IQ and aspies

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This is a question to the aspies (and ASDers, generally):

What role do you think your IQ has played in your life?

Has it made your life better or worse or has it had no impact?

How do you think it would affect you as a person and how would you imagine your life would be if your IQ were higher or lower?

When I was 15, I scored a 131 on an IQ test. It made me think I was smarter than I actually was. I sort of rested on my laurels for the rest of high school. I did okay--but not great.

I'm no dummy--but I'm no genius, either.

It's really how you APPLY your smarts, more than the mere possession of "smarts."

I was always considered dumb and teachers and kids made fun of me.

That made me want to be smart.

Low IQ --> resulted in developing a strong desire to be smart. So I taught myself and learned untraditionally .

Very well put, KraftieKortie. I like to think of IQ as a measure of how many tools you might possibly have in your "toolbox". Having a high IQ does not mean you are better than anyone else, just that you may have more tools to play with. However, you have to use the tools to keep them sharp. Leave them out too long without using them and they become rusty, just like real tools. If you do not know how to use these mental tools properly, they can become a detriment to have (as people have expectations on those with high IQs). I have known people to crack under the pressure of these expectations and seek out a method to become more normal in mental range (using certain drugs can cause this to happen). I have known people on the lower side of the IQ range, yet they apply their tools far better than those much higher, so they appear to be smarter than they actually are to others. That is one thing about high IQ measurements, it tends to bring out cockiness in people sometimes that would never act that way normally. I would rather see others compare what they can do with their minds than what tools they have in there.

As for me, I have known I was very different mentally from around grade two or three. About that time, I found a book on Einstein's Theory of Relativity and became obsessed with it. My reading level was way advanced compared to the rest of the class, so much so that the teacher had me tested. It lead to me being classified as high to exceptionally gifted at that age. At the time, it did not change my social status or anything, I just went to a special class on problem solving during certain parts of the day. Now, after I moved my 6th grade year to another state, that rural school did not have a gifted class. That is when the bullying started, as other hated that I knew things that they did not. (I loved blowing the Biology curve time and time again just to prove a point.) I have to be honest in saying that I have misused my mental tools for dark purposes during that time period. Revenge has always been a strong force within me. Had I not been mentally gifted, I would have still been bullied, but mostly for being fat alone. I would have been less angry and probably more sociable as the net effect because my quest for revenge would have been much lower. But, that does not mean my life would have been better overall. I probably would have risked my life less in my early science experiments, but they were so fun to do....

I don't know what life would have been like if I had a higher IQ. That is something that I never really pondered over. I know you hear of kids that go to college at early age, but that would not have been me because I was always a bit behind in maturity.

I suppose it's played a bit of an important role in my life. I've been called smart my entire life. I've used my IQ to my advantage countless times. No, I don't know what my IQ is & nor do I really care to find out.

In many ways it's made things better. I've been able to quickly intellectually process a lot of things that others may struggle with. This has kept me out of trouble a lot of times. I'm sure my IQ had something to do with my graduating from business school when I was 19 years old, too. Quite a few pros.

As for cons, well, the biggest one is that countless times in my life people have been frustrated or mad at me and said "You're so smart" or "You're a smart guy" or "But you're so smart" etc & due to my being smart they expect me to be able to do things as well or better than others. It's the simple social things that come naturally to NT's that I might f**k up on and then others get extra frustrated with me because they assume that intelligence = equal capabilities all around and can't comprehend that my brain wasn't functioning in a way that would enable me to do whatever it is they were annoyed with me not doing. Same goes for periods of unemployment in the past, too. etc.

So, it's been both a blessing and a curse in balance I suppose. Not sure I'd change it if I could.

Also, I might not have been able to learn the things I have about treating my own symptoms via diet/probiotics etc if it weren't for my IQ, sooo, that's a big pro I suppose.

When I was depressed and frustrated with myself I'd sometimes wish I had a low IQ and thus wouldn't have higher expectations of myself and others wouldn't either.. kind of a Flowers for Algernon sort of thing. But now that I've managed to minimize my ASD symptoms to the point that I'm living a second life for it, I couldn't imagine doing it with a low IQ. I don't care to be any smarter than I am, really, as then I might feel far too disconnected from my NT peers. I feel like I have a decent balance going on right now and that I can utilize what I have to serve me quite well. So far, so good - I'm happier, healthier, and wealthier w/ account balances in the black and growing. I'll eventually be fairly well off financially, and I doubt I'd be able to achieve that if I weren't as smart as I am. Blah blah blah I think you get what I'm trying to say.

On most IQ tests, a score of 131 is the threshold for genius. And, you are definitely a genius, kraftiekortie.

As to the OP question, my IQ saved me from obscurity. I would have ended up without an education, jobs and never would have succeeded in the ways that I have (politics, writing, marketing, government, public relations). In other words, I have little else to offer others than my intelligence and intellect. Ask anyone.

I've always been considered "smart" and I've tested well on some IQ tests, I don't put much worth into it as IQ is a very flawed way of measuring intelligence and what use is it if you can't use it. I don't think of myself as that smart, it just seems that there are a lot of dumb people.

If I were dumber and everything else was the same I don't think things would be any easier, it would probably be a lot harder. If I were smarter I dunno, I guess it would be good but I don't know what else that entails. If I were better at math I probably would have a lot more interesting and lucrative career options I could pursue but I'm not so no need thinking about that.

I think my most recent IQ exam was flawed due to the fact I was bordering on sleep deprivation & that many of the math subjects I wasn't even taught in the first place and their little match what is being said to what is on paper was taken from a very scratchy LP so I kinda feel that I was set up to fail...but nobody I've talked to really cares what I feel.

At last check, my IQ was 108, which to many, including myself, comes off as average. However, my IQ has always fluctuated.

Yep. I am a genius and it hasn't done much for me. I'm jobless with no degree or employable skills. When I was in high school, I didn't know I had ASD, and I didn't know my IQ but I knew I was smarter than average. I thought being smart was what made me odd.
Where I failed was in knowing what to do with my smarts. I had, and have, very little interest in any kind of study subject that could be translated into a job. Not knowing what to study in college, I dropped out after one year because nothing interested me.

I don't believe in IQ.
All human beings are geniuses in the animal kingdom.
IQ scores don't measure how well your brain works, they are more a measure of how you think.
I think the purpose of in IQ test should be to let someone know their mental strengths.

Cognitive ability has contributed a lot to my development and functioning, I think.
When I learned language at a late age, cognitive ability is what allowed me to learn eggsplicitly how to use language and become fluent quickly, surpassing kids who had spoken at much earlier ages.
In all academic areas, cognitive ability has helped a lot.
In daily life, solving problems depends on applying cognitive abilities.
During social interactions, cognitive ability helps in processing ideas, having ideas, communicating ideas.
My life would be a lot worse if I had lower cognitive abilities.

I am a genius too. And I have an IQ of 154. The highest of any other students in my school. In fact the second highest student in my school had IQ of 138 and she was a girl. I always won the science fair every year. But just like you said. did it really do anything for me in life, NO. Just like Darwin said. it not the smartest no the strongest that survive, it those who are willing to adapt.

It's a similar story to btbnnyr for me. I had trouble with my reading at first, but I quickly managed to work out some patterns and my reading age jumped from 5 to 15 really quickly. I didn't need to revise during school because I learned everything during lessons. And the ability to "work things out" manually in social situations somewhat compensates for my autism - I'm certainly more fluent than autistic friends who have to learn social situations by rote, although I still struggle to send the right signals myself.

I'm not sure to what extent this is due to me being "better" as opposed to just being good at finding shortcuts.

...which makes you......?

I believe, that IQ´s always will,because a test is a snapshot of how you do in particular processes on a particular day. There is a reason, that you can do three Mensa tests with considerable time in between.
However the score area will probably stay the same.