I completely agree. I believe my son has a very high IQ.
Many forms of mental illness are accompanied by a high IQ, which seems to frustrate the ignorant observer. âSheâs so smart. Why is she wasting it?â
A schizophrenic family member of mine can hold a conversation with me about physics and calculus; I work in engineering, while the family member has never taken a course. Itâs all obvious to them. Itâs amazing.
The same person is a musician who plays any stringed instrument, has built violins for sale, and learned to play piano so well that others weep at the beauty of it.
The illness has drained the motivation for all of that to happen. It seems so unnatural. The intellectual and musical gifts have always been there. Its counterintuitive that those qualities would be muted. It makes me want to find answers.
Pertaining to the IQ issue, it shouldnât be one. If that information was requested of you, it might be a good idea to research whether or not it is lawful.
Good luck!
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My son has the ability to pronounce and name analogs and has chemistry smarts that impress his doctor. He will compare his drug charts on his door. I wish he could be well enough to use his smarts.
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My GF has DID or Multiple Personality Disorder along with schizophrenic paranoia. Her IQ is high and very intelligent. She is a manipulator like none other ( of course not with me though she tries) It can be with police medics Dr nursing staff. Some personalities will come out who are more simple minded depending on age of personality.
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Iâm going to research that a bit. Our son acts out like different persons sometimes and I wonder how common this is in Scizophrenia. Do you know much about it? What is DID?
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Dissociative Identity Disorder, used to be called Multiple Personality Disorder. Itâs when the person has alternative personalities that take over their body and consciousness. Check out United States of Tara and Split (2017) if youâre interested in seeing what itâs like.
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Thanks Doc was about to reply back.
When you think youâve see it all. Yes watching a movie or YouTube with people with DID Or MPD. Living with someone who has is very difficult. Takes you to another entirely new level
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No prob, you havenât replied to my PM by the way.
True, been there, done that.
Umm if you didnât get my response then who did?? LOL
Lol, no idea, but itâs been like 2 days.
My son is so different based on what kind of day he is having. Some days he is angry and muttering, other days heâs all flat effect. We donât see as many lighter days as there were a couple of years ago. Even on a lighter day when he wants to communicate, his speech may be quite jumbled and you can only pick out a word or two. He gets frustrated that I donât understand him.
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DID OR MPD is very real and I live it everyday for the last 6 years. She does lose time and other personalities just take over. She can be co-conscious where she sees and hears but can not engage me. She has caused bodily injury and then when sheâs back to herself she has no recollection of what happened.
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2 years after I knew my daughter definately had the diagnoses I filed for disability for her in our state of NC. She was a brilliant pharm-D student, scholarship all that (most people with schizophrenia ARE over the top BRILLIANT) and worked as a waitress but started yelling at her customers, accusing them of weird accusations, etc⌠I filed for disabilty for her because she is 23 and has documented admits to psyche hospitals/ER for the last 3 years, cannot bathe, manage anything. I got documents from her docs and brought her with me to DSS and they saw her, believed what they were seeing and she got disability. A whole 7 hundred dollars a month. That is not worth this post
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Mine graduated from college in 4 years, did a term abroad his third year, and completed one major and 3 minors during the four years finishing with a 3.4. Chemistry, higher maths, English, he could do them all really well. After college he drifted down into lower and lower level jobs, changing jobs frequently, complaining no one liked him, but always working.
He went to grad school and was unsuccessful for the first time. He found himself unable to speak at times and began calling me to tell me people were looking at him all the time. Sometimes I think they do draw attention from their behaviors which just reinforces their paranoia issues.
He had to have surgery for a physical condition that he continues to take medicine for every day. The night after his surgery was the first time we know that he heard voices. At the time the doctors thought the meds were the problem. They also thought the surgery had caused him to
"regress". Later when I asked for a psych reference to help him they suggested someone who was experienced with PTSD.
To get him on his feet, once again,we set him up in an apartment near a college and he studied to become a pharmacy technician. Originally he had studied to be a medical doctor. They just keep spiraling downward donât they? Somehow, he completed the course and was hired as a hospital pharmacy technician.
At first it went well, they gave him a good 3 month review, it went downhill quickly after that as his psychosis become more and more of an issue.
HIs psychiatrist saidhe still has his cognitive abilities - on the days he can access them, which are fewer and fewer as time goes on.
He got disability on the first attempt, I did the paperwork for him. Since he always worked low level jobs he also qualified for ssi. Thank goodness, that gives him medicare and medicaid which pays for his expensive meds for his physical condition.
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Reapply to SSI. Believe me they deny everyone the first time almost standard procedure. my son saw an absolutely fantastic psychiatrist when he was given SSI and she got him in. No problem he also has disorganized schizophrenia. He is totally unable to work. Do not be dissuaded from applying. Your daughter is the very reason SSI is there to cover. It amazes me that so many people are completely ignorant about what it means to have this disease and while it is different for each individual case, there is no doubt that my son is 100% disabled. Donât be discouraged. reapply.
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If you can find a competent neuropsychologist to assess her, you should give that a tryâjust make sure that the clinician uses a measure of adaptive functioning, ideally the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (2nd or 3rd edition). It has forms for parents and other to fill out. You can specify the problematic behaviorsâquite a long form to complete. Thereâs also the Vineland.
A good neuropsychologist would also do an extended interview with you as well as with your daughter, ideally separately (easiest if you have guardianship or POA, but also possible if she signs a release). You can describe the behaviors that most concern you.
An IQ is only half (or less) of an evaluation. Adaptive functioning (which includes executive functioningâthe ability to plan ahead and follow through to complete goals) is a major portion, and in your daughterâs case should provide enough info to get her the services she needs.
(Iâm a retired neuropsychologist.)
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Great information, thank you so much!
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From what I know even with those with schizophrenia with high iqs there are often areas in which cognitive functioning may be impaired. That is similar to people with learning difficulties/disabilities.
A high iq does not exclude difficulties with functioning that may have a bearing on whether a disability benefit should be granted.
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