Oops, I've wandered too far out of my little corner in the ASD forum. Oooooh what's over here?
First things first: Hiiiii, I'm Snickie. (Hiiii, Snickieee.)
I got sidetracked in the ASD board, in the topic regarding AQ test scores, and someone pointed out that what I was describing sounded like it could be ADHD. Here's what I posted:
Quote:
Originally Posted by snickie
My problem with tests is that halfway through the test my brain goes into this hyperanalytic mode where I'm like, "Is this the answer that is true about myself or is it the answer that is true to some subconscious desire to score a certain way?" Because I know the typical behavioral traits of ASD and especially Asperger's, and I know exactly how each answer I put will affect my score, and I do think I am on the spectrum, but I also know I'm very high-functioning. So I'm always questioning the validity of my results.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by snickie
It's possible I have some sort of attention deficit disorder. I have lost some ability to focus on what people are saying as of late. Example: yesterday in [music] pedagogy class they were doing peer teaching, and my mind would latch on to when [Guinea Pig] was playing but as soon as they stopped and [Classmate] started talking (the one I was supposed to be taking notes on), it was like, "Nope. Not paying attention to you." And then [Guinea Pig] would start playing again and I'd be like, "I have no idea what [Classmate] just said."
|
I'm pretty sure in the latter I was more interested in remembering all the letters of the Greek alphabet which had nothing to do with the class. >>
Anyway, it's relevant to this topic because I am gifted. In my first elementary school we took a Standardized Achievement Test (SAT but not the college one) and one of the results that would come back was IQ, and I was always in the 135-145 range. When I was officially tested with the county (just before my transfer into public school), I scored 138 and that was without really applying myself, supposedly.
But as far as my teachers could tell, I was ADD. My preschool teacher once even brought it up to my mom that I was slow, probably had ADD, and my mom was like, "She can count to a million and your other students can barely even recognize the number 16. She's not slow." My kindergarten teacher recognized that I was gifted and knew how to work with gifted children, so that was a great year. The year afterward, the start of first grade, my parents would get frequent phone calls saying I had not been paying attention in class, stacking my pencil box and things like that. And my mom's like, "She's bored." And she took me to Sylvan Learning Center and had me tested to prove that I was actually really smart. And I was. (Somehow I have this mixed up in my memory because I thought the Sylvan trip had been done after I switched schools but maybe not. Also, this was when I decided that I really liked math and that has stuck with me.) I went to a different school for the rest of the year, apparently because of social issues but I was under the impression that it was because we had moved and we didn't want to drive as far every day. The new school was a Montessori school and all I wanted to do was color. All. Day. Second grade (at yet another school) was the end of the teachers-think-I'm-dumb streak.
It's different now though. Back then I wouldn't focus because I was bored and wanted to do something else. Nowadays focusing on some things, usually people talking, has become a conscious effort. Interestingly I don't have this problem in band, probably because I have an instrument in my hands and am actually physically doing something besides sitting and trying to listen, and the constant sensory input forces me to stay focused.
Anyway I've taken the ADHD test here before and have never scored beyond "mild ADHD possible" with more emphasis on the inattention subscale, even now that I've been experiencing these lapses in focus when people are talking. And that brings me back to the thing I quoted up above, about taking tests and knowing how each answer will affect my score.
Based on my incessant ramblings here, what are your thoughts?