Why did my IQ change so much?

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When I was a kid they said that I had language problems. They also said that I was a visual learner. Right now my verbal IQ is way higher than my visual spatial IQ. What the hell happened to me?

I'm not sure what change might have been effected in you over the years, but when I recently had an IQ test (as part of my autism diagnosis), the results were similar. My verbal skills were in the 99th percentile; my other skills... not so much. So at least your current results are probably typical for people like us.

High verbal, and relatively low visual-spatial scores, are at least somewhat indicative of Asperger's.

Obviously, not conclusive at all...

Interesting! I found my dx papers for a recent appointment and noticed something I never had before: that there was such a disparity between my verbal and non-verbal IQ (verbal being much higher) that it was noteworthy as an unusual thing. I didn't think that was necessarily a common autism thing since some autistic people are less verbal, but maybe on a certain plane at least it is.

I think I just discovered the answer. Having performance anxiety affects visual spatial skills way more than verbal skills. When I was a kid I probably just thought the IQ test was a game.

Could be . . . I doubt it, though. I suspect your visual-spatial skills didn't test lower because they looked any "worse", but becasue the rest of the world caught up to you. I mean, they're more normal for your age.

Also, I think some of us develop exceptional language skills as compensation for our "deficiencies" in other areas of communication.

Things can change at puberty, and once the prefrontal cortex develops (usually mid to late teens for women, late teens to early 20's for men).

Very interesting. I did have some massive changes occur in my brain during those times , i.e. puberty and early 20s. Could you give more details about what kind of changes occur during those times and are those changes different for NTs and autistics? Are there any resources you could point me to where I can read up on this subject?

It would be interesting for me to get a brain scan. That way I can see if I have real visual-spacial deficits or just terrible performance anxiety. I really suspect it's performance anxiety because I rarely get lost, don't have a history of visual spatial problems, I have excellent spelling and I enjoy 3d modelling and sculpture. I also suspect it's performance anxiety because I'm a huge perfectionist and performance anxiety has affected other areas of my life as well.

As a teacher of teens, 15 to 19, it's something we learn about - the prefrontal cortex bit. The part we are taught about is the action/consequences equation. In the undeveloped prefrontal cortex, teens don't think a lot about consequences because their brain isn't working that way yet. They can intellectualize it, but they don't respond to it. Which is why late teens and early 20's boys are known as risk takers, and don't often think about how they affect others. Of course, it's a generalization and depends on other factors.

As for the rest of your question, I can only go from my experience of my own teen years, and of watching the teens that I teach. I have seen massive changes in some, and almost no change in others. We do have a couple of students with ASD, but I can't say that these changes have been any different for them than for the rest.

As for resources, these are things I have learned from attending seminars. I can only suggest Googling or starting a topic on it.

It's called neuroplasticity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity

This isn't as uncommon as you would think, especially when people are still developing. Your brain is very much a muscle. My own case was pretty similar to yours, I used to have an overall IQ of 90 and now I'm a member of Mensa and Prometheus.

I researched that. It kind of makes sense, but I think that performance anxiety explains my situation as well. I want my IQ to be high again. I'm sick of constantly having brain fog.

From my own experience, there ought to be some significant differences in prefrontal cortex development of ASDs. I for one was not a risk taker at all compared to my peers.

Wow, that's a crazy huge leap in IQ. Did this happen in your late teens? What other changes did you notice around that time?

Why would you want a high IQ? Just do what ever you enjoy and your brain will adapt to it...

Because I've been unsatisified with my brain for a long time. Even before I took that IQ test.