Saturday, March 05, 2011

Neuro-psych eval

If you're ever feeling a little less than your best, because you: have a cold, had children, didn't get much sleep, or,say,had a stroke, I would not recommend taking an IQ test. That's what I did this week- over about seven hours on Tuesday and Thursday, I took a "neuro-psych evaluation", which pretty much amounts to an IQ test.I've known this was coming-it was mentioned on my first day at the rehab hospital. And i know all of this was done with very good intentions- to help pinpoint cognitive deficits caused by the stroke. On the whole I've been pretty lucky on that front - at least in terms of my own perception of my cognitive abilities. And I was discharged from speech therapy (which included cognitive testing and exercises) after about a month in rehab. So that was a good sign, too. I won't have the results of this battery of testing until close to the end of the month, but based on what it felt like, I am struggling a bit with short-term memory(especially strings of more than five number)s and concentration, and my spacial skills(i.e rearranging shapes in my head)- never my strong suit- have not improved. And I should brush up on long division. On logic, language, and comprehension I felt pretty good. Basically, I'm a modern human who will continue relying on the tools of modern living: Post-Its, spellcheck, and calculators. BlogBooster-The most productive way for mobile blogging. BlogBooster is a multi-service blog editor for iPhone, Android, WebOs and your desktop

4 comments :

  1. Sounds like you're doing about as well as I am...and I didn't have a stroke. My memory and concentration have gone steadily downhill since having Cyrus ;)

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  2. Having a kiddo with an IEP in school, I am well familiar with neuropsych evals. My kid would agree with you 100%...they suck. I can share with you that the 30 pages of results you'll eventually get don't mean jack shit. No one remembers things in groups of five...it's just not done. Phone numbers are groups of threes and fours; SS #'s...3-2-4; Lot numbers on hamburger 38 digits and no spaces - this is because they don't really want you to return your recalled hamburger, but I digress. Bottom line..you are awesome and long division sucks! Miss you! Melinda

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  3. Ah Ken, I am so glad the "you" that is YOU came through all this intact. You are funny! I'll bet your sense of humor is the best medicine you've got against the ick that is the rest of it. I'm sorry we missed your birthday brunch and the Kenapalooza because of our San Diego trip. I'm still exhausted from all the fun we had, but the mental break has done wonders to repair my flagging sense of humor. Hope to see you soon . . . keep on keepin' on!
    --Amy

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  4. For what it's worth, I've always been a numbers guy. Back at Sci-Fi, I could memorize IP addresses without really trying. Hell, I still remember the IP for our Icarus server that I haven't used since the 90's.

    Now fast forward 15 years. I've been trying to memorize some IP addresses for over a year and I can maybe remember one or two of the "dotted quad" bits on a good day.

    You and I are both still pretty sharp, but the old gray matter isn't what it was in our 20s.

    And it's great that you feel confident in your logic, language, and comprehension! Unless you're a rocket scientist or operating heavy machinery on a daily basis, those are much more relevant.

    Cheers,
    Jamie B

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