Well, calmom, do you know anyone who has actually taken the test as a teenager? If you had, then maybe you’d be less dismissive.
My D took the test at her own request. Actually, she didn’t know about the organization. She asked me if there was a test that told you what you were good at and what sorts of careers might be good for people who were good at those things.That’s really what Johnson O’Connor is aimed at. I called the Parents’ League in New York and it recommended Johnson O’Connor.
The test doesn’t focus on what you’re bad at but what you are good at. Moreover, many aptitudes aren’t really “bad” or “good.” I know I didn’t explain that well, but usually “weakness” also aligns with certain careers.
The tests don’t really say “You should do this” or “You aren’t good enough to do this.” it’s more a matter of saying you score way above average in X, Y, and Z aptitudes but below average in N aptitude. A number of successful people in the following fields:, and _ share this aptitude pattern.
Writing is a skill and the test isn’t about skills, so it would never tell you something like “I shall never be any good at writing.” And it won’t say “you can’t do math” either. What it might tell you is that your spatial perception is below average and that 97% of architects tested score in the top 10% on the spatial perception test. Obviously, there are some successful architects who don’t. But maybe it’s not all that bad to know it might be a struggle for you. (These numbers are made up; I don’t know the real ones.) And if you understand that your spatial perception is weak, you might do better in geometry if you build some 3-dimensional models rather than relying on the 2 dimensional renderings of 3 dimensional figures in your textbook.
I’m not trying to talk anyone into taking the Johnson O’Connor tests. I’m just saying that it gave me some insights into my child which I don’t think I would have had otherwise and it suggesting investigating career options we had no knowledge of. That said, my D didn’t end up doing any of them!
Still, I think the test helped by giving her and her parents some insights into her strengths and weaknesses that I at least would not have had without it. You CAN improve your skills by practicing and JO’C stresses that.
I most definitely would NOT recommend the test for an autistic child.