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Before I empty my thoughts on the subject, I'll add that last year I was diagnosed with ADD, and even though at school I was an A student and recognized as being "smart" for that reason, I'll admit that, objectively speaking, I am not very intelligent.
An intelligent person is a person who reads text and remembers almost everything he read. Or a person who goes to class and listens to the professor and doesn't need to study because he already learned everything he needed to know just by listening to the professor. Or a person who can think on his feet and can quickly and effortlessly conjure up answers to complicated open-ended questions.
People who can do that are people I consider "intelligent".
But having the ability to hyperfocus on a subject and spend most of one's waking hours thinking about it like a maniac (which is more or less what I did back in the day when I was a student and school was the only outlet that allowed me to display my "intelligence") does not indicate that the person has a high level of intelligence. It just means that unlike all-around stupid people, they are too obsessive and too stubborn to accept that they lack the mental ability to easily grasp complicated concepts and absorb information.
So, in conclusion, I don't think that the average ADDer is very smart. My guess is that the average ADDer is less intelligent than the average neurotypical, and the few ADDer who are actually intelligent are the ones who stand out and unwillingly project the mistaken notion that the average ADDer is smart.
Before I empty my thoughts on the subject, I'll add that last year I was diagnosed with ADD, and even though at school I was an A student and recognized as being "smart" for that reason, I'll admit that, objectively speaking, I am not very intelligent.
An intelligent person is a person who reads text and remembers almost everything he read. Or a person who goes to class and listens to the professor and doesn't need to study because he already learned everything he needed to know just by listening to the professor. Or a person who can think on his feet and can quickly and effortlessly conjure up answers to complicated open-ended questions.
People who can do that are people I consider "intelligent".
But having the ability to hyperfocus on a subject and spend most of one's waking hours thinking about it like a maniac (which is more or less what I did back in the day when I was a student and school was the only outlet that allowed me to display my "intelligence") does not indicate that the person has a high level of intelligence. It just means that unlike all-around stupid people, they are too obsessive and too stubborn to accept that they lack the mental ability to easily grasp complicated concepts and absorb information.
So, in conclusion, I don't think that the average ADDer is very smart. My guess is that the average ADDer is less intelligent than the average neurotypical, and the few ADDer who are actually intelligent are the ones who stand out and unwillingly project the mistaken notion that the average ADDer is smart.
The person you described sounds to me like someone that is above AVERAGE intelligence. A person with ADD has average intelligence or above, but not being able to do the things you mentioned isn't indicative of being below intelligence level. I hope that made sense, LOL.
w99w, a parrot can be trained to memorize words and spit them back on command. There's no intelligence necessary for it. It's a skill, and even stupid people can learn to memorize information and be given a trigger to spit the information back out again (such as - Columbus's ships: Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria. Year of sail: 1492).
Memorization skills do not equal intelligence. It also doesn't take intelligence, to look up "intelligence" on google and learn what it means.
Doll Eyes, people with ADD are not smarter than everyone else. ADD doesn't measure or determine intelligence, it's not a sign of intelligence. It's a brain function, a synapse misfire, a missing filter, a skill, depending on how you want to word it. ADD stands for Attention Defecit Disorder. It's an attention-span thing, a focus thing. Very smart people - and very stupid people - and lots of people inbetween - have ADD.
People with ADD are no more or less intelligent than anyone with, say, a missing left big toe. Or mood swings. Or a vestigial tail bone. Or brown hair.
w99w, a parrot can be trained to memorize words and spit them back on command. There's no intelligence necessary for it. It's a skill, and even stupid people can learn to memorize information and be given a trigger to spit the information back out again (such as - Columbus's ships: Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria. Year of sail: 1492).
Memorization skills do not equal intelligence. It also doesn't take intelligence, to look up "intelligence" on google and learn what it means.
Doll Eyes, people with ADD are not smarter than everyone else. ADD doesn't measure or determine intelligence, it's not a sign of intelligence. It's a brain function, a synapse misfire, a missing filter, a skill, depending on how you want to word it. ADD stands for Attention Defecit Disorder. It's an attention-span thing, a focus thing. Very smart people - and very stupid people - and lots of people inbetween - have ADD.
People with ADD are no more or less intelligent than anyone with, say, a missing left big toe. Or mood swings. Or a vestigial tail bone. Or brown hair.
I'm aware ADD isn't an IQ test. I didn't say they were smarter than everyone else. Read again.
Before I empty my thoughts on the subject, I'll add that last year I was diagnosed with ADD, and even though at school I was an A student and recognized as being "smart" for that reason, I'll admit that, objectively speaking, I am not very intelligent.
An intelligent person is a person who reads text and remembers almost everything he read. Or a person who goes to class and listens to the professor and doesn't need to study because he already learned everything he needed to know just by listening to the professor. Or a person who can think on his feet and can quickly and effortlessly conjure up answers to complicated open-ended questions.
People who can do that are people I consider "intelligent".
But having the ability to hyperfocus on a subject and spend most of one's waking hours thinking about it like a maniac (which is more or less what I did back in the day when I was a student and school was the only outlet that allowed me to display my "intelligence") does not indicate that the person has a high level of intelligence. It just means that unlike all-around stupid people, they are too obsessive and too stubborn to accept that they lack the mental ability to easily grasp complicated concepts and absorb information.
So, in conclusion, I don't think that the average ADDer is very smart. My guess is that the average ADDer is less intelligent than the average neurotypical, and the few ADDer who are actually intelligent are the ones who stand out and unwillingly project the mistaken notion that the average ADDer is smart.
OK, let's deconstruct this idea that you have. First of all, you have only one definition for intelligence, but are you aware that 1/6 of people with learning disabilities are gifted? I know that ADD isn't necessarily an LD, but it's often found with them and people with LD would not be able to do the things you mention either, even if they tested out at the genius level. Either that or they may be able to do some of those things--not all--or they would do them differently.
As for listening to the professor and learning everything you need to know, there is this: almost everyone with ADD also has what's called an auditory processing disorder. Did you ever wonder why someone could give you a piece of info like "meet me at 12th and Vine at 12:00 on Sunday and we'll get coffee." Only problem is you heard Saturday and will swear to your dying breath that your friend said Saturday except this has happened too many times with too many variations for you to believe that it's anyone's problem but your own so you have probably figured out ways to get around that problem, like having your friend write it down or something.
There is also this problem with listening to the prof lecture--I don't care how interesting and engaging this person is, your mind is going to take off on all kinds of rabbit trails. You'll be going along and listening and the prof will mention something interesting and you'll relate it to something else you've thought about or read about or it will be an entirely new and interesting idea and you'll be busy in your mind making a little place for it but the attic has too much disorganized furniture so you have to move a lot of stuff around to make room for it. By the time the lecture is over, you've covered 5x as much info as the average student but let's hope the tests aren't based entirely on the lectures--I would advise all people with ADD to steer clear of these types of classes unless you have a good friend that takes fabulous notes.
As you can imagine, this is the sort of mind set that particularly leads to creativity. So my question is, do you consider an intelligent person someone who is creative or someone who has a good memory? I would consider them both intelligent but in different ways. In a company, someone needs to audit the books and someone needs to come up with the creative ideas that breathe fresh life into a stale company. In today's world, we've been taught to honor the intelligence of the auditor and not the big idea person, unless they're famous and then we wonder what trick of fate made them that way.
Oh, and funny little story about hyperfocus--my SIL and I were down at mom's farm packing up dishes for a huge auction coming up. We ran out of newspaper to pack them in and grabbed a tub of old fabric that wasn't even good for quilting and began to cut that up. Did I mention that I have ADD and my SIL has OCD? And yet we get along, lol. So she was all hyperfocused and cutting as fast as she could and suddenly I looked over and yelled STOP! She was getting ready to cut up a silk pashmina scarf that just happened to be stored in a tub of old fabric! I have worn that beautiful scarf all winter and we laugh about it all the time. Neither one of us is stupid and we are both valued by our employers, but my SIL has been invaluable in getting mom's paperwork done and me, not so much. If I thought she was a dishonest person I'd be in trouble b/c she could do anything she wanted and I'd never know it, so in that, yes, maybe I'm stupid. But, I have a little thing that she doesn't and that's the gift of insight into peoples' character and I'll bet you have it too.
You sound young and I'm betting that as you live your life you will start to realize what your strengths are, but just realize that they're not always obvious, or they may not show up until you actually have a chance to use them. Like for me, I'm great at navigational skills, but I never had a chance to know that until I went on a couple of trips.
w99w, a parrot can be trained to memorize words and spit them back on command. There's no intelligence necessary for it. It's a skill, and even stupid people can learn to memorize information and be given a trigger to spit the information back out again (such as - Columbus's ships: Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria. Year of sail: 1492).
Memorization skills do not equal intelligence. It also doesn't take intelligence, to look up "intelligence" on google and learn what it means.
Doll Eyes, people with ADD are not smarter than everyone else. ADD doesn't measure or determine intelligence, it's not a sign of intelligence. It's a brain function, a synapse misfire, a missing filter, a skill, depending on how you want to word it. ADD stands for Attention Defecit Disorder. It's an attention-span thing, a focus thing. Very smart people - and very stupid people - and lots of people inbetween - have ADD.
People with ADD are no more or less intelligent than anyone with, say, a missing left big toe. Or mood swings. Or a vestigial tail bone. Or brown hair.
It is not true that ADD is unrelated to intelligence.
you know why?
Because ADD is formally diagnosed with a neuropsychological evaluation, which is essentially an IQ test. Based on the results of that IQ test doctors can tell if the person has ADD.
It is not true that ADD is unrelated to intelligence.
you know why?
Because ADD is formally diagnosed with a neuropsychological evaluation, which is essentially an IQ test. Based on the results of that IQ test doctors can tell if the person has ADD.
Albert Einstein had ADD, so did/do a host of other well known individuals:
The person you described sounds to me like someone that is above AVERAGE intelligence. A person with ADD has average intelligence or above, but not being able to do the things you mentioned isn't indicative of being below intelligence level. I hope that made sense, LOL.
You said what I bolded, of your quote. You linked ADD directly to intelligence. There is no link between ADD and intelligence. You inferred that people with ADD can't be of -less- intelligence. That was your claim, to the OP, who claimed that people with ADD are less intelligence. Your answer implied that he's wrong, that people with ADD are -not- less intelligent.
Your answer is incorrect.
People with ADD can be of average, or above average, or below average intelligence, because ADD has no link to intelligence at all.
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