...with never before seen stuff! Buy it now on DVD!
Ok, maybe not. I just thought I would point out a few new things I've added. First, a link to my lovely wife's blog, JediMom. Lisa's professional life now seems to center on all things social on the internet. Whether it's digg, del.icio.us, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Yelp (to name a few), she has her finger on the pulse of it. As you can see, her blog has a point--a purpose--whereas mine doesn't (not like I had to point that out).
One of the social networking sites that I haven't scratched my head at is Yelp. I see the value of consumer opinion, particularly if it's the opinion of friends. Lisa is my only "friend" on Yelp, and I've written all of one review (reiterating my love for Whataburger), so it's not all that "social" for me. But I thought the Yelp applet was kinda nifty, so check back for thoughtful commentary about the places where I stuff my pie-hole.
Another new link of interest is The Simmons Family News, where Rob (law school and golfing buddy) and his wife Kristina share their view on life as proud new parents of their adopted daughter, Evelyn. Credit the high production value to Kristina, as Rob has demonstrated difficulty in simply turning on and off a computer.
The last new link of interest is to Neo-Neocon. I don't recall how I stumbled across this site, but I was intrigued by her story of transformation from liberal to conservative--a real neocon (a term regularly misapplied these days). What made her story even more intriguing is that she was a New England liberal and is a psychotherapist to boot. Ya don't see that every day. Anyway, I forwarded the link to Kelley in the hope of broadening her horizons, but thought I would share it with everyone else. She's an incredibly prolific writer, but well worth the time to read. It also cracks me up to think that behind that apple, she's really Lilith Sternin.
More posts soon. I'm getting back in the saddle and am currently fired up about IQ tests. More on that later.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
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6 comments:
Nice rundown and great info.
A blog with a purpose? Lisa is one of those overachievers isn't she. It looks really great and I know I will be checking out.
I really cannot stand MySpace or Facebook. I get why kids are drawn to them, though.
I didn't realize you were on LinkedIn until I found you on Spock some time ago. Both of those are more my style in that they are pertinent information driven. No likes/dislikes fodder. (And that I would only have one friend would be devastating to my confidence.)
I had not seen Yelp before! Too Cool! This has fun potential and I will be adding it to my blog(s). But I see some legal ramifications. What does the law cover when the lines between opinion and slander blur?
Yes, she is *the* overachiever. Note that I've updated the links with her various social networking profiles.
I can't bring myself to make the MySpace or Facebook leap either. I think it's because both sites expect users to post photos of themselves, and I'm just too shy to do so. ;)
Spock... I totally forgot about that. I just updated my profile there.
The legal ramifications are minimal. Courts have held that the First Amendment protects statements of opinion, and there has been a growing trend of courts ruling in favor of "gripe sites," though I wouldn't say Yelp is a gripe site per se. In order to win on defamation, a plaintiff must show that there was a:
(1) a defamatory statement;
(2) published to third parties; and
(3) which the speaker or publisher knew or should have known was false.
The third hurdle is hard to clear.
What's the status on the IQ battle? We still haven't gotten Em's results.
Well, we're still in the discovery phase, so to speak. Meg took her test on Monday. I met with a psychologist in the same practice as the one you recommended. I had a good feeling about her; she seemed to understand my concerns and agreed with my conclusions about the situation.
So, the psychologist called yesterday and said that the results were unexpected. Of the four categories, Meg scored "high average" on perception, working memory and performance. "High average" doesn't put you over the 130 FSIQ threshold. However, Meg was off the chart on verbal (ok, 99th percentile, but the psychologist sounded very impressed). As a result, the pyschologist said the FSIQ isn't an accurate measure of Meg's intellectual function--that she operates at some order of magnitude higher than your average 10 year-old, but she doesn't think as quickly as your typical 140 genius. Smart, but methodical. I knew that.
What's odd is that apparently this huge disparity between the subpart scores may, in the psychologist's opinion, be evidence of a learning disability. That seems rather unlikely given Meg's academic performance. If it is, I want that "learning disability," because my GPA could use a boost. Frankly, I think the term "learning disability" is overstating the case much in the same way as saying synaesthesia is a "neurological disorder." Pshaw!
The psychologist recommended further testing, but I really don't see the point. She's a straight A student with very little effort on her part, and is anywhere from two to seven grade levels ahead, depending on the subject. Narrowing this so-called "disability" down to a diagnosis isn't going to change anything. No "treatment" can improve her working memory or her timed performance to a level commensurate with her verbal ability. In my somewhat informed lay opinion, the only way to do that is to continue to challenge her, which of course is precisely why I'm trying to get her into the T&G program.
I should get the psychologist's report in about two weeks. Hopefully by that time the school will have coughed up Meg's WASI results. Then I'll send a letter to Ms. Assistant Superintendant of Curriculum and Instruction, written in my best PITA parent voice, mixed with just enough legal formality to suggest that it would be ill-advised to trifle with me. We'll see how it goes from there.
And the plot thickens...
Got Meagan's WASI results and there's a transcription error, indicating she was underscored. I think I figured out the weighting in the averages, though it appears to have been a pointless exercise because it looks like you can simply divide evenly the sum of the T scores. Correcting the the 8-point transcription error gives Meg a 132.
Turns out Meg scored a 133, so she got in. I'm kinda glad I was a PITA parent and demanded to see the subpart scores. In talking with Meg's principal, apparently it's not uncommon for kids to take the test two or three times. It makes you wonder how many kids were denied an opportunity all because 1) test administrators may have less than desirable attention to detail, and 2) parents might give the "system" too much credit.
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