ADD made me stupid? | ADHD Information

I found out the results of my IQ test, and now I really feel stupid to the point where I just don't want to try anymore. I just found out about my ADD about 2 months ago, but I've dealt with it for years. What is intellegence anyway? Why do we let others dictate and set standards for human thinking? So that humanity can have another reason to discriminate against those of us that are unique. To allow educational institutions that only accept those (" the elite" )who meet their definition of "intellegence".  The truth is that the human brain is one awesome mechanism, and it just seems to me like the fact that someone can tell you that you are either above or below intellegence standards is a pretty arrogant thing to do for a creature that has not even accomplished to utilize full brain potential. Ha! I think this furthers confirms humanity's narrow minded thinking. What next? We think we have it all figure out. "The Big Bang Theory" is the most accepted theory explaning the begining of our Universe, yet the "fundamental theory of Physics" says that energy can neither be created nor destroy. And, we, people with ADD and other mental "disabilities", can ponder this. Humm? I think that the definitition of a "LEARNING DISABILITY" should be changed to describe those who are "UNABLE" to understand the possibilty that the human brain can work in many ways and does not follow human made standars of operation.

I used to be a visionary. I am studying astro-physics, and eventhough I think much slower and am more inatentive than most, I was positive about my abilities even when I couldn't perform to society's set standards. Now, I feel like crap.  I am getting accomodations at my school, medication, and to be honest I feel like a retard. I am DISABLED: and I think they mean that in "like" not being able to ?? what? think, reason? . The medication does help though, but what they call ADD is still there. It is and will always be part of me. Eventhoug, I sound like a complainer,  I really fell depressed, nothing new of course. I have the desire to make important contributions to humanity. I don't feel like killing myself, but I am tired of living a life full of inadequacies, struggling to meeet the world's standars of thinking. I don't want let others think for me. I am me!  and will always be! By the way, my little girl has ADHD too. I am glad that I came here. Even if no one reads this. It is just nice to be around people as unique as you.

As a matter of fact high IQ is prevelant in ADHD people.  Just reading what you have written I would say you are far from intelligent.  You obviously think out of the square so you are a very unique person and obvioulsy talented in many areas.

IQ (intelligence quotient) is a misnomer.  Intelligence can't be measured, and any competent psychologist will agree.   IQ tests measure what a person has learned not necessarily his/her learning ability.  It has many factors including mathematical background, confidence, ethnicity, class, ect...Sometimes people with ADHD don't fair well on IQ tests because they don't have an interest in learning the topics covered in the test.  For example, most IQ test are mathematic and logic based, and if you are not interested in those two topics you are not likely to do well. 

IQ tests measure the ability to abstract, and it appears from your post that you don't have a problem in that area whatsoever.  People with ADD normally excel in higher cognitive functions that require abstraction. 

Ivil from your understanding of the broad social issues that affect us.. I believe you are intelligent!I HATED those bullsh*t accomidations to make you feel like you were some kind of freak.

"Sit away from distractions like moving lights or air vents"

That is total bullsh*t.
I'm sorry.
I rarely curse but I hate how I was treated like an animal.
Let anyone question your intelligence.
You're inside your head thinking about things they couldn't begin to concieve of let alone comprehend.
I can see your intelligence in how you write.
Just because you can't spit out facts doesn't mean you're dumb.
The only teacher I ever really respected as a person made me understand that.
He made me stand up in front of the whole class and he said "Dan has probally learned more then most of you, and dan whats your grade? ....uhh an F? " I think that was one of the proudest moments I've had in a while lol. It made me realize that intelligence isn't proving something, it's knowing something.


Belive me.
You define intelligence.
Not them. SubtractTheWack38386.2079398148

I was reading a university study done for a thesis at the Stockholm School of Economics. http://www.esbri.se/uppsats2_2001.pdf

The found that standard IQ tests aren't very good at predicting success in anything but the academic arena. In fact, the correlation between IQ and career success is dismal. They were looking for other ways cognitive characteristics could be used to better predict who would be a good entrepreneur.

In this case, they were studying entrepreneurs in the purely business sense, but I think it would also apply to inventors, explorers, astro-physisists! and other creative people who are the ones who push the limits of our current paradigm, regardless of the field.

They found a much higher percentage of the population of successful entrepreneurs were ADD/ADHD than the general population and set about identifying what made the difference. Intelligence was not it. People with ADD/ADHD were not significantly more or less intelligent than the other groups chosen (which included successful academics and successful managers.)

The cognitive factor that most affected success for the entrepreneurs was the ability to hyperfocus. Most of us have experienced that at one time or another. We can focus on something that interests us and that we feel passionate about to the exclusion of all external factors. People without ADD/ADHD weren't able to do this.

Other factors included:

We tend to overestimate our abilities before starting something, so where other people see potential problems, we only see opportunities. We are not flexible and don't learn from our mistakes. While that sounds like a disadvantage, when our strategy doesn't work, we don't try anything else; we just keep going. I guess when "common sense" would tell you to give up, not having enough common sense can be a good thing.

I always thought I was pretty intelligent. I received scholarships to top universities and graduated (not at the top of my class, but still!) and had a very successful career (several, in fact, because I kept changing my interests!  Then a few years ago, I took a standard IQ test and actually got to see my results. Let's just say that it's a good thing I didn't have my results earlier or I would never have believed I could do the things I tried (and succeeded at!)

Don't let poor results (on a test proven incapable of properly measuring your abilities!) convince you can or can't do anything. You have ADD! You are probably MORE CAPABLE of succeeding, especially in a field where you want to push the boundaries of conventional thought, than the people who are judging you based on their erroneous preconceptions.

Darlin'

All IQ test show is how good you are at taking tests.  You appear to be of normal to above average brain power, so don't fret.

ADD doesn't make you stupid, it just makes you feel that way sometimes.

I believe that books and learning are important but even with all the book knowledge you still need to have coping skills and life smarts..  I believe that the ones who have challenages put in front of them and are able to get through them are the smartest and best people to be around...

You have a gift and a curse, we all do.
However, if you choose to treat it like a curse that's exactly what it'll become.
Treat it like a gift.
There will be nothing you can't accomplish.There is actually no such thing as a "standardized" IQ test. You could take one test on one day, and another test on another day, and get two completely different scores. Too many factors will determine how you will score - the nature of the questions, your mood, the amount of sleep you've had, your stress level, what you ate that morning, your work station/environment, distraction level, the presences of anyone else in the room, ANYTHING.

I remember taking one test several years ago, and scoring about 114. I took another test a couple of years later and scored 137. IQ is supposed to remain steady throughout your life (at least I thought it was), so I'm not too sure what happened there. othe rtimes I have tried to get through other tests and have given up about haflway through because I just knew I was doing horribly and was afraid to see my result. Just goes to show how horribly innacurate and inconsistent these tests can be.

What is a measure of intelligence anyway? I have a friend with two university degrees, but not an ounce of common sense. I barely scraped through my first degree, and even "chickened out" to a three year program so I wouldn't have to go through with the fourth year, yet people come to me to get answers for all sorts of questions. Apparantly I present an "air of intelligence". LOL.

Please don't get so down on yourself. Your post clearly shows you are a person with great intelligence, and ability to think out of the box.

Personal drive is the single most important determining factor as to whether a person will be successful.