Questions about IQ testing (for those of you who have had IQ tests)

[kimical]

A little background info: I have been going to therapy for almost a year now. I have been diagnosed with ADHD inattentive type, OCD and mild depression. I take Vyvanse when I wake up and Remeron an hour before I go to sleep. The vyvanse wears off at around 3 or 4PM and I am usually a little irritable and preform tasks slower and my ADHD worsens.

I took an IQ test at the mental health clinic and the person who performed it said that as of right now the results showed I had an average IQ. I was much higher than average at verbal reasoning, vocabulary, the photo sequence thingy (I forget what it's called but you put pictures in order) and the "find what's missing" photos. I did poorly on math, working memory and matrix reasoning. She said my math score was so different than my other scores I almost qualified for a math learning disability. She said that if I had put the puzzles together faster I would have had "superior intelligence" because I put them together right but I took too long to do it. I actually took longer than the designated time limit. Also, she said my working memory, math and matrix reasoning was effected by ADHD. I told her my medication wore off and I function poorly when that happens. I start to have intrusive thoughts mixed with ADHD "brain noise".

She said she can't score it yet thought because she needs to run more tests. I have to take two more tests, one that scores how severely my conditions are and one that deals with autism.

This is where my questions come in. Why can't she score it yet? If someone didn't have my issues wouldn't she be able to score it without further testing? What do these test have to do with my score? I asked her all of these questions and she didn't have time to answer them. I was wondering what this has to do with my score. Have any of you had any of these issues? For those of you that have taken an IQ test, did you have to have further testing?

 

[kimical]

I should have also told her there was a clock ticking in the room that made it impossible for me to think while taking it.

 

[Rachel]

IQ tests seem to not be very good at measuring our abilities, for the reasons you described. There are distractions. There are timers. There are people looking for you to answer things the "right" way when sometimes no answer option seems "right". I wouldn't worry too much over it. We have very good intelligence, but the IQ test was designed for NT people, not us. I know this is said all of the time, but Einstein was considered "retarded" and flunked out of 4th grade. Obviously not because he was stupid, but was perceived that way when in a NT setting. So please don't worry too much over this. Let the shrink do her tests and just take it with a grain of salt. It won't be accurate. It won't reflect your true intelligence. Know that your worth is more than a number that supposedly tells you how smart you are.

 

[epath13]

I never believed in IQ tests. On good days my IQ test result can be 184 or 186 don't remember on bad days 100, what I'm saying my functioning is so different from day to day it's crazy. Sometimes I have problems answering the simplest questions because I'm having some sort of an "episode" or "symptom" ... so screw it... it's not what your numbers say, it's not how smart you think you are or how smart other people think you are it's what you do with what you have!

 

[tlc]

Yes like my college engineering instructor, who I think was the best instructor I ever had. He was always relating engineering applications to things like restoring his old Corvettes. And he always said it's not how much you know, it's knowing how to find it when you need it. And the first thing that pops into your mind isn't always the correct or best answer, people who excel at something usually explore many avenues first, rather than give a knee jerk response. Which is exactly how I am. Yes I remember the things I have done. And there is a lot I don't know, but when it is needed I can usually learn it and figure it out. It's not always quick but it gets done so it works. My ex's folks used to ask me to do things, but then at the end started saying no more because I took too long. I guess their choice, they can either spend $400 on a new throttle body at the Ford dealer, or have me spending a few hours cleaning years of crud buildup so it doesn't stick anymore, for free.

 

[Hurting89]

It's been said to be anywhere from 98-106 for me. Which is probably close to to the truth as my learning and range of abilities are rather dull to mediocre.

 

[Slithytoves]

I have taken both the WAIS III and IV and the Stanford-Binet II and III. I used to be a very active member of MENSA and proctored their entry test for a while in the city where I lived.

Do you know the name of the battery you were given? There are a few different reasons why a psychologist might want to do further testing. Not knowing exactly which test you took, exactly why she gave it to you, and what you told her afterwards about your distractions, I wouldn't want to guess.

It's actually not true that the major IQ tests aren't designed for people on the spectrum. There is no bias in the tests that would affect a high-functioning neurodiverse person without comorbid conditions, including the timed element. In fact, a friend of mine who is both an Aspie and has a PhD in neuroscience argues that standardized IQ tests may well be biased in our favor for the unique ways in which we normally think.

I don't think IQ tests are the be-all and end-all of measuring all types of intelligence, but I think they're pretty darn good at what they do claim to measure. How some mental health professionals and third parties use the information is another story, and may contribute to the common impression that the tests are virtually worthless.

 

[Suzanne]

Which is why I am refusing to get a "professional" opinion on being an aspie for lol they need to be TAUGHT by us!

IQ testing is a load of rubbish! I know I would fair badly, because I would be under scrutiny, which always has a nasty habit of turning me into an airhead.

I am chatting with this lovely chap ( not an aspie), from Yahoo Answers and he reckons I am very clever. I asked him how he came to this conclusion and he just said: just the way you put things across.

 

[Slithytoves]

Which is why I am refusing to get a "professional" opinion on being an aspie for lol they need to be TAUGHT by us!

Is that your only reason?

 

[Suzanne]

Is that your only reason?

Not the only reason, but certainly the main reason: I have to travel too far and it just isn't worth it.

 

[Slithytoves]

Not the only reason, but certainly the main reason: I have to travel too far and it just isn't worth it.

So you don't have any faith that an NT could have the requisite knowledge/judgment to assess someone with an ASD?

Do you think a non-schizophrenic doctor can effectively diagnose schizophrenia?

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I can't help but think your view of NTs is a little bit supremist. I'd be interested to hear why you feel NTs aren't as capable as we are. I can be objective. I'd rather understand than assume. It comes up a lot in your posts.

If you answer this, be careful. I don't want to lead you into posting anything that could get you in trouble for NT-bashing. I'm just curious about your reasoning. I hope the mods will understand that this conversation can (and maybe should) be had as a legitimate exploration.

 

[watersprite]

OP, I did take an IQ test during neuropsych testing this year. Unfortunately for me I had come down with flu the night before, and by the time I went in to do the rests I was in bad shape. I scored average intelligence, which kind of embarasses me because I was put in gifted classes from grade school on. (?) Then what freaked me out sensorally was the gal giving the test was overwhelming me with inappropriately timed chit-chat, her perfume, and her refusal to close the blinds which would have blocked sun glinting directly in my eyes. The doctor said that nevertheless they think they got good test results from me. My verbal scores were very high, math quite a bit lower, and the puzzles also took me too long. Also the puzzles on the computer hurt my eyes due to me having the flu and I sorta stalked out for a while, to get some air in the parking lot. Sorry, I digress, but the point is maybe further testing is a good, clarifying thing. I feel that my tests likely should have been repeated if I could stand to return there.

 

[Slithytoves]

If it helps anybody who has had trouble focusing when taking an IQ test, completion of every question on timed portions isn't required to get a good and fairly accurate final score. If you bomb your answers because of distractions, that's another story. It may be why the OP's assessor wants to do further testing, especially if they want to rule out a learning disability.

Assessors know that situational internal/external factors can affect concentration and performance.

Edit: When I proctored the MENSA entry exam, our local chapter's policy allowed for a free re-test if a person's score was within 10 points of the minimum membership requirement. That's a reasonable margin of error to take compromising factors into account.

 

[royinpink]

I haven't had an IQ test since first grade. It was the Weschler scale. I didn't have any problems...actually my scores were one of the reasons the first psychologist who saw me wanted to classify me as 'gifted' rather than 'autistic'. Sigh.

However, on the Test of Cognitive Skills, I sailed through everything but memory (like, there is more than a 50 percentile difference in scores). Of course, as someone with executive functioning deficits, whether it was a test more of working memory or of sequencing, I would not be expected to do well.

According to Tony Attwood, it's really common for autistics to have very uneven profiles. To be expected if dyslexia, dyscalcula, etc. are common comorbid conditions and we tend to be 'specialist' thinkers (visual, pattern, verbal, etc).

I've read that there is another IQ test that better captures autistic visual thinking. I think it applies more to individuals who have trouble with verbal expression, but I'm not sure. Does anyone one know what I'm thinking of?

 

[Slithytoves]

I've read that there is another IQ test that better captures autistic visual thinking. I think it applies more to individuals who have trouble with verbal expression, but I'm not sure. Does anyone one know what I'm thinking of?

You may be referring to the TONI test (Test of Non-Verbal Intelligence) that is used with non-verbal Autie children. It's more comprehensive for non-verbal communicators, but high-functioning adults with adequate verbal skills probably wouldn't find their scores to be all that different from those they would get with Wechsler or Stanford-Binet.

 

[royinpink]

You may be referring to the TONI test (Test of Non-Verbal Intelligence) that is used with non-verbal Autie children. It's more comprehensive for non-verbal communicators, but high-functioning adults with adequate verbal skills probably wouldn't find their scores to be all that different from those they would get with Wechsler or Stanford-Binet.

I think I'm confusing two different things. Michelle Dawson tweeted this study, saying "Mullen (often used as "IQ" in autism research) may underestimate autistic intelligence by about 1SD, vs DAS-II scores." I'm also currently reading Thinking in Pictures and probably mixed up something from that about visual thinking.

Cool to know there is a test of non-verbal intelligence, though.

ETA: It actually really bothers me that I can't sort this out, but unfortunately I don't have time to obsess at the moment.