Was looking through emails I’d saved and found this comment re the WISC(intelligence scale for children though it might also apply to adults .
Generally the full scale score on the WISC III is the person’s IQ score.
However, when there is a gap of 10 points or more betw. the VIQ and
PIQ, the full scale score is not considered to be accurate. The bigger
the gap, the less reliable is the full scale score. The “true” IQ in
such cases is considered to be closer to the higher of the VIQ or PIQ
scores.
Therefore in a school situation, as regarding e.g. entrance into a
gifted program where there is a minimum IQ score required for admission,
and there is a large gap betw. VIQ and PIQ, it would be inappropriate to
use the full scale score when a large gap exists, but it would be
appropriate to use the higher of the two as the “true” IQ.
These comments were made by Larry Blim, a parent advocate for aspergers
For instance, someone may have a verbal and numerical ability level at I.Q. 160 but a spatial ability level at 130. An ignorant person, even a professional, may see the 130 and not realize it reflects an impairment, because it is so far above the average. But a gap of 30 points is severe and indicates a disability, even if the absolute height of the lowest number is in the normal or “gifted” range.
That’s what my tester told me. He said the deficit in spatial could be a result of my mental health issues and that he would still probably rank me in the superior range
Ah yeah. I mean technically I did have deficits but they weren’t very significant. Like my deficits in spatial caused likely by mental health issues only brought me down to average. And then I had another issue with switching concentration between tasks but he said again that was probably mental health related.
It’s been under debate w my mental health team lately over whether I have true psychosis or just a sleep disorder (narcolepsy can cause vivid hallucinations and a lot of other weird things bc your brain enters dream state at random) mixed with bad anxiety. We’re still puzzling it out!
They just recently changed mine from paranoid schizophrenia to schizoaffective bipolar type, and she said she wants to have another evaluation done because she thinks bipolar I with psychotic features fits me better than schizoaffective. So, they keep changing it, and I’m almost 24 years old. Shouldn’t they have figured it out by now? It’s all very subjetive. But this might explain why I am so high functioning, because bipolar is often much higher functioning than schizophrenia, and much less cognitive problems.
I don’t think a bipolar diagnosis fits me very well…I do not get mania…pretty much just depression. I do get pretty wild mood swings off meds but it’s from like being decently happy and content to wanting to die and hating everything and being angry, there’s no “super high” feelings in there you’d associate w mania.
I think I only got the bipolar type part of my diagnosis because I did have a hypomania episode when I started geodon. But that’s the only time that’s happened…
Oh, I get a lot of mania, and I can get into serious trouble during those times. Lots of mood swings. Then I crash and get so depressed I don’t even want to get out of bed for days.
It’s like they forgot all about my bipolar. But with antipsychotics my moods have been very stable so maybe that’s why. You’re lucky they’re helping you at 24. I started going into psych wards at 16. I’m now 40 and we’re still working on diagnoses for me.
And very wrong. IIRC, about 1/3 of people with sz don’t have measured cognitive deficits. It’s not in the diagnostic criteria, so he shouldn’t confuse the degree of cognitive deficits with the likelihood of having sz.
If that’s the consensus, it has to be an American thing, because it’s not the consensus at all over here. I haven’t even heard it once, but I have heard the opposite frequently.
On what basis did he say that? I have definite marked spatial deficits but those have been present for as long as I can remember. Were your spatial skills ok when younger?
Yes, and that it shouldn’t be used on it’s own to say whether sz is likely or not, given the large minority who don’t have cognitive deficits but do have sz. There’s a reason it’s not in the diagnostic criteria.
How do you know all this stuff?? O.o Did you have special education in this? Because a lot of things professionals or professors have told me contradicts things you’ve told me
I dunno he just said people with depression tend to have issues with this stuff LOL I should leave his number so you guys can take it up with him because I really don’t know much about this stuff
I wish I had taken an IQ test when younger. I was tested in basic skill levels like reading/writing/blah blah that everyone’s tested in but no IQ. I’d be interested to see any change.
I learned these things from professors who do research on schizophrenia (the cognitive deficit stats are also in a book I have), and I’ve brought up the part about not having measured cognitive difficulties and my sz diagnosis with my therapist and a psychiatrist. They both told me it wasn’t relevant to the diagnosis.
I think we need to make a distinction between something being a definite exclusion criteria for a diagnosis , and that thing being more present than not present in an illness.
Cognitive deficits are certainly relevant to the illness , and are probably the most disabling in terms of functioning.
In light of the question of such deficits I will make a poll.
