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

[Shadow Nexus]

DON’T post “mine is normal(or low)” Please!

Mine is sky high, but my EQ(social interaction) is slightly below normal. I’m managed to get it higher. I’m very creative as well. I’v known from early age I was “different”. I can understand machines and concepts far beyond most people.

When you play RPG video games, you kick ass and beat these games hardly making an effort. Do other very complex things without breaking a sweat.

Give a shout-out for your positive benefits. All the cool things you can do with your ADHD superpowers like high IQ, hyper-reflexes, hyper-endurance, hyper-creativity, etc.

We sometimes forget about our superhuman abilities.

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[Wgreen]

Just out of curiosity, why do you think your IQ is somehow linked to your ADD?

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[Anonymous]

Not sure that it Is connected. However I will say that iq scores is what kept me out of special education when I was in 3rd grade. I scored in the gifted margin. Specifically in the logic portion of the test. This is before I sad diagnosed with ADD. I often wonder how many people get overlooked for things like ADD as a result of IQ test. My cousin who also has ADD and dyslexia scored in the top 4%.

However if I had a superpower it would most deffintly be creativity. I love nothing more then to create art . Something that hyper focus has come in handy for as sometimes I create several pieces in a day and will work from waking tell my body gives out to sleep.

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[Tiddler]

The issues with high IQ and ADHD are outlined well in Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults.

There is no link between high IQ and ADHD, except that they can mask each other or one can be mistaken for the other due to similar behaviours.

I have both. And borderline dyspraxia. I have no superpowers.

I’m kind though, and caring. So maybe I could have that on my chest while I’m wearing my underpants on the outside!

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[Bibliophile]

I can’t claim to have any super powers related to ADHD unless you would consider the following gifts:

• a very short fuse;
• difficulty with listening to others due to impatience;
• the inability to complete tasks;
• providing insufficient thoroughness on tasks that have to take in myriads of variables or over a long period of time;
• providing too much extraneous information on topics only tangentially related to the topic;
• constant restlessness; and
• difficulty deciding on something when multiple variables must be considered.

I could go on.

Look, I am glad that you are smart have a high IQ, but those attributes are not related to your ADHD. They are your own personal gifts.

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[Scattybird]

I agree with Bibliophile – there are no gifts associated with ADHD. If you have gifts they are in spite of and not because of ADHD. There is nothing inherently ‘good’ about ADHD. It is something that we have to deal with to varying degree depending on the level at which it negatively affects us.

What is important is that we accept it, deal with it and make the best of it.

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[Anonymous]

Once again here we are. It would appear we all have opinions…and evidence from countless studies that can be quoted…that support any position we wish to put forward, and/or supports who we each find we are??? Maybe, just maybe…..it might be an option…. rather than putting forward universal statements about “what is”…or ‘what isn’t’…….to speak to what “it is for me”??? I guess if FilmB…sees ADD and IQ has being a most positive union….well, who is anybody else to contradict that….really??

Sometimes the end result of things can be much, much more than the sum of the parts……having said that…..maybe listening and support or joining in FilmB’s celebration may be an alternate avenue. I have read claim after claim from folks who are distraught with the lack support and understanding the “Other World” provides for ADD folk….and yet here in our own house what……???

Toofat

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[Scattybird]

Toofat – I am happy to celebrate Filmbuff’s exceptional IQ. I think it’s fantastic. But my opinion is that I think it’s a separate issue from ADHD and my opinion is as valid as the next persons. You say we should accept everyone’s opinion and be positive and all live happily ever after. That would be lovely. But you can’t stifle debate.

I believe we all have some wonderful gifts and skills by dint of being human and by having the amazing brains that we have. However, I don’t believe that our gifts are uniquely because of our ADHD. We would all have exceptional IQs in that case and I haven’t seen any responses yet to Filmbuff’s post claiming that yet.

So I am not taking people’s skills and gifts away from them, just suggesting that they should be taken holistically and not narrowly in the context of ADHD. As you say Toofat, we are more than the sum of our parts.

Your post has a hint of frustration in it – I see that as wishing to stop the debate. If we all just agree with everyone else’s opinion there wouldn’t be any progress.

Sorry if this sounds grumpy but I haven’t taken my meds for a few days and whilst I am not using that as an excuse, it’s a reason. My genuine unique ADHD gift is a bad temper and lack of emotional regulation. That would probably be useful if I was a street-fighter, but I have trouble putting that particular gift into the ‘let’s be happy we have ADHD camp’.

Perhaps I should go under cover for a few days now!

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[Anonymous]

Nope ScattyB, no frustration…..just comments, my cheesy two-bits……and as for you being Grumpy….naw…..assertive maybe????

Debate is fun I agree, and our ADD brain ( I think ) is always chomping for the stimulation……sooooo…….let the games begin!!!

Toofat

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[Tiddler]

I had the results of my lengthy cognitive tests yesterday and it was quite something for me to see just how damaging my inattentiveness has been.

On one of the tests on the IQ test, I got the highest marks the doctor had ever seen.

My IQ is high. I have been, until this point, largely unable to use it because it has been trapped in an inattentive, chaotic, impulse driven brain that simply could not put it to use.

I can see how the impulsive, divergent thinking that comes with ADHD could in some cases harness the intellect and use it well. That is cause for real celebration. Put the underpants over the tights! But I work with kids whose high IQ causes them significant problems and those who also have other special needs like AS or ADHD have a particularly hard time. I think it’s important to be respectful of all our differences. We can celebrate the positive union of anyone’s ADHD and their abilities. We don’t need to attribute things to ADHD when in reality they are walking hand in hand for some of us and in others perhaps more like fist against fist.

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[Anonymous]

Hello,

I have to say that this thread is exactly what I needed after a long day of putting out fires at work… Gave me a reason for having a good laugh…

It has been quite a while since I pondered over my IQ- and I remember that last time it happened, it made me realize that my IQ (high as it might be) does not help me at all when it comes to planning myself out of a paper bag. I am still trying to find any superpowers connected to my ADHD- but I have to admit that it seems to have molded me into a very empathetic and non-judgmental person.

And at the end of the day, that’s what brings me peace of mind

Have a great rest of the day, everyone

Rebecca

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[Tiddler]

but I have to admit that it seems to have molded me into a very empathetic and non-judgmental person.

I think I’ve had a similar experience. I do agree that my ADHD has been part of bringing that out of me, for sure, along with my brittle asthma.

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[kc5jck]

I don’t think that there is any causal effect between ADHD and IQ. I think we can all agree that, regardless of IQ, as people with ADHD, we are presented with challanges, of various types for various reasons, because of our ADHD which require us to spend time in seeking solutions. If we are able to find productive solutions, as opposed to having a melt down or tantrum, then any component of intellegence due to brain plasticity will possibly be increased from this extra problem solving which we as ADHD have to do on a daily basis. I can’t imagine that this effect would lead to the developement of “Superpowers.”

I am not at all familiar with IQ testing theory, but suspect that the verbal portion of such tests are to a great extent measures memory and the ability, in some cases, to relate root words to questions on such a test. Other portions of the test require the application of acquired knowledge to get a solution. Both of which require memory. And the better the memory, particularly for details, the better the performance.

Like many of you, I live in what most would charitably call a “disorganized” environment. As a result, I have developed a “skill” of finding things. It’s like one of those pictures of a cluttered room where you are supposed to find the frog, lamp, screwdriver, cat, or whatever. This has possibly increased my IQ slightly as it requires a combination of memory (in the event the sought after object is under the dishtowel) and observation, two components of IQ, which are daily exercised. (Who needs Lumosity, right?)

So although there may not be a causal relationship, I feel, for the above reasons, that there is most likely an influential relationship. Depending on the success or failure of one’s problem solving, I suppose this influence could be negative as well as positive and if positive could potentially be significant.

I have taken a variety of IQ tests and feel pretty confident that my IQ is at least in the 99.9 percentile and it has been scored as high as 99.98. This was enough for me to get through high school and college but my performance was “not up to my potential” probably due to ADHD. Before I was diagnosed with ADHD, I wondered why I couldn’t learn more and had trouble with things such as differential equations or the more technical aspects of the sciences. Now I have an explanation.

So the bottom line for me is that I think that ADHD might have given my IQ a slight boost because of all of the various academic interests (distractions) I have had over the years. But the argument could well be made that ADHD has prevented me from fully utilizing what I have. (Not to mention all the other problems commonly occurring with and from ADHD.)

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[Anonymous]

As with many others, all through school, I was told I was not working to my ability. I tried many things to me more like other people, and after the age of 50, while receiving counseling to learn how to deal with my new family (2nd marriage, added 6 children to my . When I learned about ADHD, I realized that I could not be like other people, because I WAS different. I began a several year effort to determine what I was good at, and be the best I could be. I no longer felt I had to do things a certain way, just because 95% of other people did it that way.

I have an ability to solve problems. Knowing that has not been a great help, because I cannot explain what method I use, etc. It has not helped me get a job, because there are ‘standard’ ways to solve problems, and that is not what works for me.

My best description of how I solve problems, is that I understand how things work (I do not know how I learned, but that is my best understanding). And part of this helps me understand how other people think.

When I have a chance to work with someone for awhile, I can control my response to things that might upset most people. Part of this, is a desire to meet a goal, such as completing a project. It does not have to be done my way, as long as it meets the requirements, etc.

I do not know if this attitude is because of, or in spite of ADHD.

Things are not as great as I would like, but I am often able to help people, and that makes for nice days.

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[Scattybird]

The ADHD leads to contradictions in our lives it seems.

My emotional regulation is rubbish so I will sadly have a melt down when the photocopier jams and I needed the copies 30 minutes earlier but because my time management is also rubbish. So then I will be annoyed with myself too.

But what Tiddler said about empathy rings true too. If the students I work with have a problem it is me they tend to gravitate towards even if I am not their ‘official’ pastoral tutor. I manage to empathise with them (thankfully). Maybe it’s just situations and machines that I am stroppy with…..and people that type loudly….and get in my way in shops….and chew gum in my face….

I must admit to never having taken an IQ test, but I freeze at all those puzzle-type tests so assume I would score badly. Yet I managed to attain (with a struggle) a good level of academic achievement.

So I feel my ADHD has led to a life of contradictions.

Thank you Toofat for taking my previous comments in good spirit!.

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