3 ms·

What was the testing criteria? My assessment took several days, totalling around 8 hours of time in the clinic. A lot of interviewing and cognitive assessments

What was the testing criteria? My assessment took several days, totalling around 8 hours of time in the clinic. A lot of interviewing and cognitive assessments. I'm not sure if that's standard, but maybe that gives you something to contrast it with. I left the experience with a fairly hefty document describing my abilities/disabilities along with various recommendations moving forward. I also received an IQ test result which was strange to see, and I actually would have preferred not to see it.

cpsns 4y ago
I had to fill out a huge document (30 pages) going over my childhood and adult life, issues I face(d), and all kinds of other little things, as well as some multiple choice assesments. My mother had to fill out another set of documents (10 pages) about me. They required any and all report cards I had as a kid. I had to get that all together and done before I went, because the clinic is a 2.5 hour drive meaning it wasn't practical to spend a ton of time there. The actual clinic time consisted of an interview that took ~2 hours and seveal tests. The only test I remember clearly was something called the CPT test, because I thought what they were asking me to do was actually impossible (don't press the X when it's shown). After that I had a follow up virtual call a few weeks later to discuss the results and they provided me with a document about all the testing, results, and steps going forward. In their own words I have "severe inattentive ADHD". My main issue is if you know exactly what to tell them of course you'll be diagnosed, it's not like a physical issue that you can't fake. Someone seeking a diagnoses just for drugs could easily have gotten it. Additionally it was a private clinic and I worry there was some incentive for them to provide the result they thought the client wanted.
missingrib 4y ago
> I also received an IQ test result which was strange to see, and I actually would have preferred not to see it. Why is that?
- steve_adams_86 4y ago
  I suppose the gist of it was that I felt stupid all my life and never challenged myself as a result. Then I found out I’m not, at least according to that scale. I had aspirations I didn’t pursue because I thought I wasn’t capable, for example. Lacked confidence because I believed I wasn’t competent. Suddenly I was faced with the notion that I wasn’t failed by genetics or something I couldn’t control, but rather, I’d simply lived for decades apparently completely unaware of myself and wasting my potential. What a strange thought. My score wasn’t exceptional. I expected it to be much lower, though. I’m still not sure how I feel. I wonder if I should do more with myself or not, if any of it even matters, that sort of thing. I suspect never knowing actually could have been better; it’s unlikely at this point that I could ever realize potential that I was previously unaware of. I don’t think it serves me at all. In a strange way I guess I liked assuming I wasn’t intelligent. I genuinely don’t feel intelligent.
  - pcthrowaway 4y ago
    You seem to be doing some kind of software dev (I skimmed your comment history). Curious if you got into that despite "feeling stupid" and not challenging yourself, and the IQ test came as a surprise in spite of that, or if you only decided to get into software after being confronted with being "not stupid"? For what it's worth, I don't actually think IQ is a canonical measure of intelligence, and the narrative people have of "being stupid" is often driven by society valuing certain kinds of intelligence more than others. But the kind of intelligence it takes to do software dev is more widely considered the "legitimate" kind of intelligence (by people who tend to view intelligence in more reductive, "black-and-white" terms).
    - annyeonghada 4y ago
      >For what it's worth, I don't actually think IQ is a canonical measure of intelligence, and the narrative people have of "being stupid" is often driven by society valuing certain kinds of intelligence more than others. Not only IQ is correlated with every positive prosocial behavior we, in general, value but every seemingly disparate form of intelligence is correlated to the others so we can, in fact, talk about a single form of intelligence that manifest in different form (generally named "g factor"). This is just the inherent unfairness of life. I wish it wasn't true and only your hard-work would matter, but it doesn't.

cpsns 4y ago

I had to fill out a huge document (30 pages) going over my childhood and adult life, issues I face(d), and all kinds of other little things, as well as some multiple choice assesments. My mother had to fill out another set of documents (10 pages) about me. They required any and all report cards I had as a kid. I had to get that all together and done before I went, because the clinic is a 2.5 hour drive meaning it wasn't practical to spend a ton of time there. The actual clinic time consisted of an interview that took ~2 hours and seveal tests. The only test I remember clearly was something called the CPT test, because I thought what they were asking me to do was actually impossible (don't press the X when it's shown). After that I had a follow up virtual call a few weeks later to discuss the results and they provided me with a document about all the testing, results, and steps going forward. In their own words I have "severe inattentive ADHD". My main issue is if you know exactly what to tell them of course you'll be diagnosed, it's not like a physical issue that you can't fake. Someone seeking a diagnoses just for drugs could easily have gotten it. Additionally it was a private clinic and I worry there was some incentive for them to provide the result they thought the client wanted.

missingrib 4y ago

> I also received an IQ test result which was strange to see, and I actually would have preferred not to see it. Why is that?

steve_adams_86 4y ago
I suppose the gist of it was that I felt stupid all my life and never challenged myself as a result. Then I found out I’m not, at least according to that scale. I had aspirations I didn’t pursue because I thought I wasn’t capable, for example. Lacked confidence because I believed I wasn’t competent. Suddenly I was faced with the notion that I wasn’t failed by genetics or something I couldn’t control, but rather, I’d simply lived for decades apparently completely unaware of myself and wasting my potential. What a strange thought. My score wasn’t exceptional. I expected it to be much lower, though. I’m still not sure how I feel. I wonder if I should do more with myself or not, if any of it even matters, that sort of thing. I suspect never knowing actually could have been better; it’s unlikely at this point that I could ever realize potential that I was previously unaware of. I don’t think it serves me at all. In a strange way I guess I liked assuming I wasn’t intelligent. I genuinely don’t feel intelligent.
- pcthrowaway 4y ago
  You seem to be doing some kind of software dev (I skimmed your comment history). Curious if you got into that despite "feeling stupid" and not challenging yourself, and the IQ test came as a surprise in spite of that, or if you only decided to get into software after being confronted with being "not stupid"? For what it's worth, I don't actually think IQ is a canonical measure of intelligence, and the narrative people have of "being stupid" is often driven by society valuing certain kinds of intelligence more than others. But the kind of intelligence it takes to do software dev is more widely considered the "legitimate" kind of intelligence (by people who tend to view intelligence in more reductive, "black-and-white" terms).
  - annyeonghada 4y ago
    >For what it's worth, I don't actually think IQ is a canonical measure of intelligence, and the narrative people have of "being stupid" is often driven by society valuing certain kinds of intelligence more than others. Not only IQ is correlated with every positive prosocial behavior we, in general, value but every seemingly disparate form of intelligence is correlated to the others so we can, in fact, talk about a single form of intelligence that manifest in different form (generally named "g factor"). This is just the inherent unfairness of life. I wish it wasn't true and only your hard-work would matter, but it doesn't.