However, there is no clear link between ADHD and IQ. A person may have a high, average, or low IQ score and also have ADHD. ADHD may cause a person to interrupt in class or perform poorly on tests. This can cause other people to believe that they may have a lower IQ.
High IQ may “mask” the diagnosis of ADHD by compensating for deficits in executive functions in treatment-naïve adults with ADHD.
Executive functions have other roles which affect how someone thinks. In people with ADHD, these executive dysfunctions impact thinking in numerous ways. People with ADHD don't really think faster than people without it, but it can sometimes seem like they do. People with ADHD do think differently though, in a sense.
Living with ADHD is about monitoring your traits and actively working toward finding what works best for you. With the right support and treatment, you can create a life that allows you to reach your greatest potential.
Entrepreneurs. There are some well-known very high-achieving ADHD entrepreneurs including Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Walt Disney. Richard Branson had no interest in anything academic. Still, once he was able to harness his talents and imagination in his own way, he began to build a phenomenal business empire.
At Work or School
Research has found that people with ADHD have more creativity and idea generation than people without the disorder. 3 This can lead to outside-the-box thinking that is so important for innovation. Hyper-focus: Many people with ADHD become hyper-focused on things that interest them.
Research shows that in people with ADHD, some brain regions become “hyperactive,” whereas other brain regions are “hypoactive.” This suggests that there may be a problem with the brain's computing capacity to appropriately meet the cognitive demand of the task.
Brain MRI is a new and experimental tool in the world of ADHD research. Though brain scans cannot yet reliably diagnose ADHD, some scientists are using them to identify environmental and prenatal factors that affect symptoms, and to better understand how stimulant medications trigger symptom control vs. side effects.
Research has shown that in children with ADHD, the prefrontal cortex matures more slowly than typically developing kids. It is also slightly smaller in size. Similarly, the cerebellum, hippocampus, and amygdala are also thought to be smaller in volume in kids with ADHD.
How can you tell if your child is intellectually gifted, has ADHD, or both? This can be a challenge because the two share some commonalities. Children in both groups often have high energy levels and a low tolerance for boredom. They are frequently curious, creative and may enjoy high-risk activities.
High-IQ adults with ADHD seem to function well, but it comes at a high emotional cost. They feel burdened and exhausted, blaming their struggles on themselves, not on their ADHD.
We now know that individuals that fit into these categories not only have their own unique challenges, but they also share many similarities as well. Not only that, but they can occur together. In fact, about 50% of gifted children also have ADHD which adds complexity and additional challenges.
Adults with ADHD rarely fall asleep easily, sleep soundly through the night, and then wake up feeling refreshed. More often, ADHD's mental and physical restlessness disturbs a person's sleep patterns — and the ensuing exhaustion hurts overall health and treatment. This is widely accepted as true.
The average IQ for a 13-year-old is roughly between 90 and 109, with 100 being the average. The highest score is 145, and the lowest score is 61.
Autism is very distinct from ADHD, but the core symptoms of ADHD-Combined type, i.e., attention deficit, impulsivity, and hyperactivity, would appear to also be features of autism. ASD and ADHD are neurobiological disorders characterized by similar underlying neuropsychological “deficits”.
Yes, ADHD is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504). There are several types of disabilities, including but not limited to: learning disability. cognitive disability.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders affecting children.
ADHD brains smaller overall and in certain regions
For example, some suggested that the basal ganglia – an area of the brain that controls emotion, cognition, and voluntary movement – is involved. They found that two regions in the ganglia, the caudate and putamen, tend to be smaller in people with ADHD.
Brain Structure
The largest review ever of ADHD patient brain scans was carried out at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre and published in 2018. Parts of the ADHD brain mature at a slower pace (approximately one to three years) and never reach the maturity of a person who does not have ADHD.
The ADHD world is curvilinear. Past, present, and future are never separate and distinct. Everything is now. People with ADHD live in a permanent present and have a hard time learning from the past or looking into the future to see the inescapable consequences of their actions.
ADHD brains have low levels of a neurotransmitter called norepinephrine. Norepinephrine is linked arm-in-arm with dopamine. Dopamine is the thing that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure center.
Genetics. ADHD tends to run in families and, in most cases, it's thought the genes you inherit from your parents are a significant factor in developing the condition. Research shows that parents and siblings of someone with ADHD are more likely to have ADHD themselves.