BigJimSlade
Filing Flight Plan
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2021
- Messages
- 12
- Display Name
Display name:
BigJimSlade
Good afternoon.
I'm enrolled in a 4 year college starting this September. I started the process to get the my Class 1 Medical in January. I took ADHD meds as a child and haven't taken them for years. I took the first battery and was asked to come back for the second. I was told that I did fine on the ADHD sensitive parts of the screening. In fact, it was "high/normal." Apparently I didn't do well in the cognitive part if it. To be honest I had no idea was to expect at the test and was all out of sorts that day...and was pretty anxious about the whole process. That thing where you have to add the last two numbers they give to you really flummoxed me.
All of the doctors that have worked with me - my HIMS AME, the neuropsychologist, and another neuropsychologist (for second opinion of testing) have all set the same thing - they're confident that I'll pass everything the next time around.
It's been recommended that I go to "cognitive training" with a doc to work on what I wasn't good at. I was told that it's a 3 hour per day commitment for several months. I'm set to go to college in mid August. That's a lot of time, and a lot of money to spend on classes that are 1) not flying, or 2) related to flying that could be "throw away" if, for some reason, I don't pass. Even if kick butt on the exam (I was told the FAA doesn't like it if you retake it less than 6 months after the first attempt), due to COVID, the FAA is taking forever to get things done, and I bet I won't hear the official word from the FAA until maybe December or January. Maybe later.
An option I'm considering is to delay entering college until the spring semester. Fall semester I'll spend doing the cognitive training and working full time. The cognitive training is very expensive, as is the testing, etc. This way I'll be able to focus on the training while being able to pay for it. I think being a freshman at a college and being away from home for the first time will be a big enough distraction...and it'd be hard to put in the cog training while in that situation.
I'm not sure what my question is. Maybe it's "what do you think of my plan?" Or, perhaps, it's "does anybody else have any other ideas?"
Thanks!
I'm enrolled in a 4 year college starting this September. I started the process to get the my Class 1 Medical in January. I took ADHD meds as a child and haven't taken them for years. I took the first battery and was asked to come back for the second. I was told that I did fine on the ADHD sensitive parts of the screening. In fact, it was "high/normal." Apparently I didn't do well in the cognitive part if it. To be honest I had no idea was to expect at the test and was all out of sorts that day...and was pretty anxious about the whole process. That thing where you have to add the last two numbers they give to you really flummoxed me.
All of the doctors that have worked with me - my HIMS AME, the neuropsychologist, and another neuropsychologist (for second opinion of testing) have all set the same thing - they're confident that I'll pass everything the next time around.
It's been recommended that I go to "cognitive training" with a doc to work on what I wasn't good at. I was told that it's a 3 hour per day commitment for several months. I'm set to go to college in mid August. That's a lot of time, and a lot of money to spend on classes that are 1) not flying, or 2) related to flying that could be "throw away" if, for some reason, I don't pass. Even if kick butt on the exam (I was told the FAA doesn't like it if you retake it less than 6 months after the first attempt), due to COVID, the FAA is taking forever to get things done, and I bet I won't hear the official word from the FAA until maybe December or January. Maybe later.
An option I'm considering is to delay entering college until the spring semester. Fall semester I'll spend doing the cognitive training and working full time. The cognitive training is very expensive, as is the testing, etc. This way I'll be able to focus on the training while being able to pay for it. I think being a freshman at a college and being away from home for the first time will be a big enough distraction...and it'd be hard to put in the cog training while in that situation.
I'm not sure what my question is. Maybe it's "what do you think of my plan?" Or, perhaps, it's "does anybody else have any other ideas?"
Thanks!