"Low Average" IQ and independent living?

Post Reply New Topic

Hey gang, Got a question for you all some time back I went for a battery of tests which included an IQ test for a state vochab agency now granted I wasn't taught what I should have been taught from middle school until I left high school so I'm sure that has a play on my over all IQ average. My question is in all honesty how independent will I be if I have a "low average" IQ I'm not borderline or in the ID range I do have ASD level 1 However I have read that some people with autism may live in "communities" or support/group housing I've tried living in a supportive community once when I had a break down due to a lose of a loved one and two other family members in 2 years needless to say I'm very much my own person and tend to conform to my own rules rather then the "house rules" and I'd rather do things on my own rather then be a part of a "happy group" but I am truly wondering now if all the efforts I am putting into my life now will go down the toilet due some limitations I may have.

I would hate to have some agency rep tell me oh we feel that you'd best suited to live in a support/group housing due to the fact you have Autism and/or your IQ isn't in the in the below average range (again I'm trying to teach my self the stuff that teachers failed to teach me the first go around) Just for the record I can drive I own my own car manage my own finances shop and cook I was told by the person whom screened me for autism that I am indeed high functioning tho the doctor vochab suggests my IQ is again in the low average

So I am confused and concerned about my future~

I don't think independent living is out of the question for you. Especially since the cost of living in the South tends to me considerably lower than that in the North.

By having a "low average IQ," you've been tested as being "average" in intelligence. You have not been tested as being "below average" in intelligence.

The vast majority of people with "low average IQ" are able to live independently.

There are many people who have "borderline" IQ's or below who live independently.

Even people who test in the "moderately intellectually disabled" range frequently live semi-independently, and are able to hold jobs. You're not even "intellectually disabled" at all, according to the tests you were given.

And always remember: you have people with college degrees who make a living working at Walmart or something of that nature. It's no shame to have ANY kind of job. There are people who obtained medical degrees in their home country who make a living doing menial jobs in the US. And those medical degrees are legit; foreign schools frequently have more stringent requirements than American schools.

You've had jobs before. All you have to do is account for the gaps in your employment. Maybe say your father was sick or something, and that you had to take care of him.

What I'm saying, Joel, is that you have to have confidence in yourself.

Low average IQ is still considered normal and people who are borderline intellectually impaired which is also considered normal but below average also live independently.

I almost wish I didn't go though with the battery of tests for vochab it just seams that their report is more askew then what I believe to be the truth and I'd challenge them on it but it would go nowhere.
Most people tell me I'm 'smart' (even tho I don't feel it nor can detect if it's a 'white lie') and that I have a strong vocabulary (often use words that normal people don't use) despite the fact what their tests told me I have deficits with my IQ in the low average with great variances.

>What I'm saying, Joel, is that you have to have confidence in yourself.

kraftiekortie, I've been placed in classes in middle school that were geared towards those whom truly had various ID issues I've been told I was ret*d in middle school which was a kick in the nuts. I've been in special ed pretty much my whole life been in classes I shouldn't have been in because nobody officially tested me for Autism despite the fact I had the signs nobody had any clue what the phuck was wrong with me so they did a lot of guess work I had XYZ another teacher or doctor would say no no I think it's ABC the only thing that was consistent were a few guesses maybe he's Autistic...

I guess when one had been exposed to such elements for such a long time one start to question himself then having teachers talk down at you kinda led me to believe that maybe their right (even tho deep down I know they were wrong) and then to have something really bad happen to me when I was 6 and in 1st grade It's no wonder why I have self esteem issues and that trying to sort through them to the present day and now having reports form vochab (which at least to me) backs up what my teacher's have told me when I was 12.


On the upside my new math teacher actually said that I'm smart today despite what I didn't know I am trying and she see's the struggles and ambitions of me wanting to do math but yet not getting it as fast as rest of the class she knows I have Autism am borderline dyslexic and have dyscalculia she actually researched it over the past weekend to better help me thus she's working with me more 1:1 while the class is doing their own thing and reworking math problems into ways that I can understand If I had more teachers like her I wouldn't be the mess that I am today.

Still in the end....I feel that I am 'normal' in a few ways I know that because of the Autism I'm weird in a few other ways but it's what is officially on g0ddman paper that makes me feel that I'm not normal or less then normal and being that it's on record I can't challenge it... (another scar if you will) Anyways thanks for letting vent guys I normally internalize things and I'm coming close to the point where I'm going to explode so for me at least this is somewhat therapeutic.

with your budgeting, driving, and cooking skills you should be a shoe-in to live independently. you don't mention hygiene and cleaning, but i'm thinking you just assumed we'd figure you could do those.

There has been Down Syndrome people that go to college and earn masters degree. Jenny Hatch has an IQ of 50 and is able to do most independent things like a woman of the same age, which is the normal range and she graduated high school.

I'd still like to know what the hell those numbers mean and how they relate to the real world at present and possible future goals I have planned.

It basically means you're good at reading and bad at math (because they didn't teach you enough math when you went to school).

Perhaps, anxiety came into play. Maybe this is behind your relatively low scores in memory tasks. Anxiety tends to screw up your memory.