What should I make of my IQ profile?
My Verbal Comprehenion Index is 134 at the 99th percentile (but my Vocabulary is in the 84th percentile, but my scores on Similarities and Information bring it up somehow). Also my reading comprehension is only in the 35th percentile, despite my high verbal abilities.
My Working Memory Index is 119 at the 90th percentile (Arithmetic is much lower than Digit Span though).
My Perceptual Reasoning Index is 107 at the 68th percentile.
My Processing Speed Index is 71 at the 3rd percentile.
I’ve been kind of stressed because of the unevenness between the four indexes, and I’m not sure if I’m smart or dumb. I was told my Processing Speed Index score was definitely lowered somewhat by my severe anxiety and moderate depression and OCD (not sure how depressed I was at the time though). I had also been smoking weed daily, usually a lot every day, for two years before my neuropsych eval, including after midnight the night before I took the test. I wasn’t high during the actual eval, though, although it must have still been in my system somewhat and could’ve affected my scores.
I’m wondering if anyone knows what sort of college or career path might be good for someone with these Index scores, and if there’s any way I can close the gaps between them. Also lmk if this is the wrong place to post this.
There are certain skills that are important in practically any job. Relating to colleagues, keeping your emotions in check, taking initiative, and having an organizational system are a few of them. There are also specific skills required in different fields, e.g. writing skills for a journalist. So you have to consider what skills you have. You should consider a career where visual spatial skills aren't very important.
I would suggest that you look at your greatest interests. What are you most inspired to learn? Take a look at your hobbies. Is there some interest you have that you would be willing to do full time, for free (assume this is possible for now).
Volunteering and interning, if you can do that, is really helpful in quickly realizing that the job may not be suited for you.
You could work as a counselor, a web developer, a cleaning guy, an english teacher, a journalist, i don't know...
Think of your strenghts and weaknesses and decide from there.
auntblabby
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Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 113,740
Location: the island of defective toy santas
I got my profile with my diagnosis, and the psychologist spent a bit of time explaining it to me. One of the first things he said he uses for diagnosis is that uneven performance in the tests, very high scores in some areas and very low scores in others ( I am 25th percentile visual processing, 30th percentile audio processing for example, but very high in ability to use words with very high vocabulary). What this shows is our unevenly developed neurology. I was reading before I could write ( by several years) for example... usually those things come along at about the same rate. He explained that my autism showed because my test scores were peaks and valleys. Evidently in typical/average neurology, things are known to proceed in a certain order, and our experiences do not match that, showing as peaks and valleys on the test charts instead of a fairly smooth level of performance across the chart (compare smoothly rolling low hills with no peaks and valleys image). I hope that makes sense, if not, I'll try again.
I have spent the last year (diagnosed in 2019 at 3 days before my 68th birthday) trying to understand how to use my best strengths and to find ways to "work around" the worst struggles. the test results have been good for that, showing clearly the things that cause me the most problems.
_________________
https://oldladywithautism.blog/
"Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.” Samuel Johnson
I want to add that test scores are only part of the career choice thing. Your high score in using words, etc may predispose you to working with words, writing as a career has endless possibilities. I think if I were younger I might have made a great research librarian, legal researcher, maker of instructions or pamphlets for corporations/ social groups which need to generate informational printed matter, much will depend on your interests and your people skills. I needed to work on "people " stuff but never got help with that because my autism was discovered well after I had retired from the work force. You can get therapy/coaching/ lessons for individual skills you might need once you sort out what will work for you. Sending best wishes.
_________________
https://oldladywithautism.blog/
"Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.” Samuel Johnson
You know, after my psychologist gave me my IQ score, I told her straight away it was wrong. I knew I was a lot smarter than that. And I could prove it with my work records and school GPA. She was testing me with stuff like American history. Knowledge is not equal to intelligence or wisdom. I say you just declare yourself above average and thus smart. Forget about the numbers.
Your only issue seems to be processing speed, that can be easily fixed by registering with student disability office (or something like that in your particular school). They can request extra time for you during tests or extension on big projects. Any teacher can give such accommodation easily. You probably won't need anything else to cope with college work. Good luck in whatever you choose! Oh and you can always change it if you find something you like better.
_________________
AQ score: 44
Aspie mom to two autistic sons (21 & 20 )
auntblabby
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Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 113,740
Location: the island of defective toy santas
Few takeaways here.
1) Your brain is pretty good. I don't know exactly what 134 verbal plus 107 reasoning is in GAI but its probably at least 120 which is more than a standard deviation above average. GAI is what people typically think of as "smarts," and is accepted by Mensa in place of IQ.
2) Your brain does not work very fast. This is a common problem for people with developmental disorders like autism.
So understand that when you encounter issues its a "speed" issue not a "smarts" issue. Career wise I would look for something where doing it right is more important than doing it fast, and that doesn't require a lot of real time thinking.
I have a similar subcategory disparity in that my VCI is 147 and my PSI is 93.
_________________
"Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is power."
Don't let this kind of thing bother you, you're still human.
I think if you're academically smart then you can financially support yourself which is your survival on this planet so you have nothing to worry about.
_________________
The term Aspergers is no longer officially used in the UK - it is now regarded as High Functioning Autism.
In terms of career choice, just go with whatever interests you.
The test is only telling you:
(a) You're going to need work-arounds for the slow processing speed, and
(b) You're smart enough to develop them
What I mean by workarounds are things like:
- having the confidence to ask for time to respond, or asking to respond in writing
- taking roles in which the accuracy of your work is more valued than speed of completion
that kind of thing.
Uneven subtest scores aren't abnormal for autistic people. Which test was the one that tested your reading though?
School and job tasks are very different from IQ test tasks, so you should choose a career according to your interests and strengths in schoolwork instead of the IQ test results. Research the job market and day-to-day life in the jobs that interest you as well.
1) Your brain is pretty good. I don't know exactly what 134 verbal plus 107 reasoning is in GAI but its probably at least 120 which is more than a standard deviation above average. GAI is what people typically think of as "smarts," and is accepted by Mensa in place of IQ.
2) Your brain does not work very fast. This is a common problem for people with developmental disorders like autism.
So understand that when you encounter issues its a "speed" issue not a "smarts" issue. Career wise I would look for something where doing it right is more important than doing it fast, and that doesn't require a lot of real time thinking.
I have a similar subcategory disparity in that my VCI is 147 and my PSI is 93.
Any idea if it is possible to raise your Verbal Comprehension score past the age of 20? I’ve heard that it is, but I wonder what would be the best way to do it and how fast I could do it.
'psychomotor speed in old age' link.
https://www.google.com/search?client=fi ... 2gQ4dUDCAw
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