Adult ADHD · 4:50
Intelligence and human capacity in adult ADHD
Intelligence, executive functioning and creative capacity, with support for discovering and using abilities that constant struggle can obscure.
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0:00A difficulty and a judgement
Never conclude that you are stupid because you struggle with planning, paperwork or getting started. Those difficulties tell us that something needs to be understood and supported. They do not give us a complete account of your mind. In adult ADHD care, I see how easily a specific difficulty becomes a global judgement. Someone misses another deadline and comes to believe they are incapable of doing anything properly. That judgement may have years behind it: being called lazy, careless or not trying hard enough. Therapy needs to examine that explanation as carefully as it examines the task.
0:40Different demands
It helps to separate the questions. Can you understand the problem? Can you hold the necessary information in mind? Can you organise the steps, begin at the appropriate time and continue through interruption? Can you respond at the speed the setting requires? These demands overlap, but they are not interchangeable. A person may understand a complex subject and still need substantial support to organise the work around it. When I talk about executive functioning, I mean these organising and regulating demands. The support should match the difficulty we have actually identified.
1:19Ability and executive functioning
Research with high-IQ adults provides a clear example. The ADHD group performed less well on several executive tests than the high-IQ comparison group, while their performance was still average against population norms. Strong intellectual ability and relative executive weaknesses can occur together. That selected study tells us about coexistence; it does not establish that ADHD makes somebody gifted. Other adult research shows considerable variation in cognitive profiles. A test score needs interpretation alongside the person's history, mental health, language, opportunities and daily functioning. We need enough time and curiosity to discover both ability and support needs.
2:07The breadth of capacity
There are many forms of human intelligence and capacity. I mean the breadth of what people can understand, learn and contribute: practical judgement, imagination, technical knowledge, making something with the body, recognising a possibility or finding a way through an unfamiliar problem. I am using capacity broadly here. A society that rewards a narrow selection of these abilities leaves much of human contribution unseen. We should be interested in what a person can actually do, how it was learned and where it can develop. Being efficient at administration is one demand among many.
2:47Creativity in its setting
Some adult ADHD studies have found advantages in generating unusual ideas, expanding a concept or making less use of supplied examples. The results depend on the task, the sample and sometimes the motivational setting. The useful clinical question is what sort of thinking this person can use productively. Someone who quickly sees a different possibility may need a way to record it, examine it and carry it through. There is a distinction between having a capacity and having the conditions to express it. Assessment should include real activity: what have you learned, made or managed well?
3:30Make the ability available
Celebrating what you have should become specific. A vague statement that everyone has strengths may offer little help when you feel defeated. Identify an actual ability, give it a place in the week and build support around the executive demands it carries. Written steps can reduce the need to hold a sequence in mind. A visible place for materials can make beginning easier. Another person can help establish a plan and notice progress while a routine is being learned. We are looking for an arrangement in which you can use what you have.
4:07Review without self-attack
This takes psychological work too. If every attempt is watched by an inner voice waiting to say, “You see, you are useless,” progress can be hard to recognise. Patience, kindness and awareness of that monologue allow a different review. What happened? Which part worked? What support was missing? Start where you are. You do not need to prove a special talent before you deserve support. Take your difficulties seriously enough to investigate them and your capacities seriously enough to use them. Confidence can grow through a manageable action, a workable system and a contribution recognised.