Re: ADHD and IQ? A question at the end of my ridiculously long post about symptoms.

[billd]

>>And Billd, I sense that you have a condescending tone to your post. I was’t trying to offend anyone, I<<

Nope – not at all. 3 things

1. Trying to get folks to not get hung up on it –

2. Trying to get folks to stop listing to the urban legends (and stop labelling past people who acheived highly with ADD when there is no proof, and further, there are just as many who had no signs of ADD – it’s one of those things someone came up with to make us feel better I suspect)

3. Playing devil’s advocate………….

>>The IQ score I was mainly thinking could be helpful in that I dont really have any kind of bench mark as to wheremu limits stand as intelligence goes.. <<

No – it won’t indicate limits of intelligence at all…… for most jobs you really need to totally ignore it. I’ve got a very high IQ it seems, however, I have limits. I could never do some of the jobs some other folks do as I just “don’t get it” on those areas.

I’ve tried and tried and tried to learn computer programming in something such as C# for example, or SQL commands. I get totally lost. I’ve read, I’ve taken classes, I’ve practiced, I even had a programmer friend work with me one-on-one, and finally said forget it.

That’s but one example of where IQ didn’t help me a bit – there are many others.

I guess what I’m saying is that high IQ does not guarantee that you could do any job or learn any thing. (just as low IQ doesn’t mean there aren’t some complex jobs you’d not be able to do) A whole lot of “average” IQ people get a perfect GPA. A whole lot have successful careers. My fear is that if you tested and were disappointed, you might not try things you otherwise would try for fear of failing. Or a high score might mean you stop trying as hard, or make incorrect assumptions the other way.

Don’t get caught in a trap over a number.

I have a bad feeling that “ADD advocates” are trying to list a whole lot of historical figures as having had ADD to bring us up, and motivate, or for whatever motive, when there is no proof one way or another they had ADD, and they are leaving out all the ADD folks who fail for whatever reason, or all the non-ADD folks who were actually better.

One of my favorite success stories is a person who was a great inventor, he actually invented radio before Marconi, and had many other brilliant successes including automotive ignition systems, X-rays, just a whole list of things (but was forgotten by history for the most part) and having studied him in great detail – I can’t see any sign at all of ADD – – Sir Oliver Lodge.

For every great thinker, every great inventor, every great historical figure which some folks claim had ADD, there are as many if not more who did not.

My tip – even if it hurts – drop the IQ focusing, get properly diagnosed for ADD – prove it or disprove it. In doing so, you’ll also be tested for various skills, personality traits, and possible other causes for ADD symptoms. That’s a FAR better use of time than an IQ test – it will tell you much more about yourself and your abilities than an IQ test will.

An IQ test sure didn’t tell me a thing about what I’d be good or bad at, or what sort of thinking I did. However, 4.5 hours with a neuro-psychologist told me a TON of things about my abilities, my weak spots, and even made me think more about future directions. Something a number could never do.

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