IQ'S

What is the normal IQ of an 11 year old boy?  Is 70 low? Is this normal because of the child having ADHA?
Please Advise Thank you

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

An IQ of 70 is at the top of the mild mental retardation range. Normal (called Average)IQ's range from  90 to 110. What this means is that approximately half the population show IQ's that fall somewhere in that range. One quarter of the population falls below 90 and one quarter of the population is above 110.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

I should add that ADHD does not directly have an impact on IQ. In other words, simply because a child displays ADHD does not have any meaning in relation to that child's IQ. Most people who display ADHD have IQ's in the Average range - their distribution is very much the same as the distribution in the poulation as a whole.

[tejodouro]

I am not a doctor, so I am not an expert. This is only a question. I thought that if the IQ test was administered when the child was not medicated for ADHD or if the person who administered the test did not take into account the ADHD by being patient and organized that the IQ score/result would be lower than the actual IQ should be?

[minniepearl480]

Thank you very much for all of your wonderful comments.  I do not believe my son is  mildly retarded. He is quite smart, funny child who has developed a problem with not having an interest in the  subject he will turn off and he will not retain anything.  He does want to learn and wants to be smart.  I think he never understood the 1st and 2nd grade materiel this has inhibited him from learning things now.  The school curriculum is harder and goes alot faster than when I was in school.  I don't understand half of the work and I did well in school.Not honor roll but was a B student.  

Do you all think that A Tutoring Center will help him?  The school has expressed they would adjust his curriculum so he can do better.  I was thinking that maybe they can be the ones to go back and re teach him the fundamentals of Math, Reading, Spelling.

Thanks for Listening

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

The fact that your son did not grasp the fundamentals in the first and second grades invites the question of why that occurred. There can be no doubt that tutoring will be of some assistance. It is also important to clarify, if it has not been clarified, his intellectual status and also if he displays any learning disability that is impeding his learning.

[tejodouro]

Did the school evaluate him? did you have him also evaluated by a private specialist?  as the doctor mentioned it is important to understand why he did not learn the material up to now.  if it is ADHD, the school should make accomodations for him and he should be close to grade level. Here are some examples of the help that the school can make per your request: he should sit in the front of the classroom, next to a peer that is a good student and can serve as a role model. the teacher needs to make eye contact with him and make sure that he undersatnds what she/he is saying by making sure he is paying attention.  he also should have an IEP (assuming you live in the USA and he is in a public school) that pulls him from the classroom during the day for x amount of time to be taught one-on-one in the Resourse Room by a special needs teacher that makes sure that he understands the material and finishes his classroom work.  If he does have ADHD or ADD, you need to consider medication, fish oil, extra vitamins (C and B complex), lots of exercise and sleep, and healthy diet.  In addition, he needs to be evaluated by the school and/or a private specialist to make sure that he does not have any additional learning disabilities such as dislexia.  You need to advocate for your child and do not let the school "leave him behind" in his academic work. Make sure that you undersand if something can be done about this learning disability and make sure that he gets the help that he needs. If he does have ADHD/ADD, you need to make sure that his IQ was correctly scored to begin with.  If he was not paying attention during the IQ test and/or the person administring the test does not understand ADD, the score could be low or not correct.  In my opinion, if you can afford a private evaluation, it is always worth getting a second opinion by a child specialist that understands ADD and learning disabilities in children.  Always be an advocate for your boy by undersatanding all the help available and the menaing of the IQ score versus any disabilities.  The help that you obtain for him now will make a big difference in his academic life and his ability to be a productive adult.