Vocational Testing - Results Meeting

I met with the guy that did my aptitude testing, along with my vocational rehab counselor, to discuss the results of all that testing I did.

The testing was not as helpful in narrowing down my interests and possible work options as we had hoped. It was still a valuable experience. Basically it was clear that I had trouble with endurance and that environmental things like lighting and sound had a major impact on how well I was able to work.

A very positive thing to me was that, all things considered, I actually scored phenomenally well on the intellectual tasks. The things that should have taken one day of testing took me much much longer to complete but given enough time I did just fine. The next objective will be to work my way up to part-time employment in some type of job that I might find satisfying. I am not looking for a job with a huge income but I do need to wake up and have some purpose in my day with somewhere to go. Sitting alone at home is not good for me.

I must tell you that I was originally really scared that all my cognitive and intellectual issues were going to be permanent.  

 I was going to be stuck with a lot of glitches, particularly in math and anything involving spatial orientation, and that those  memory issues would prevent me from ever learning anything new. This testing showed that I can do almost anything, but now I do it slower and it takes a lot of my energy.

Like anything where you don't have baseline tests, this process simply gives a snapshot of where you are in that moment. It doesn't reflect where you were and what you have lost or where you will be in the future but it does give you somewhere to start.
An example would be that the tests showed that I have some issues with manual dexterity so that knocked out certain categories of jobs. It doesn't show all the years of playing piano or rapid typing when I considered myself to have really good manual dexterity.  Part of my job depended on good hand-eye coordination. It doesn't show the months of trying  to hang onto an object and move it from one spot to another or trying to even remembering that I have a left hand that I should try to use.

My counselor and I talked about what to do next. I am going to start with a 6 week computer course at the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities (SMD). It starts at the beginning of January and will go every afternoon for 3 hours. There is no question that I have some computer skills but I am mainly a MAC user. This will get me some experience with a variety of Microsoft programs and give me documentation that I have  computer experience. The other big objective is to try and build up my stamina with time.  The hope is that, like so many other issues, I can gradually learn to cope with the challenges ahead.