when i was fighting my way through the grueling neuropsychiatric tests that led to my being diagnosed with adhd, add and asperger syndrome (i was *totally* exhausted after each appointment at the psychologist's), it soon became *very* clear to both me and the psychologist that my test results were going to be *very* loop-sided: i was/am linguistically "gifted" with a verbal iq of 123, but my visuo-spatial iq's only about 80...

i struggle every day with the main consequence of this impairment: i'm absolutely *useless* at finding my way (even in areas that i know *very* well)...
for example: i've been to my doctor's office once a month for almost three years, but i'm *still* having troubles finding my way out of her office...

anyone else struggling with things like this?

:(

(here's a link to a website which lets you exercise/train your visuo-spatial intelligence: http://www.ul.ie/~mearsa/9519211/)

Large splits between Verbal and Practical IQ indicate a nonverbal learning disability, which seems to be at the heart of the neuropsychiatric differences between AS and HFA...

Like many other LDs it's quite frequent in ADHD as well... as executive functions are part of what is measured in the practical IQ, someone with ADHD may be expected to do worse there, although many concentration issues will also interfere with the verbal IQ values.

For me (AS, not "officially" ADHD) my profile is totally scattered, ranging from below average to genius level, evening out (total IQ) at high average.

Gabriela! Why don't you and I learn to know each other? To bad you live so far away, we could co operate and be good at half the stuff ;) I have a very high visual IQ but my working memory and other stuff was a catastrophy. The differance in my IQ-scores was HUGE, 100 points between highest-lowest score :o I have a learning disability that makes me read very slow and I can't remember what I read, I also can't remember what ppl tell me if I just listen to them. Like if you tell me "What is 1+2+5-7? I'd have forgotten it after 1+2... :p

I was also tired after the tests, my doc was surprised the first time after I did TOVA and almost fell asleep during the test! :o

piupau: how about if i give you 23 of my verbal iq "points", and you give me 20 of your visuo-spatial iq "points"?
:D

Sounds like a good idea. :D

Oh, yes. I'm horrible at pretty much everything that requires spatial judgment-- I can't judge the boundaries of a car when I'm driving; I can never remember my way around the very city I live in, and even a map confuses me to some extent... sometimes I just feel like I'm hopeless. ::sigh::

Not me, but my Mom does. Oh, my God! She is the only person that I know that has this problem so marked. When she drives she gets lost in places where she have been many times before, etc.

I had a co-worker who got lost if he entered a mall or something, he didn't find his car after that, didn't know what entrance he'd come through and stuff :)

Lol.. I can generally find my way if it's someplace I have been many times before, but I have a lot of the same issues. Let's just say, I was glad the doc led me out to the waiting room the first time I went to his office... :-)

I have also had that experience of not being able to find the car when I go to the mall. Or, sometimes I know generally where the car is but can't find the right exit to get to it. :P My mom has had the same experience. She only goes to specific stores and always parks in at least the same general spot.

When I was learning how to drive, OMG, I had such a hard time. Fortunately, I have been driving almost 15 years with no accidents, so I have gotten better. Still can't parallel park worth a s*** though.

I've also got nonverbal learning disability (34 points difference between verbal and performance IQ). Fortunately it seems to be rather mild compared to how bad some people have it.