My son is "gifted" wrote:
If, as an aspiring prof, you have time to pick apart a post to such lengths, you may be better off logging off and putting some time in toward your PhD aspirations. Nevertheless, to clarify (and this may be of benefit to some of you with kids) my son had what I thought was ADD or ADHD. While I feel both are very much over-diagnosed, as a responsible parent I took him to his pediatrician to ascertain if perhaps there was a problem, or if he just needed a kick in the butt. I ended up with a referral to a pediatric neurologist (neurologists deal with, among other things, behavioral disorders). After talking with my son for about 45 minutes and asking him questions of all sorts he left the room and came back a short time later with a manual. He then proceeded to spend an hour and a half administering what I would pretty quickly figure out was an IQ test (he later gave me the specific name of the test, don't ask me which it was). The questions ran the gamut; mathematical based, science, deductive reasoning etc.. While I knew the kid was sharp, when he started explaining the effect of the moon's gravitational pull on the earth (keep in mind he's 8) I started to pay closer attention. He went on to explain what an ecosystem is and discuss ecosystem ecology. Again, I knew the kid liked science shows but I had no idea he had been retaining so much. One of the final "questions" consisted of the doctor reading a lengthy, highly detailed and complicated article which was followed by him asking my son a single question, the answer to which wasn't in the article, but rather had to be deducted from the information given. By this time I was "playing along". I got the question wrong (In fact I wasn't even able to muster a guess), while my son nailed it without even pausing to speak. I sat there slack-jawed while the doctor tallied up the percentages and using a formula (again, don't ask me what formula, my specialty is law) came up with a final "IQ" of 160. He later assigned my son a diagnosis of "superior cognition", something that would ensure that my son's school would in effect be forced to provide educational programs geared specifically for him (as they do not currenly have any such programs at the elementary school he attends). Moral of the story: If you think your son/daughter has "ants in their pants" or like me was "sure he has ADHD", be sure to cover all your bases. You may be surprised what you find. You are correct in pointing out that in children an IQ assessment is indeed a mental/chronological age assessment. In sum, the doctor said my son could go from third grade to tenth grade (something his principal later pointed out was an option, but I quickly declined, and not just because I don't want to be doling out college tuition for a 12 year old). You may well be correct in your assertion of Einstein's actual IQ. That was my "research" and of course the validity of most sources can be disputed. I stand by my statement that 'many people have high IQ's' as "many" do, depending of course upon your definition of many. With one out of every 10,000 or so people at 160 that's 100 out of every million persons, or in NYC about 830 people. With regard to the original question, would I have my son cite this "score" on an application for a private school, or scholarship? Definitely no. I'm hoping that he turns this potential into something that is worthy of putting on an application. I also plan to address the "ants in his pants" by burning up his seemingly endless energy on the roads and trails with me, as he has taken a liking to running (Amen!).
Yes, there is research that suggests runners are in fact smarter than non-runners (and earn more too!).
Perhaps I have the time to deconstruct your post because my high IQ has made my doctoral program incredibly easy for me and obviated the need for much study :)?
The reason I responded to your post was because once upon a time I was that child with the high IQ. I grew up in a blue collar area, and my parents decided that to be normal I could not be enrolled in any special programs. I was sent to Catholic school, had 20 kids in my class, and was always incredibly bored. When I was about 15 I was given the Wechsler Adult Intelligence test by my sister, who had to administer a number of IQ tests as part of her requirements to become a school psychologist. I scored a 147, while everyone else she tested was under 120. Her professor was wary of my score, and thought she may have made mistakes when testing me, so he asked that I come in and take some other tests. He gave me a test called Raven's Matrices that had 36 questions on it and I got 34 right, which apparently confirmed my previous score. I reported this shocking turn of events to my parents, and they replied that they already knew I had a high IQ. They had taken me to a psychologist after I read a headline from the newspaper at age 3.
The upshot of this perhaps pointless story is that I would have been much more content as a child if I had been in a more stimulating environment. I had plenty of friends, was good at sports, but still I always felt out of place. It was of my parents' belief, however, that I would turn out weird if my upbringing deviated from that of my older siblings.
A 160 IQ is incredibly high no matter what psychometric is being used. Your son is probably showing these hyperactive symptoms because he is bored. Yes, it is important to learn to function practically, but it can be very alienating for a kid of 160 to be among a group where everyone else is less than 130. I realize this sounds pretentious, but think of it the other way around. If a child with an IQ of 100 was placed in a gifted class of kids all with above 130, he would definitely feel like the odd one out. Remember that Simpsons episode where Bart copies Martin's answers and ends up in the 'gifted school'? If you haven't seen it, suffice it to say it doesn't turn out well. It wasn't until college that I felt understood, and it was like a huge burden was lifted from me. So, while it is important to keep your son grounded, I do think that it would be beneficial to realize that his higher IQ is not just a boon, but something that will bring up other issues and necessitate its own kind of nurturing.