I have an average IQ, people say I'm smart but...

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I actually managed to do OK in college in everything aside from math, economics, intro to microcomputers and logic. Which is to say...I did fabulous at all the simpleton courses like English, Psych 101, Anthropology and Sociology. I couldn't even make it through Algebra-I and had to drop it twice. I never took a science beyond general Biology and i'm quite sure i'd epic fail at any more rigorous science course.


I have to look to people with Down syndrome if I want find anyone who did worse in school then I did.


If I actually believed god existed, my hatred for him would rival that of satan himself

Horus--
I don't think it's your intellectual functioning; you're obviously good at the kinds of things they're testing on IQ tests. It's just that there are more things out there than IQ tests.

I'm a lot like this, actually. From my IQ, you would assume, "Oh, she'll have no problems. Should be fine on her own." Not so much. I'm living on my own now, barely, at age twenty-six, and still having occasional breakdowns of basic living-on-your-own skills, such as keeping my apartment clean, sleeping and eating properly, and remembering to pay bills. I'm steadily learning, some with help and some without; for example, the other day I bought a toaster oven with a timer, so that I wouldn't keep leaving the oven on until the fire alarm went off.

From my adaptive skills, you would assume I function somewhere around an IQ of 60 or thereabouts--just barely capable of living on your own, with occasional help. But you'd be wrong, because I'm also doing pretty well at school (when I get accommodations there)... I recently landed an internship doing toxicology research, and when I found I needed it, casually learned biochemistry that I eventually realized was at the post-grad level. And yet, when I wasn't getting accommodations at school, I got kicked out for failing most of my classes.

See the gap between my skills? HUGE gap. If you look at the tiny areas where I'm gifted, you assume a high IQ. Look at the rest of my life, and you assume a low one. I've had people assume I'm gifted and I've had people assume I've got mental retardation... What's the answer? Both, simultaneously, in different areas.

I'm going to bet that your IQ probably is in the high-average to gifted range, as the IQ tests suggest; but that, like me, you also have some problems in areas that the IQ test doesn't measure. We give entirely too much credit to IQ tests, and this kind of thing is case in point: When your IQ test says you're good at one particular type of thinking, people assume you must be good at all sorts of thinking. But that's not true for me or for many other autistics. Having widely separated skill levels is really par for the course when you're autistic. IQ is not a global statement of ability.

When you're autistic, your IQ says about as much about you as your horoscope.

I was never diagnosed with any form of autism, *only* NLD. I said this in my initial post on this thread, but maybe you missed it. If not, then I assume you believe NLD IS "on the spec". I personally have mixed feelings about that, but no need to enter into that discussion here and now. Whatever struggles you have Callista, you are doing and studying things i've only dreamed about. I'm not trying to downplay your issues, but in all honesty, I can't see how they're comparable to mine in the least. You obviously have an aptitude for things like biochemistry, toxicology research, etc...I, on the other hand, would be lucky to get through basic Algebra even if I received accomodations from god himself. In spite of whatever problems you have with your aforementioned "adaptive skills", you can at least rest easy in the fact that you've been able to master coursework many neurotypicals can't handle. I would KILL for your "tiny areas" of giftedness, even if my "adaptive skills" were 10 times worse then they already are. Regardless of my NLD, I do think IQ tests do a better job at determining one's aptitude for subjects like biochemistry. And therein lies the crux of the matter...almost every psych who ever tested me told me I DO possess the aptitude for subjects like biochemistry. They did say I would probably struggle with higher math and science, but they didn't tell me it would be impossible for me. Well...all I know is it sures SEEMS impossible for me. And math/science is not even the tip of the iceberg in terms of things which seem utterly beyond my capacity. From my understanding...IQ..especially VERBAL IQ...DOES offer a fairly sound indication of one's ACADEMIC potential. But for whatever absurd reason, it just doesn't seem like a sound indicator of MY academic potential.


Consider the following from Dr. Byron Rourke:


http://www.nld-bprourke.ca/BPRA19.html


Even this would be of some comfort to me IF ONLY I was one of Rourke's, "adults in question who did well in school even up to and including the college level".

So yes...I realize IQ is hardly a global statement of ability...but I see no reason to believe it's a poor indicator of one's academic POTENTIAL, if nothing else. While I believe IQ tests like Ravens Progressive Matrices might be a better indicator of Aspie/Autie academic potential then the WAIS is, this alone doesn't invalidate psychometric testing in general. Now if you're talking about a few of Howard Gardener's "multiple intelligences" (like interpersonal, intrapersonal and musical for some examples) then yeah...most standard IQ tests don't measure those.

I voted average, but that's not saying much considering who my classmates usually were. D: Not many over-achievers at my school. And there were a few classes that would have killed me if the school counselor hadn't been so cool and helpful.

Hmm, you mean like me? I never went to college or university, just a 'college' that basically would give you enough skills for a job. I just scraped in passes with basic year 12 math and science. My science teacher had it in for me.

Interesting results so far.

I was good at what I was good at, and sucked at what I was sucked at.

My sis-in-law (a special-ed teacher) said that she thought I could have benefited from tutoring, but my mom just thought I was lazy.

Oh, my IQ test (which is indeed bunk) says I'm some kind of genius, or at least a sub-genius. My performance in school was always uneven until I got to university.

I started school in the late 70's in Atchison Kansas, and did very very bad. I was in LD class's from the 2nd grade on.

I had to do Kindergarten 2 times and in 1st to 5th grade I just get up and run out of the class room and all over the school and go hide a lot, and did a lot of funny stuff like Frequent behavioral outbursts, tantrums and a lot lot more. I did some of that pass 5th grade but not as bad. What is so sad is that I had Signs of autism but no one seen it at the time (or maybe did not know what the Signs was after all this was the late 70's and 80's.) . In 1987 my Parents had to put me in the state custody (Kansas SRS) to help pay to send me to a place to try to get me some help for. #1 my disability (Muscular Dystrophy) #2 My bad behavioral outbursts and more. #3 to see why I was not doing to good school. #4 some other stuff. In Feb 1988 (age 14) I was sent to Wichita to "The Institute of Logopedics." it's now called "heart spring."

In the start of 2009 (age 35) I had a 100% review of my SSI at this time it did come up that was Diagnosed of having autism (HFA) as a kid I was like WTF I did not know this and my Parents did not know. There was no good info like date, place, or who Diagnosed me (I thank a lot of that info got lost some how.) I got thanking it had to come from that place in Wichita. I was just retested and was Diagnosed of having Asperger's Syndrome.

My grades (before Wichita) was F's, D's, C's maybe 1 or 2 B's and A's in Wichita A's B's and C's

Like I was saying in my last post IQ test is a joke. so I have a IQ of 157 no that was a error it's 66 can not be no way. maybe it's 250? maybe 512, 710, 58, 27, 970, 2, 100, or 1337 Maybe I just do not have one. LOL That works for me.


Have a good day..

I did very well at school, but do badly at the sort of puzzles there are on IQ tests. I like iSpy's idea about IQ. I shall say I don't have one in future.

With the right conditions I believe anyone can be a genius.

Underachiever. Dreadful, actually.

Throughout school, I struggled to get good grades. AS wasn't to blame in the sense that I couldn't learn because of AS. Rather kids were exceptionally cruel towards me. I hated school, and it was such a hostile environment that I really couldn't flourish academically.

Once I went off to college, my grades were typically As and Bs because I loved learning. I needed a change of environment.

When I was in elementary school and middle school I did very poorly. I repeated kindergarten, but the second time it was a special ed kindergarten. After that year my parents didn't want me in special ed so they put me in Catholic school. I almost had to repeat the first grade there....but then I went back to special ed for second grade...this cycle repeated until middle school where I was mainstreamed for sixth grade, almost had to repeat that year, and then I ended up in alternative school...I was always thought to be somewhat intellectually impaired...but really I was just lazy.

I refused to do anything that resembled work. I could read my father's college and med school books and understand the material as a child...but supposedly I had difficulty reading...I did have difficulty reading out loud, but I could read just fine if I didn't have to talk while I was reading....I would refuse to learn things like long division, or phonics...or anything that didn't interest me.

It wasn't until high school when I had an IEP that I started doing better in school. I somehow ended up taking honors and advanced placement classes and I could do well in them if I tried...But I still had issues with being unmotivated to do school work.

As an experiment I took a college precalculus class when was 15. There wasn't much homework and the average of two exams was the final grade for the course. My average was a 97, and I got an A. That was the trick to doing well in school...not having to do more work than was needed....also to study material that I was interested in. I ended up in college from that point on....I liked chemistry and math...so I studied chemical engineering in college, and I did really well (suma cum laude), and graduated at 19.

I'm not a genius, but I am pretty smart, but also horribly lazy, so that didn't make for good grades in school most of the time...

There are many reasons for NOT doing well at school/college despite how high your IQ is. In my case for example, Weak Central Coherence kills me. You are always trying to understand things in a very deep way, considering all the variables and other things that people overlook. It makes you waste time and do poorly at exams.

I had friends who weren't even close to bright but always did better than me, i was always lost in my world, following my own path to learning and understanding. While they followed the professors like sheeps to the sheppherd.

I think school is just about working hard, being intellignet doesn't help too much.

If by over-achieving you mean doing better than most, I'd be an over-achiever. If you mean driving myself to exceed my capacities, then I'm an under-achiever. Until I hit my upper division math courses, I rarely had to make an effort in any subject. But in real life, intelligence is somewhat over-rated. Much like commuting bumper-to-bumper in a car with 1000 hp.

Whoops, just noticed you said this, Horus, and I didn't respond--

Yes, as far as I can tell, it seems to be the neurologist's version of what the psychologist sees when he looks at an autistic person, especially the Asperger's sort. Most cases are probably diagnosable as PDD-NOS or Asperger's (classic autism tends to involve higher performance IQ ability).

IQ can, roughly, predict someone's academic ability; but there are lots of other skills needed to succeed academically, and if you don't have them, you're screwed as far as school is concerned. Well, unless out of sheer luck, you have a whole team of people literally helping you through every hour of school. Which is what I have, and which is what lots of people need and don't get. Presumably, most people would get this kind of help in elementary and high school, and be ready to go it alone by college; but then, most people aren't home-schooled and kept quite deliberately away from anyone who might "label" them. Yeah, thanks Mom.

So... I guess IQ & academic ability go together kind of like this--

If your IQ is measured accurately, then your IQ correlates to the academic skills you would theoretically have if your brain conformed to the average of people with a similar IQ level. (In other words: The correlation between IQ and academic ability is positive but weak.)