Hello, I am a college student who was diagnosed with ADHD innatentive type when I was in elementary school. I struggled in school a lot when I was younger but recieved a lot of extra help and that coupled with a lot of determination and hard work has allowed me to be successful in school starting around my sophomore year of high school. While I definitely agree with the ADHD diagnosis, I still have a lot of difficulties that are not related to ADHD. I have always felt like I have something else but could never put my finger on it. I was retested last year to see if I have something else but they said i did not. I saw that their was a 31 point difference between my verbal and performance iq and this seemed odd so i did some research and found out about nonverbal learning disabilities. I am now in upper level major courses in my college and am no longer above average on many assignments in class now that they are not just simple papers and multiple choice tests(i have an excelent memory). I am spending 40 or more hours a week at the library and really don’t have time for anything but class, studying and about 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night. here is a list of things difficulties i have(i excluded the ADHD ones because that would take forever). If anyone knows anything about Nonverbal learning disabilities i would really appreciate any advice you have.
-31 point difference between verbal and performance IQ (performance 89, verbal 120)
-one main problem is i take things too literally. i am told this frequently. in upper level college courses that require more higher level thinking this is becoming a big problem. i frequently am confused on what the essay prompt or question is asking and take the directions very literally
-i also tend to take jokes and things people say very literally and miss sarcasm
-i have definite social interaction problems
-group conversations are a problem for me. i can never figure out when to jump in. i tend to talk over people and when i do speak people often cut me off. i can never figure out how to jump into conversations and after a few tries i give up and zone out.
-i just cannot talk around people i don’t know or in big group settings where i don’t know many people. i have to be comfortable around people to be myself
-I am bad a small talk
-i never know if you should say hi to someone or not and don’t want to be rejected so i avoid running into people that i am not sure if they will say hi or not
-i have never had a lot of friends and have difficulty keeping friends for a long time although recently i have made a good group of friends and for the first time i have a “normal” sized circle of great friends who i hope to keep
-i often talk about things i am interested in a lot and don’t know when to stop. when i call home my mom says i never let her speak and it is like a monologue. i have very specific interest areas and this is how i have gotten such a good group of friends because i met them in a club and we all are very passionate about the same thing
-i avoid phone calls
-i hate hugs
-this is all i can think of regarding social issues at the moment but i believe there is more
-i tend to have a very good memory
-i can picture events vagly but remember what is said a lot better and have a very good memory for events and such
-i do great on multiple choice tests cause i can remember things very well
-math takes me a very long time and although i can memorize the steps and enjoy math where you follow a specific pattern i can’t apply or understand the concept well
-i have a lot of trouble with transitions
-i don’t like change and definitely have a routine i like to follow
-i like to have things planned as opposed to doing things sponaniously
-my hand writing is very bad
-i have trouble understand what is written often and have to re read problems and sentences several times
-i am very detail oriented
I just have no idea how to go about being tested for this and I don’t know if it is even worth it to be tested. Why didn’t the people bring this up or notice the huge gap between my verbal and performance iq last time i was tested?