQ is based on your knowledge of American culture (Crisco, Babe Ruth), then, obviously, people who have just gotten off the boat at Ellis Island have very low IQs. If they create a test that only measures math skills, then IQ is based only on math skills.

Besides, as so many of us have discovered, it’s not so much your IQ (Intelligence Quotient) that’s important, but your EQ (Emotional Quotient), which measures your ability to respond to emotional stimuli, and work with others. In other words, how you use what you’ve got.

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[Anonymous]

Just a few random ( as per usual!) thoughts on a Sunday..

Is intelligence measured by how organized your paperwork is? How neatly you reports are typed? Knowing where your keys are at all times?

What about people who can take charge in emergency situations and get the job done? Save lives? But have messy homes?

How much intelligence does it take to focus on one task for eight hours?

How much intelligence does it take to mult-task continuously?

One may not bet better, just different.

How can you measure what’s in my head as opposed to how I Present what’s in my head?

Hmm…Sunday morning ponderings

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