Here is the article- it’s a 6 year old girl not 5 year old boy, sorry
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/12/08/us/declan-lopez-young-mensa-member-reaj/index.html

I saw an article in a local news station website the other day that was like, “5 year old is tested with IQ of 137” and the parents were interviewed , saying how they were trying to harness his gift and give him opportunities to meet his learning needs while still allowing him to be a kid, how he loves to memorize the periodic table information, etc.

It was so weird to me. 137 is of course a high IQ but wouldn’t even be eligible for most GT programs in the area. And memorizing atomic weights sounds more like autism/ 2e anyways. I was like why is this an article??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are confusing those stupid internet "LEARN YOUR IQ IN 10 SHORT MINUTES!!!!" tests with an IQ test given by a licensed psychologist. There is a big difference. The latter is among the most well-researched topics in psychology/psychometrics.

My kid had one done through the school in order to qualify for an IEP (learning disabilities). That's actually how we found out she has a learning disability- her IQ was 'high average' (114 - I think 80th ish percentile) but her reading scores were way lower than you'd expect for someone with that IQ (more like 10th-15th percentile).

Psychologists do not seem even remotely qualified to assess someone's intelligence.

Huh? Why not?

We don’t even allow psychologists to prescribe medicine.

For fun: who do you think is occupationally qualified to assess intelligence?

No one! IQ tests are bunk. This isn't the 1920s.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone find it surprising how many 3+ standard deviation IQs there are on this thread? I mean it's not a random sample, I expect it to be pretty skewed, but come on. Something is up with the testing or the dcum audience is much different than I thought.

No, it is not surprising at all. Title is about an issue. People with that issue or close to that issue are attracted to the title.

I’m a pp with a lot of friends and family who fall in this range. This is not coincidental at all. Intelligence is genetic and intelligent people tend to flock together.

It is also not shocking that there is so much testing in this range. Any time there is a large difference between the norm and a person’s experience, more testing is likely. I was actually first tested because of a speech disorder that made me seem slow. Once my IQ was discovered (only 130-135 but still), there were lots of opportunities for enrichment that included more testing. My child was tested to apply for private schools (which we ended up deciding against). My husband’s children were tested because they have severe problems in school - they have extremely high IQ (150+) but slow processing speeds, which causes a lot of problems. These are just a few examples of why one would be tested.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Research suggests more IQ is, on average, better in terms of long term career success and achievement. It’s not easy being super rare but the profoundly gifted contribute a lot to humankind.

Super rare? Nobody even takes IQ tests except average people straining for evidence that they’re special

you need one to get an IEP in APS. The delta between ability as measured by IQ and performance is an indicator. Also, the difference between different sections of the IQ test (2 SDs or more) indicate learning differences.

I wish I lived in a bubble world where I don't know this.

And when you do that you see that IQ is a useless as arbitrarily-weighted average of multiple domain specific tests that often have low correlation between them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone with a high IQ (not that high though) I have found it to be more a curse than a blessing. I’d rather be just above average. But we don’t get to choose.

+1. My kids are above average, but not as high as mine, and occasionally I have to check myself when they don't understand something intuitively that I would have. But ultimately I do know that it's a good thing for them to have to work a little harder day to day. They're bright enough that they will be able to do whatever they want, as long as they put the work in, but not so bright that keeping them challenged is a struggle or they can't fit in with their peers. Like a PP said, I think there's a sweet spot and life is easiest if you fall within that range. Particularly because college admissions and career success isn't a guarantee for bright kids anymore, so a strong work ethic and other soft factors are even more critical if your child has their sights set on that pathway.

This +1000. People actively hate smart people these days because in our current victim-loving culture, having a high IQ is considered having an unearned gift and privilege you don’t deserve. Way better to be just smart enough and very hard working.

It’s way better to be smart enough and very hard working because you will be way more successful in life. Humility, lack of entitlement (none of this “I’m 23 and have a higher IQ than you! I should be your boss!” thinking), and ability to grind when needed in addition to intelligence make people successful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Research suggests more IQ is, on average, better in terms of long term career success and achievement. It’s not easy being super rare but the profoundly gifted contribute a lot to humankind.

Super rare? Nobody even takes IQ tests except average people straining for evidence that they’re special

you need one to get an IEP in APS. The delta between ability as measured by IQ and performance is an indicator. Also, the difference between different sections of the IQ test (2 SDs or more) indicate learning differences.

I wish I lived in a bubble world where I don't know this.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks, everyone. Any more thoughts on the diminishing returns? Does the intelligence just “come with” with the mental health issues? Or is it something about how the gifted person is affected by the world?

When I look at the genetic line in the family that leads to this child, every person has/had emotional problems and few are at all successful. None seem on the spectrum but more crippled by anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and fear of failure.

To the PP who said it’s not that high, I see what you mean. None of these people exhibit savant-like traits or were even precocious readers. But they are extremely fast learners, amazing at puzzles, test very well with no prep etc.

156 is really, really high. 99.9905490555 percentile.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are confusing those stupid internet "LEARN YOUR IQ IN 10 SHORT MINUTES!!!!" tests with an IQ test given by a licensed psychologist. There is a big difference. The latter is among the most well-researched topics in psychology/psychometrics.

My kid had one done through the school in order to qualify for an IEP (learning disabilities). That's actually how we found out she has a learning disability- her IQ was 'high average' (114 - I think 80th ish percentile) but her reading scores were way lower than you'd expect for someone with that IQ (more like 10th-15th percentile).

Psychologists do not seem even remotely qualified to assess someone's intelligence.

Huh? Why not?

We don’t even allow psychologists to prescribe medicine.

For fun: who do you think is occupationally qualified to assess intelligence?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone with a high IQ (not that high though) I have found it to be more a curse than a blessing. I’d rather be just above average. But we don’t get to choose.

+1. My kids are above average, but not as high as mine, and occasionally I have to check myself when they don't understand something intuitively that I would have. But ultimately I do know that it's a good thing for them to have to work a little harder day to day. They're bright enough that they will be able to do whatever they want, as long as they put the work in, but not so bright that keeping them challenged is a struggle or they can't fit in with their peers. Like a PP said, I think there's a sweet spot and life is easiest if you fall within that range. Particularly because college admissions and career success isn't a guarantee for bright kids anymore, so a strong work ethic and other soft factors are even more critical if your child has their sights set on that pathway.

This +1000. People actively hate smart people these days because in our current victim-loving culture, having a high IQ is considered having an unearned gift and privilege you don’t deserve. Way better to be just smart enough and very hard working.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are confusing those stupid internet "LEARN YOUR IQ IN 10 SHORT MINUTES!!!!" tests with an IQ test given by a licensed psychologist. There is a big difference. The latter is among the most well-researched topics in psychology/psychometrics.

My kid had one done through the school in order to qualify for an IEP (learning disabilities). That's actually how we found out she has a learning disability- her IQ was 'high average' (114 - I think 80th ish percentile) but her reading scores were way lower than you'd expect for someone with that IQ (more like 10th-15th percentile).

Psychologists do not seem even remotely qualified to assess someone's intelligence.

Huh? Why not?

We don’t even allow psychologists to prescribe medicine.

All the .1 percenters flock to this thread at the same time

Does anyone find it surprising how many 3+ standard deviation IQs there are on this thread? I mean it's not a random sample, I expect it to be pretty skewed, but come on. Something is up with the testing or the dcum audience is much different than I thought.

People take IQ tests for all kinds of reasons.

A lot of families we know test their kid because they are struggling at some point. Usually there's NOTHING wrong and they are just finding a class normally hard or having a rough period but we live in an UMC area so everyone worries that if their child isn't perfect they have an LD. Sometimes it's to qualify for an academic program that requires testing.

I carry