The wealth of knowledge I learned from this assessment, I admit, COULD also be because the assessor happens to be an extremely gifted person who can take whatever test results appear on a page and turn them into a practical understanding that brings it all to “life” for the “real world.”
[I recommend this DISC assessment professional without hesitation. She works by phone too, so you can find
What I learned about Claire from this DISC assessment is that she absolutely MUST learn how to “get herself grounded” whenever possible, for her results showed her as almost literally ready to “float off this earth!”
This means that it was essential for me to teach her HOW to get grounded, and for Claire, the best way has been for her to use Reiki techniques that teach her to stop, get centered, breathe deeply, and envision herself sending roots through her feet that go deep into the earth. This simple technique has quickly helped her to learn to calm her mind and settle her fears.
We have continued to use this constantly, and she has finally learned to now do it even in some “more anxiety provoking” situations for her. However, I admit that I am STILL constantly reinforcing it to her! But do know that the technique itself does work!
The other major things I learned about Claire through DISC are:
1. She needs a “plan” every day. She does well with a consistent schedule, so we are going to continue to use that free electronic Google Calendar for her, which we set up so that I can enter things onto it as well as she can.
2. Her primary motivation in life is to “serve.” No matter what I might do to try to steer her in life, I needed to remember to link it back to how it will serve OTHERS even more than it will serve her.
3. She needs to feel as if she’s a part of a community or team that is trying to accomplish a particular goal. She needs a high degree of contact with others. [Just as an aside: Claire in fact DOES do well on her own, but what she will DO with that time is anything that allows her to be “mindless” and “zone out,” which therefore in the end serves only to “depress” her. So it is ESSENTIAL that she gets a job that puts her out in the world in order to be happy.] She then, however, is also loyal to her community to a fault, and this can “hurt her” when she’s faced with supposed friends that are not supportive of her because it is never easy for her to “let go” of them.
4. She likes to be told what to do rather than plan it herself. This is why she needs to feel as if she is working on the overall goal of someone else’s “big picture idea.” But this is also why she doesn't make good use of her time unless she is outwardly directed! In other words, she is not a person to be “self-employed” (at least not at this point).
5. She doesn’t like conflict. Perhaps this is the other BIG THING that we found out about Claire from her DISC results. She likes “harmony” above all else! And although we technically KNEW this, her test results helped us to see JUST how important it is for her to have this in her surroundings. Harmony, to Claire, also means beauty in her surroundings … through appearances and feelings.
6. I also learned (which was often STRONGLY reinforced through my own personal experiences with her), that Claire takes directions best when the steps are NOT auditory but are converted to visual. However, Claire likes a fast pace and tends to also “jump ahead” too fast and not always slow down enough to SEE the very information on this list of steps she needs to read sometimes when you make directions visual. So … I have had to learn that it’s important to be VERY clear in EVERY way possible to help her with this. It’s exhausting sometimes. But I do find that using IMAGES and even SYMBOLS are the BEST, most EFFICIENT way for me to express things to her.
7. Feedback is best for her when it’s immediate. This is not all that unusual a trait, but it is once again helpful for me to realize that she is always going to be OUTWARDLY directed vs. inwardly. I am hoping that she will GAIN some balancing traits for this over time.
8. She doesn’t like detail. This has become even more evident to me as time has gone on. But at least now I know that it’s not her being “lazy” or “sloppy.” Detail is simply not her forte. She IS good with people though. So her friendliness, sense of empathy, and willingness to SERVE others might not always have to be with details. So now if I can only get her past her fear of those who seem to “different” from her, then we’ve got it made because she will be able to go ANYWHERE in the world and be of service. This is what she TELLS us she wants to do, but at this point in time, I know for a FACT that she would be too frightened. IF she is with a group of others LIKE her, however, THEN she will be fine
9. She doesn’t like change. This is also very indicative of a person with Asperger’s. Probably ADHD and Tourette’s are also like this. What works best for Claire is a stable and predictable environment. Even though she is intelligent and will likely need to challenge herself more over time in order to remain stimulated and engaged, she still prefers a SLOW transition into anything new. But with the right encouragement, she might be able to handle these challenges well.
10. She does best when she can SINGLE task and COMPLETE each item before she moves on to the next. She loves to check off things on her list. She is quite conservative in everything she does, but she is willing to do ANYTHING if it will label her with others as being “easy to work with.” This is again something I need to address with her by helping her to rebuild her level of self-confidence. We are all BORN with self-confidence. It’s the things that happen to us in life that erode our confidence … one event at a time.
These are the things I took forward with me in helping her form personal goals for the SHORT term and THEN look closer into what she might want to do the rest of her life.
As for determining her history with medications, we have our appointment with her doctor on the calendar ... but THAT ... is going to be awhile!!!!
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