Had part of my Autism diagnosis redone. Fascinating results

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It's been nine years since my original diagnosis. So we had to redo part of it at the request of my neurologist. He wanted to test for neurological decline. Looks like we found it. Nine years ago my brain processing speed was a composite score of 92 making it in the 30th percentile, Average. Today it was a composite score of 14 putting it in the 14th percentile, low average. So that is pretty interesting. Equally interestingly, my GAI and FSIQ scores increased since my first diagnosis nine years ago. My GAI score went from a composite score of 110, which would be 75th percentile High average, to a composite score of 133, which is 99th percentile Very Superior. My FSIQ score jumped from a composite score of 108 nine years ago, which is 70th percentile Average, to a composite score of 128 today, which is 97th percentile Superior and two points from MENSA. My verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, and working memory composite scores also dramatically increased. VCI went from 114, 82nd percentile-high average to 127, 96 percentile, superior, and my PRI went from 104, 61st percentile Average, to 131, 98th percentile, very superior. And working memory jumped from a composite score of 117, 87th percentile high average nine years ago to a composite score of 142 99.7 percentile very superior.

I find these differences incredibly fascinating and I am wondering what is making such a difference. One thing I noticed is that nine years ago, the testing was done in an office where the staff are all nts and the diagnostician was an nt. Both diagnosticians last time and today were women. But today, the diagnostician was Autistic and the entire office is staffed by only Autistic people. The atmosphere and dynamic of our interactions were incredibly different. I can't help but wonder if that contributed to the difference in scores. When she added up the scores at the end and showed them to me, she said that she could not understand what happened in my original diagnosis for me to register such low IQ scores. She even said that if my brain processing speed had been faster, I would have made it into the MENSA category.

It is really fascinating because I know that I have had both neurological and cognitive decline over the past nine years. It is extremely obvious not only to me but to those who know me well. So this is truly interesting and I am very curious to get the full report and see what the psychologist makes of it.

We did not do any testing for sensory issues, social capability, or emotional quotient. We might do those later if she feels that would be a good idea. But it probably isn't necessary.

I think it would be very interesting to do a study to see how many Autistic people's IQ scores change depending on whether the technician administering the test is Autistic or nt. It would be really fascinating to see if it makes a difference.

You brilliant thing, you!

Congrats on demonstrating just how smart you are despite the ASD setbacks!

Now you make me want to be retested, but it's only been five years.

These were my tests. I'm not sure if any of them match what you did, since I didn't do FSIQ.



I'll have to check my ADHD testing list because they did a lot of processing speed measures.

OK found it - Here's ADHD:



Are any of those similar tests to what you did?

Could you tell you were doing better on the IQ questions?

Thank you. I believe your FSIQ score is determined by a combination of scores done on various tests. I think some of the tests we did were similar if not the same. You should have been given an FSIQ score. It is not from one particular test.

I think it's a great idea to be retested periodically. My doctor's reason for requesting the testing was to measure neurological decline. That is super important. I am also wondering if some of the increases in the memory systems that contributed to the increased IQ scores are a compensatory measure to help balance the neurological and cognitive decline that I have been experiencing. These would make such fascinating studies in further research of Autistic brains and how they work and the variances in the Autism Spectrum. I think this could open up a new field of research that could be so significant. My insurance allows me to have this kind of diagnostic testing once a year. I am going to try to do that to measure the changes. I am also going to ask the psychologist if we can do testing on the social and emotional aspects as well. I am very interested to see that especially the social because I know for certain that I have had declines in that area as well.

Intelligence doesn't usually improve by that much , unless you've previously not tried that hard at certain types of question, but for some reason tried harder at them/was in a less defeatist state of mind. It'll be interesting to hear the feedback from your psychologist.

I have never been in a defeatist state of mind during any kind of testing. That is not something I would ever do. If I ever felt a like I was in a defeated state, I would reschedule the testing as would the psychologist if s/he felt that I were in a defeatist state of mind. I also did not try harder than I did the last time. It was also the same kind of questions and some of the tests were the same as they were last time. They were not the exact same questions and patterns because the exact patterns and questions change over the years within the same tests. But I know the frame of mind that I had in both cases. It is possible that having an Autistic technician instead of an nt one made a big difference.

And are we 100% certain that it is impossible for IQ to improve that much? Perhaps, under rare and specific conditions, maybe it can. Do we really know for certain one way or the other? I think there are many mysteries about the brain that we have not discovered yet. I am a medical phenomenon in more ways than one. I am not ready to dismiss anything no matter how far fetched it might seem.

I was just pondering and examining what you said. I really thought about this. I don't think I have ever had a defeatist attitude about anything. I am not 100% sure but I don't think I can remember ever feeling that way. It's curious. I find that very interesting. I do feel hopeless a lot when I am bullied and mistreated but I don't think I have ever been defeatist, not that I can remember anyway.

It's believed that you can learn to do better at intelligence tests, but that's not necessarily the same as being more intelligent than you previous were.

On a more positive note I think all of us have a level of ability beyond which we can't go. Then there's our average ability. Some days we perform badly. Mostly we perform within an average range. We very seldom perform at the peak of our ability. It could be that you performed at the peak of your ability on that test. That's what you can achieve under the right conditions. Many would wish they could do that well.

I understand what you mean. People who know me including the examiner two days ago said that they could not understand why I scored so low on the first test. That's why I think the atmosphere and dynamic had a lot to do with it.

People are beautifully perfect just as they are. The gifts they have are just as valuable as any form of intelligence.

I am not even sure that that was the peak of my ability because I have been really struggling.

When I was at school it was very hard to predict how I'd do on exams or ordinary tests. It was, in my case, very mood dependent. I was not 'Mr Consistency'. I agree totally with what your saying. Non g factors can make a big difference as to how well a person does on IQ tests.

I think it's fascinating how it was very mood dependent for you. That is super interesting.

One thing that I really struggle with, which was really affecting me when I took the tests yesterday (Friday June 30, 2023) is my physical disability. My physical disability causes my muscles to contract in ways they shouldn't be. This can cause a lactic acid build up. It can also cause asphyxiation especially when my neck and thoracic muscles contract. The asphyxiation causes the flow of oxygen to my brain and organs to be lessened. I become weak and faint. I also have difficulty breathing. I have been really struggling with this a lot lately. It is a neurological condition but even though my Autism affects it, they don't know if it's tied to my Autism.

But I was really struggling from the effects of this during the testing this time. But because the atmosphere of the room and the dynamic between me and the clinician were so good, I was able to do well despite my struggle and lack of oxygen. I think it would be good for me to do this once every year or two.