basically high IQ but low IQ performance

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So... anybody test for a high IQ sometimes, but often can work (tests like this on professional tests too) only on a LD/MR level?
I mean a normal IQ test, the academic IQ, not your overall functioning/ability in normal life.

Apparently my AS/HFA+untreated ADHD combination tends to make me function on at 70-75 IQ-wise (regular IQ test) despite that I can test for twice as high. Does seem to explain why I failed school and intellectual stuff so much but occasionally outperform others. I'm gifted but can't use my IQ.

I just thought I'd ask on WP if anybody else is like this?

Last edited by Sora on 15 Jun 2009, 1:54 am, edited 2 times in total.

I'd bet everyone with an ASD will be in the "MR" range with a functional IQ test (stuff like the Vineland Composite), no matter their academic IQ.

I seem to recall a figure from a book that stated such, actually.

Yes, but it was my academic IQ tested that was low and that tests all over the place. Maybe I should phrase that differently and insert 'academic IQ'?

I do not actually know my IQ, Sora, but I suspect I would be similar. I have great gaps in learning ability and surge ahead in other areas. And ADHD tendencies play havoc with me at times.

Well, there's many things that can make you score bad, even if your IQ under optimum/"normal" conditions is quite high.

I score in the mild MR range when I'm out and about now as an adult (50 to 60), and that's because I'm overwhelmed by the world, and it negatively affects my cognitive ability. Psychiatrist said he wouldn't expect any better from me, but if I was given such at home and I'm not overwhelmed, I'll score how I would without said inhibitions.

I do have a high IQ nonetheless.

I don't have a high IQ, all the IQ tests have indicated this. And to make things worse, my "functioning skills" are that of someone who is in the MR range, sadly. My doctor has apparently diagnosed me with something called "low cognitive level" which is another way of saying that I am mentally challenged. The only things I can do that might show a high IQ is when I was young (like before 3 years of age) I was able to read. I know, that is very young and most people who don't know medical stuff would call that "genius." To be honest, it has nothing to do with being a genius, in fact it is just hyperlexia. I was able to read very advanced words when I was young, and I pick up quickly today when learning new languages (at least how to read stuff, not necessarily knowing what I read). If only I had a brain! I wish so much that I don't have Anencephaly (it means no brain). Its empty in me skull!! It has nothing to do with the testing conditions or being overstressed, because I had my first IQ test when I was 5 years young, and of course I didn't even know what an IQ test was back then and obviously didn't worry about it!! I know most people on this board are hundreds times smarter than me, as demonstrated by their IQ's. I know there have been many IQ threads and most claim that they have 150 IQ's, while I struggle with an 80-something IQ at the maximum! Its called Borderline Intellectual Functioning.

One of the striking characteristics of AS is that IQ is not valid (according to our autism specialist).

This was what our autism specialist explained to us: Most AS individuals will receive high or average marks in one portion of an IQ test but score low in other portions. The average person scores the same across all portions, but AS individuals have varying outcomes on the WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale).

Not all IQ tests are the same, and she only gives the Wechsler for that reason (it tests and scores multiple areas).

For example, my DH received a perfect 180 (genius level IQ) on one portion of the WAIS but only received an 80 (mentally impaired) on another. This is what autism testers look for when they administer the WAIS. Apparently, this phenomenon is singular to AS.

For this reason, IQ is not considered valid in AS individuals because the avg score of all the portions determines IQ, and someone who scores a 180 on one section and a lower score on another may only receive an overall IQ score of 130, for example. That clearly doesn't reflect the genius the person displays on the one hand, OR the impairments on the other.

It is believed that Einstein was probably on the spectrum. Based on his genius, and yet his poor functioning in school, I truly believe that he was. Don't beat yourself up, Sora. You may be another Einstein.

I'm at the severe end of the spectrum, and I have tested in the mentally ret*d range. I have also tested at genius levels at times. I think I.Q. scores are basically meaningless - especially for those of us on the spectrum. I graduated regular high school, Nuclear Field "A" School (Navy), and obtained an Associates degree. I'm a self taught computer programmer and administrator. I'm also self taught in many areas such as carpentry, locksmithing, beekeeping, etc. In other words, I have not done so badly for being "mentally ret*d."

To correctly answer many questions on an I.Q. test, one must be familiar with the culture that is reflected in the test. For example how would one be expected to know the capital of each U.S. state if one is from another country? Many questions are
subjectively important to the test author. I have been given a verbal I.Q. test when I was nonverbal. I have also been given I.Q. tests when I didn't feel well or was not interested in being a lab rat. There are too many variable involved in measuring intelligence in neurologically typical people for such tests to be entirely accurate. Imagine trying to measure the intelligence of an autistic person. Too much emphasis is placed upon the results of these tests, and that isn't right.

Interesting.....I seem to do well on most of the verbal questions but absolutely hate those "find the next number in the series" things, unless they're very rudimentary. Last time I did an online IQ test I was in a hurry and just refused to bother with those, and ended up with a high score, apparently because of the time I'd saved. Not that I believed the result....I was just trying to find out whether my verbal IQ was high compared to my general IQ, to try to distinguish between AS and HFA. I forgot the actual score because I have so little faith in IQ tests - I always wonder why anybody would want to promote the concept of "general intelligence," and much prefer looking at individual aptitudes for this or that specified task. I can cope with the idea of a person being good/bad at a particular task, because that's objective and useful, but the idea of general mental ability seems dodgy, unless they're trying to assess brain damage.

Strangely enough, my disinterest in numbers came up on the AQ test (Aspies are supposed to like memorizing car number plates and such things). It was the only thing I didn't score high on. The counsellor said "there must be something else going on there" Anyway, even without a fetish for numbers, I still scored well into the Aspie range. It's not that my mathematical skills are particularly poor - I'm comfortable with most formulae and number operations, and I'm not scared of numerical data - it's just that spark of intuition that so many of the advanced math problems seem to require, I just don't have that.

Maybe something in how the low-score test was administered affected your performance. I think that is pretty common.

When I was in fourth grade, we had our first standardized tests (the CTBS test), and the first section was reading, something which I did very well. The problem was that we had to bubble in our answers, and being my usual NLD-self, I had a great deal of trouble with this. I bombed so badly that my teacher actually got permission to give it to me again, since she knew that my score didn't reflect my actual abilities. After some "remedial" bubbling instruction, I took the reading section again and got a perfect score.

My (non-Aspie) ADHD colleague is very intelligent but when she was in high school her parents couldn't afford her ADHD treatement and therapy for other problems so her schoolwork got worse and wose, no matter how much effort she put in. From being very good at maths, she eventually got close to failing because she lost her ability to do any arithmetic mentally, so everything had to be laboriously calculated and written out on paper.

She's now doing very well at her job in my company. She's on well-balanced medication and psychotherapy.

I got diagnosed Aspie with co-morbid ADHD as a result of working with her (basically, I could relate so well to what she was describing that I figured out I might have the same problem). By the time I saw the psychiatrist I was a wreck and thought I might have become permanently stupid (I had been the top pupil at school). I couldn't do even the simplest tasks anymore, or the most advanced ones that I had been good at before.

Eventually I started thinking of asking for a demotion.

It took some time, but eventually recently with Ritalin and a couple of other changes (incl. love, disciplined eating & sleeping, and a good scheduled routine), my intelligence has come back and I am working productively again.

I have a friend who has bipolar disorder who has similar results.

I have a high IQ, especially academic, but because of the social and emotional difficulties that I have with Asperger's, my vocational performance(getting a job) is very low. The Asperger's gets in the way of having a functional level of someone who has the same IQ as me. I forgot the actual IQ, but unlike someone who has the same IQ area as I, who can work a regular job and do anything, I can not because of the Asperger's symptoms that get in the way. Though Asperger's does not compromise my independence and/or academics(I am going to school in September), but because of the problems with social skills, recognizing non-verbal cues, not being able to multi-task and the problems that I have at working a regular job, I function at a very low level in that area. I am also not able to handle unpredictability and have sensory problems especially, when it comes to other people and/or situations that are stressful. I am also emotionally immature, so I do not handle stress very well. All of those factors play into why I am not like my high IQ.

The first real evidence I had for giftedness was finishing school top of the yeargroup. However, I found that certain relative cognitive deficits meant I could not fulfill my academic potential at tertiary level. I still did well and went all the way, but it was an immense struggle characterised by underperformance, which virtually destroyed my self-esteem.

It's because, in general, people's individual mental abilities do tend to correlate.

this is an interesting thread. I've run into a few things described here myself.

my NVLD son has a high skills IQ and a low functioning IQ (about 70, actually) so his overall score is average. his special education team was really surprised over his test scores, in fact, because he talks like an adult and functioned like a... well, a much younger child. we got aggressive special services which have help tremendously. social skills coaching is helping him compensate for the low functioning IQ, which I hope will mean he can more consistently take advantage of his high skills IQ.

I had an abbreviated IQ test when my daughter was being screened for inclusion in a clinical ADHD study. my spatial skills tested in the 99th percentile, but unfortunately when people talk to me a lot of the time all I hear is "blah blah blah" so I probably come across as a real airhead and not too bright sometimes although my vocabulary also tested well above average. my reading was way above average as a child, but is now in the average range.

I think "IQ" is effected by a lot of things. I know I wasn't very smart or organized when my kids were little, and the more pressure there is on me and the more I worry, the less "intelligent" I am.

p.s. although my daughter has ADHD, she was screened out of the study because she's an outlier.

Me too - Normally I can't think properly with all those stress hormones flying about in me, as I prove every day in my workplace whenever I'm subjected to social anxiety and the fear of screwing up because of unclear instructions, distractions, and suddenly-imposed changes to my work. Though paradoxically, a really dire emergency "concentrates the mind wonderfully," as Johnson said, and it was certainly true of me when my son went missing some years ago. I guess the hormonal profile for the two states must be different.