Psychiatrist diagnosed me with ADHD. Should I get 2 opinion?

Page 1 of 1 [ 7 posts ] 

PKOS
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

User avatar

Joined: 7 May 2011
Gender: Male
Posts: 2

08 May 2011, 9:23 am

I met with a Psychiatrist and he told me I have adult ADHD.

However, I also have an appointment with a neuropsychologist coming up, and I was wondering if I should cancel it or take the evaluation anyway just to get a 2nd opinion?

While I like the idea of knowing my IQ (I suppose that the neuropsychological evaluation consists only of the IQ test, since they told me it lasts only 2 hours)... I'm also wondering what benefit can come out of my knowing that my overall IQ is probably around average. That might even make me kind of depressed and not bother trying to accomplish anything, since an average person shouldn't be aiming for above average anything.

If I am not mistaken an indication of ADHD or even Asperger's is doing well in all parts of the IQ test (WAIS) except the part that concerns processing speed and short term memory.

I'm also wondering what would happen if the IQ test does not reflect ADHD. Would that invalidate my current ADHD diagnosis which was arrived at without the need of a formal evaluation?



rabidmonkey4262
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Mar 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 864

08 May 2011, 10:00 am

PKOS wrote:
If I am not mistaken an indication of ADHD or even Asperger's is doing well in all parts of the IQ test (WAIS) except the part that concerns processing speed and short term memory.


They typical aspie has a very high verbal IQ compared to the rest of the test. When I took the test, my results were very typical of AS. My working memory is in the 2nd percentile (yikes!), my social comprehension is in the 34 percentile, but my verbal IQ was very high. The short term memory is not scored as part of your IQ because there is a separate memory test (I may be wrong). They'll test your social comprehension by having you arrange a picture story. I did poorly on this (5 percentile) but they also give you a verbal social comprehension test which I found much easier.

Basically the aspie brain is not as balanced as that of a neurotypical so you'll see an intense fluctuation in scores. Some aspects of your IQ will show severe deficit while others will be genius level. This is why I don't like when people say that the aspie way of thinking is superior. It's an over-generalization. I also find that many brilliant people lack common sense so either way, don't worry too much about your scores.

Many individuals on the spectrum really excel at pattern recognition IQ tests, even though their WAIS score might be lower. Last I remember, the Wechsler doesn't test for pattern recognition, but I may have just forgotten that part of the test. The link is a legitimate test, with none of those advertising spam tricks. Pattern Recognition test


_________________
Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.


PKOS
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

User avatar

Joined: 7 May 2011
Gender: Male
Posts: 2

08 May 2011, 11:28 am

rabidmonkey4262 wrote:
PKOS wrote:
If I am not mistaken an indication of ADHD or even Asperger's is doing well in all parts of the IQ test (WAIS) except the part that concerns processing speed and short term memory.
The link is a legitimate test, with none of those advertising spam tricks. [i


It's a fun test.

I have no idea how its scores correlate to those of a WAIS test, my guess is that they are not very accurate, since age and sampling bias considerations are ignored, but there is no doubt in my mind that in a WAIS test I would score even lower, especially given the fact that the processing speed and memory IQs are going to bring down the final score. So my guess is that in the WAIS I'd score between 100 and 109... average.



Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 55
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

08 May 2011, 12:09 pm

PKOS wrote:
rabidmonkey4262 wrote:
PKOS wrote:
If I am not mistaken an indication of ADHD or even Asperger's is doing well in all parts of the IQ test (WAIS) except the part that concerns processing speed and short term memory.
The link is a legitimate test, with none of those advertising spam tricks. [i


It's a fun test.

I have no idea how its scores correlate to those of a WAIS test, my guess is that they are not very accurate, since age and sampling bias considerations are ignored, but there is no doubt in my mind that in a WAIS test I would score even lower, especially given the fact that the processing speed and memory IQs are going to bring down the final score. So my guess is that in the WAIS I'd score between 100 and 109... average.


I am pretty sure this test is not very accurate. The discrepancy between my score on this (112) and Raven's progressive matrices (129) is fairly steep, and my overall IQ is in the gifted range, and I tend to test consistently as such. Or, maybe I am just having a very brain-fogged morning.

Here's one that's standardized against Stanford-Binet and Cattell: IQ test. I think you can convert your score to WAIS as well. It won't so much give you an accurate IQ as predict what your performance might be on one of the major tests.



Callista
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Feb 2006
Age: 42
Gender: Female
Posts: 10,775
Location: Ohio, USA

08 May 2011, 2:01 pm

Yeah, IQ won't really help you that much; one number can't really describe your brain. What you want to do is get a full report, with all the sub-scales on it. Those will show what tasks you were good at, and which ones you were bad at; and you can use that information to actually figure out your strengths/weaknesses, which IS useful information.

Don't let the psychology profession tell you that IQ has very much significance--it doesn't. In fact, quite a few psychologists (and not just fringe ones, either) are questioning the validity of IQ tests, especially for those who aren't NT.


_________________
Reports from a Resident Alien:
http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com

Autism Memorial:
http://autism-memorial.livejournal.com


Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 55
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

08 May 2011, 2:12 pm

Callista wrote:
Yeah, IQ won't really help you that much; one number can't really describe your brain. What you want to do is get a full report, with all the sub-scales on it. Those will show what tasks you were good at, and which ones you were bad at; and you can use that information to actually figure out your strengths/weaknesses, which IS useful information.

Don't let the psychology profession tell you that IQ has very much significance--it doesn't. In fact, quite a few psychologists (and not just fringe ones, either) are questioning the validity of IQ tests, especially for those who aren't NT.


Yes, this too.

My tested IQ has utterly failed to predict my life course. I don't have much use for it, and I agree that the important thing is not the overall number, but identifying strengths and weaknesses.



Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 55
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

08 May 2011, 4:47 pm

PKOS wrote:
I'm also wondering what would happen if the IQ test does not reflect ADHD. Would that invalidate my current ADHD diagnosis which was arrived at without the need of a formal evaluation?


I forgot to add that while an IQ test can be used to demonstrate possible deficits that might point to neurological disorders such as ADHD or Asperger's Syndrome, they can't be used to diagnose or rule either out.