What's my "functioning" level given the IQ test results?

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So I underwent IQ testing and other neuropsychologic evaluations. The neuropsychologist told me that I have excellent abstraction and conceptualization abilities. However, she told me that not only is there a huge gap between performance and verbal IQ (with performance being higher), but there's a gap between subtests within each IQ score (verbal and performance score). And she said that there's such a gap that it would even be senseless to compute verbal and performance IQs.


Given that it's impossible to calculate my IQ, where am I on the "functioning spectrum"? Let's assume the old way of looking at functioning, even if it might not be the closest to the real world.

I'm not sure IQ really comes into play unless it's to diagnose intellectually disabled / severe low functioning. My IQ is high in some areas and low in others.

I really don't think IQ is related to functioning level. My IQ is pretty low, but I function pretty normally. On this forum I've seen people with genius IQs who are pretty low functioning.

Well, based on the old unofficial definition- I would say high functioning. If you were mentally ret*d, you wouldn't be able to understand the concepts of "functioning levels", "subtests" and "performance vs. verbal IQ". If you have ever talked to a person with even a mild intellectual disability- you would know that their ability to understand abstract concepts is extremely limited.

If we are talking purely old definitions- then I would say your IQ tests seem to be more in line with Autistic disorder or PDD-NOS than Asperger's syndrome. A significant majority of people with Asperger syndrome have verbal IQ higher than performance IQ-- and many actually meet the criteria of Non-Verbal Learning Disorder. People with autistic disorder or PDD-NOS, on the other hand, often have verbal IQs less than performance IQs -- which isn't surprising given the fact that people with these disorders often have significant speech delays.

It's been observed, though it's hardly universal, that some on the spectrum have a wide gap between different sub-sectors of IQ. So that's why she mentioned those. It's just one more little sign that points towards a positive diagnosis. As for that functioning level comment, there was a point in time where "low functioning" was defined by having an IQ of less than 70. That's an outmoded concept these days though. At the clinical level, different levels are defined by more fluid, subjective descriptions of the amount of support and individual needs. Within the autism community many reject functioning labels outright as wholly inadequate, and often misleading/damaging ways of categorizing those on the spectrum.

I am making a conscious effort to STOP thinking about how low my IQ is. Life is too short and it only leads to further self-deprecation.