Anyone in the know here about the claims that people with ADD are generally intelligent?

I have ADD (diagnosed at a young age) and have had all kinds of tests by neurologists etc etc
eventually had psychiatrists do more tests and then told that I had a very high IQ and should look at joining mensa (elitism however is not for me) and also told that a lot of folks with ADD have high IQs.

Now this I find quite ironic. How could one logically say ones intelligence is the consequence of a
mental disorder? My IQ I think is a case of having

a) a great open minded upbringing and exposure to math/education at an early age
good genes (both parents are professors)

Good question. A line should be drawn here. I too was an ADD child. Only I was never diagnosed. As far as my IQ, though, I don't know my ranking since I never took the test. However, on of my best buddies is a physician and many times I wonder how he got there. I mean, he's a good physician, but when it comes to even keeping-up with a conversation about any subject in general he's not at the same level as I am (I'm neither a physician nor a scientist). It can be about politics or any subject where a fare amount of intellect needs to be spent. Makes me wonder what's the difference between smart, intelligent, clever and intellectual. My final conclusion with my buddy the physician is that he was smart enough to stay in school while I was out skirt-chasing. But that's not smarts, is it? That's dicipline. And I know of many people (Henry Ford, for instance) who became successful at something without having even finished High School. That would make them smart or intelligent?... Or brilliant. Peter Jennings was a school drop-out, yet he was considered one of the best in his field (journalist, ABC news ex-anchor man).

No takers?...And what makes a genious, while we're at it. I've been looking for a definition that covers all possibilities. ie: animals, non-science related fields, such as genious comedians. Robin Williams, for example.

I don't view many of them as IQ disorders......just different ways of thinking (literally and figuratively).

I follow with the multi-intelligence perception.

See Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences:
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm

Thanks for the link, Lucid.

It's exactly the same thing for me! Problem is it's impossible to listen to those boring teachers ....

AD/HD is infact two different disorders according to Barkley (the main man behind research in the US). AD/HD-H is your typical hyperactive adhder, impulsive, disorganized, disruptive, this is the reason AD/HD is labeled a conduct disorder.
Then theres the AD/HD-IA group, these people in general seem slower in processing information (or possibly outputing the correct response), tend to be daydreamy and are considered "neutral" in most social situations. The problem with the IA group or inattentives is in being able to put the importance on the correct information, for instance an inattentive can have a conversation with someone and not remember a word that was said but rather remember what time a clock on a wall said or the color of a coffee cup, this is a true attention deficit but its not a conduct disorder.
AD/HD-C is a third subcategory but is generally thought to be what happens when hyperactives become adults and learn some coping mechanisms, they tend to exhibit a mixture of hyperactive and inattentive symptoms which in reality is probably just hyperactives "coping".

Whats the underlying cause/purpose of this problem? Thats the million dollar question but my guess is that its a mixture of things. 1. COMT Gene 2. Dopamine Receptor Deficit (see recent research on addiction) 3. Organic Brain Damage. A certain researcher type who i discuss this with in great length has led me to a conclusion that this may be a very small step in evolution thats simply been waiting to happen. Some of these people are really thinking on a different level as the rest of humanity and when properly given the chance to nurture their gifts are frighteningly capable of things most people couldnt do.

In this thread i am talking about real AD/HD not the millions of misdiagnosed people or people that fake a neural disorder to get drugs but the real deal. As for the AD/HD doesnt exist crowd, than if it doesnt exist i suppose autism is just a hand flapping disorder also?

Also for the record i dont belive in medicating children untill they're old enough to make the decision for themselves.

dohhh.... what were we talking about again?

Einstien failed highschool. You have to remember their is a diffrence between education and intelligence. My friend knew of one man who was a literal genius, his marks were so high in university that to this day they have never been surpassed (that was over 40 years ago, for one paticular university).

Yet, this man ended up a drunk and a homeless person after his wife cheated on him and left him, he was so upset that he started drinking and never stopped. Their is emotional intelligence, logical intelligence, so many kinds of intelligence really. Being good at school doest mean your smart, it means you pay attention and you work hard.

In fact, people with high IQs are likely to have trouble in school because its difficult to relate to others. Having a degree doesnt mean you will be successful either, University simply gives you tools - but what you do with them is up to you. Most of the time, people benefit from university because they learn how to apply what they were taught. Some people, like Henry Ford, aquire these tools through other means, their are diffrent ways people learn and not all of them are in a classroom.

In american society most people attend college because it gets them a piece of paper that supposedly proves their competence in a field. The desire to learn is non-existant...the desire to make money and drive trendy middle class cars is great though. You give people far too much credit.

Some of us learn to use tools but the rest just want a piece of paper.

IQ is subjective, some people grow up in a nurturing environment where they can fufill their potential and would do well on a formal type of intelligence test. Others live different lives or choose to express their intellect in different ways other than formal forms. There was a homeless man in my little town that had a vast knowledge of physics and quantum theory and was capable of math on a much higher level than i am but for some reason or another he was homeless, someone claimed he had burned himself out on lsd and once taught physics.

I suppose I am just another polymath in a specialists world.

ahhhhh.... but being a polymath is the new specialty. Interand transdisciplinary minds are now becoming the norm in most one myopic disciplines.