question about high IQ and autism

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When I took the test, I scored highly in working memory(in the top 2% I think). However, I was much much lower on some of the other sections. The part with picture sequencing annoyed the hell out me. Don't think I did well on that. Point is I scored higher on working memory than any other section.

Perhaps this means I'm not autistic (only an informal diagnosis that I question). Also, keep in mind, not everyone here has autism, as a side note.

I have read that schizophrenia is correlated with a low working memory as well.

I seem to get hyper-focused, "attached" to something such that the rest of the world, and existence itself fades into the background of my mind. It is in this state where I may become "absent minded". However, I don't feel "absent mindedness" indicates any impairment in working memory; it is just my preference to hyper-focus.

Quoted: "However, some evidence suggests that there may be minimal impairment in high-functioning autistic (HFA) individuals in that they have intact associative learning ability, verbal working memory, and recognition memory". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_and_working_memory

Listed possible physiological explanations for impaired working memory:

- poor ability to focus on relevant information and thus a deficit within the central executive aspect of working memory
- limited ability to focus and conceptualize categories using updated information
- individuals within the spectrum have also been proposed to have a weak central coherence (i.e., as a limited ability to understand context or to "see the big picture")
- a reduced tendency for processing information in context and integration of higher-level meaning.
- local bias for visual information processing, that is, a preference for processing local features (details, parts) rather than global features (the whole)

It seems like doctors are indicating that preferential focusing indicates working memory impairment ??

Interesting. So, I scored in the 90+ percentile on three of the WAIS sub-test scores: Arithmetic (99%), Matrix Reasoning (98%), Visual Puzzles (91%). On all other sub-tests, I scored in the 60s to 80s (percentile wise). With the lowest being Digit Span (63%).

What's really funny about the memory stuff is, before I took the test, I didn't realize how poor my working memory was. It simply wasn't something I paid attention to. Now, I have a better understanding of how it impacts all sorts of things.

This is what I've been saying for the last couple years on every one of the IQ threads that pop up. IQ tests are meant help people understand weaknesses through subtests so they can improve those weaknesses. FSIQ scores are almost meaningless for anything other than seeking public services.