My hunch is that she probably is both. Her lower IQ score the second time around may have been due to ADHD symptoms. Your intelligence level is not supposed to change but your IQ score can change. If you are not feeling well one day, having trouble focusing, distracted, etc. your score may come out lower. They have done studies showing that those with untreated ADHD have lower IQ scores by anywhere from 5 to 15 points. Their intelligence is the same but the score does not reflect this.

I am 47 years old and was only diagnosed with ADHD in April. My IQ is 147 and I graduated 10th in my high school. I went on to get a college degree in Accounting. There were times that I "felt" stupid, yet I knew I wasn't. I didn't know why that was. My sister, who is a pharmacist, and was valedictorian of her class, felt the same way too, like she was stupid. We both realized that one of the reasons our ADHD symptoms were not apparent to us or to others was due to our intelligence and how we compensated for our symptoms. We were able to do well but not as well as we would have liked. We both felt that we were incapable of going further with our education. We both had trouble with reading comprehension, especially in college when the texts were more difficult.

Now that I am on medication, I realize just how much of a difference it makes. I finally feel smarter and capable of understanding more complex subjects. I would love to become a neuropsychiatrist but at this point in my life, my circumstances and responsibilities (without even taking into account the time and money involved) are not conducive to attending school full time for the 8 years it would require.

My reading comprehension, working memory, organizational skills and ability to prioritize have improved tremendously. I am able to express myself better, and my thoughts are more cohesive and organized. I used to dread writing papers in school (I'd rather have my teeth drilled) but it isn't as daunting of a task now.

It's not as easy to recognize ADHD in girls and women who are inattentive and in very intelligent people. The inattentive symptoms can be quite different than those with hyperactivity. Also inattentive girls and women have more internal symptoms (including possible anxiety and depression). They are usually not behavior problems. I was able to function okay relative to many people, but not as well as my IQ would indicate. Now with the medication, I have faster mental processing and I feel more confident. I had anxiety as well and that also helped to mask my ADHD symptoms because I was so concerned about doing well in school. When my anxiety was treated a few years back, my attidtude changed regarding constant worrying. Then I began to show a little more of the ADHD symptoms.

By the way, we have a neighbor who has an IQ that is over 180 and he has ADHD that is very obvious. your first impression of him is that he isn't very intelligent. The confusion, disorganization, and lack of social skills give off that impression.

If your daughter is having problems with doing homework, applying herself, hates school, appears to be lazy, messy, etc--those are all classic signs of ADHD. Everything you mentioned points to ADHD. My son and daughter both have inattentive ADHD, as do I and when my son went on medication I saw immediate changes. Once on medication when I asked him to do something he did it immediately. In the past I had to remind him a dozen times and even then, he would still forget to do it. I thought he was lazy and misbehaving. Until I saw the change in him.

If your daughter has already been diagnosed with ADHD by a professional and two teachers have noticed signs, then my guess is that she is both intellegent/gifted and ADHD. Once you find the right medication and the right dosage, I think you will see a big improvement in your daughter.

Elaine

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Hi Tracy:

Welcome to the ADDitude forums. Elaine posted a great reply above, and I agree with much of what she noted. I'm just adding a few ADDitude articles that delve a little deeper into diagnosing girls, finding the right medication, and some other non-medical treatment alternatives -- good reading that you might find helpful as you navigate this maze with your daughter:

Girls and ADHD: Late Diagnosis, Little Treatment: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/1626.html

Diagnosing ADD ADHD Girls: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/1691.html

Little Miss Diagnosis: Girls with ADHD: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd-web/article/592.html

An Accurate ADHD Diagnosis for Children: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/1591.html

Getting an ADHD Diagnosis: 3 Common Mistakes: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/1876.html

Top 10 Questions about ADHD Medications... Answered!: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/1592.html

Treating ADHD with Behavior Therapy: An Alternative ADHD Treatment: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/651.html

Can Diet Ease ADHD Symptoms? Nutrition As an Alternative Treatment: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/859.html

More about alternative treatments: http://www.additudemag.com/topic/adhd-treatment/alternative-adhd-therapies.html

I hope this helps!

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It maybe alittle of both. If gifted any work given that is reviewed can cause her to protest and refuse to do it. When I was in grammar school I tested at the 4th grade at a junior year college level with comprehension. However when they tried to put me in the advance class, I totally protested and refused to do anything because I like the way the slower class teacher taught. They were more animated and worked harder to engage us. It really suprized them to find on a good day my IQ was 169 and on a bad it was 130's. It all depended on my mood. I have taken many exams and I would usually do very well in them ; however I struggle with advance math. It will get worse as she gets older if they do not find a way to engage her. If she isn't engaged she will not do her work. This is for both the gifted and ADD child. There is a book about raising gifted child and it maybe to advantage to read it. I would take her to unbiased psychologist and have her examined that way they have no idea about her or her previous testing. If she is an attentive type she may need a stimulant like Ritalin. Also make sure she get pleanty of exercise it seems to help.

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My son is 16 been on adderral stratter seem make him more agressive and also the aderral. I talk to his doctor he off the stimulant medication. he currently on attend and amoryn he takes both all natural his doctor said fine I told his teachers and the nurse he will no longer will be taken stimulant anymore. and its been doing a wonderful. no outbust just great the website www.vaxa.com and other is www.amoryn.com you can use deprex or amoryn.

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As with the others, I wholeheartedly agree that your daughter is likely both gifted and ADHD. I tested well within the normal range on group IQ tests, but in the top 2% on individual. I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 16, and the hyperactivity was recognized with I was 23. No medication, though, until after college (unfortunate). Nobody thought, in high school, that a girl getting mostly A-'s was underperforming! I also displayed a lack of initiative (as I remember it). I was not one of those driven young geniuses you see on tv shows.

I'm not sure what to recommend to help your daughter. If she can learn to love learining new things just out of curiosity, she'll be set for life. It would be best if she didn't feel like she was being directed or encouraged or pushed into things, or if she feels mommy thinks she needs to be "fixed "to be acceptable. Tricky, I know. Maybe displaying intellectual curiosity yourself a love of learning will eventually be seen as normal.

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