Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid is in good company. Nothing says “I qualify for a diagnosis” more than being unable to sit through the diagnostic test.

Our first neuropsych my kid ran out of the room every few minutes, hid under a table in protest, debated why an answer was incorrect going down the literal thinking path, and disqualified parts of the test because they didn’t wait for directions.

I think the most telling response was when Dr. showed a picture of an obviously sad and scared child and kid was asked to identify the emotion. “How am i supposed to know how a picture is feeling. I don’t even know what I feel and I’m a human and not a drawing.”

Dr. Used that info as part of the diagnosis and it’s noted all through the report.

Sounds like a kid who just should have gotten the ADOS.

ADOS would not assess if this kid was also experiencing anxiety and/or inattention, either of which might also be more manageable with medication in addition to the traditional considerations of accommodations or special instruction. Plus, inability to identify a feeling and communicate it can be a language issue instead of autism.

Anonymous wrote:Your kid is in good company. Nothing says “I qualify for a diagnosis” more than being unable to sit through the diagnostic test.

Our first neuropsych my kid ran out of the room every few minutes, hid under a table in protest, debated why an answer was incorrect going down the literal thinking path, and disqualified parts of the test because they didn’t wait for directions.

I think the most telling response was when Dr. showed a picture of an obviously sad and scared child and kid was asked to identify the emotion. “How am i supposed to know how a picture is feeling. I don’t even know what I feel and I’m a human and not a drawing.”

Dr. Used that info as part of the diagnosis and it’s noted all through the report.

I love kids, especially before they’ve learned what they are and are not supposed to say. We should listen to them more.

Anonymous wrote:Your kid is in good company. Nothing says “I qualify for a diagnosis” more than being unable to sit through the diagnostic test.

Our first neuropsych my kid ran out of the room every few minutes, hid under a table in protest, debated why an answer was incorrect going down the literal thinking path, and disqualified parts of the test because they didn’t wait for directions.

I think the most telling response was when Dr. showed a picture of an obviously sad and scared child and kid was asked to identify the emotion. “How am i supposed to know how a picture is feeling. I don’t even know what I feel and I’m a human and not a drawing.”

Dr. Used that info as part of the diagnosis and it’s noted all through the report.

+1. The neuropsych eval described had very clear findings. Just not the ones you may have been expecting.

Who is the Adult here, OP?

My child refused at 5 (pre medication) but just had one at 7 (medicated).

My son had an adhd and anxiety dx before the neuropsych, but trying to understand if anything else is at play from a learning and emotional regulation standpoint.

Anonymous wrote:Your kid is in good company. Nothing says “I qualify for a diagnosis” more than being unable to sit through the diagnostic test.

Our first neuropsych my kid ran out of the room every few minutes, hid under a table in protest, debated why an answer was incorrect going down the literal thinking path, and disqualified parts of the test because they didn’t wait for directions.

I think the most telling response was when Dr. showed a picture of an obviously sad and scared child and kid was asked to identify the emotion. “How am i supposed to know how a picture is feeling. I don’t even know what I feel and I’m a human and not a drawing.”

Dr. Used that info as part of the diagnosis and it’s noted all through the report.

Sounds like a kid who just should have gotten the ADOS.

Your kid is in good company. Nothing says “I qualify for a diagnosis” more than being unable to sit through the diagnostic test.

Our first neuropsych my kid ran out of the room every few minutes, hid under a table in protest, debated why an answer was incorrect going down the literal thinking path, and disqualified parts of the test because they didn’t wait for directions.

I think the most telling response was when Dr. showed a picture of an obviously sad and scared child and kid was asked to identify the emotion. “How am i supposed to know how a picture is feeling. I don’t even know what I feel and I’m a human and not a drawing.”

Dr. Used that info as part of the diagnosis and it’s noted all through the report.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No data is data. The evaluator does their best to give a provisional diagnosis based on observation of behavior and your and teacher's reports (BASC, BRIEF, etc.) Then you provide interventions and try again next year.

Here is where it is important for parents to actually understand what kind of service they are getting. Diagnosis of autism and ADHD are generally going to be *clinical* and based on observing the child and getting information from the parents and teachers. There is no test, like a blood test. For autism you do have the ADOS but that is basically a standardized type of observation that most good assessors should be able to get kids to do because it feels like play.

The full battery of IQ tests called a “neuropsych” is often not needed and overkill - and neglects the clinical assessment you actually do need for the kid. Unless you have a specific reason to think your child has cognitive issues (like an ID or a medical treatment that can have cognitive impacts or some types of epilepsy) it’s not crucial. And often doesn’t work for younger kids or kids with refusal (as OP found). The vast majority of kids with issues stemming from autism or adhd just don’t need every vector of their IQ tested. It certainly sheds zero light on the causes of emotional regulation issues.

If there is something specific that challenges your kid - fine motor, reading, etc - then get that specific thing tested. Hopefully with a shorter testing period and a good clinician your kid can get through it. If you want to know about autism or ADHD or anxiety go to a clinician who uses a clinical approach to diagnose.

the thing is that it's hard to know which areas of testing were not truly necessary (ie come back average range) until you... test.

It’s actually not. People who tell you you need $$$ worth of testing for everything are literally trying to sell you something.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No data is data. The evaluator does their best to give a provisional diagnosis based on observation of behavior and your and teacher's reports (BASC, BRIEF, etc.) Then you provide interventions and try again next year.

Here is where it is important for parents to actually understand what kind of service they are getting. Diagnosis of autism and ADHD are generally going to be *clinical* and based on observing the child and getting information from the parents and teachers. There is no test, like a blood test. For autism you do have the ADOS but that is basically a standardized type of observation that most good assessors should be able to get kids to do because it feels like play.

The full battery of IQ tests called a “neuropsych” is often not needed and overkill - and neglects the clinical assessment you actually do need for the kid. Unless you have a specific reason to think your child has cognitive issues (like an ID or a medical treatment that can have cognitive impacts or some types of epilepsy) it’s not crucial. And often doesn’t work for younger kids or kids with refusal (as OP found). The vast majority of kids with issues stemming from autism or adhd just don’t need every vector of their IQ tested. It certainly sheds zero light on the causes of emotional regulation issues.

If there is something specific that challenges your kid - fine motor, reading, etc - then get that specific thing tested. Hopefully with a shorter testing period and a good clinician your kid can get through it. If you want to know about autism or ADHD or anxiety go to a clinician who uses a clinical approach to diagnose.

the thing is that it's hard to know which areas of testing were not truly necessary (ie come back average range) until you... test.

My child was like this. She’s extremely strong willed. I found that the more I asked, the more pressure that was put on her to complete testing, etc. the more she resisted. It was so stressful.

This sounds counterintuitive, but I’d recommend taking some time with your child to have a calm chat. What worked for me with my daughter was to say, “I have something that’s important to talk to you about, let’s do it over ice cream or with a new toy I bought you (have the toy or ice cream ready at home before asking, so when your child says yes you can give them some immediate gratification - important for a 7 year old). Would you like to chat now or later?”

During the chat calmly talk about how they are loved and how you want to help them grow into an awesome person. Tell them one thing that can help them with that is by seeing a doctor and having an evaluation. Once the evaluation is complete, you will get them a special reward. What reward do they think would be an awesome gift? Obviously if your child says a new car or the moon, not that but maybe legos or slime, remote Dino toy, whatever works.

When I brought my daughter back to the center, she resisted again but I calmly reminded her that it would be a great experience and that she would have an amazing reward waiting for her at home afterward. After a hug and some reassurance, she completed the testing. Sorry for the long response, but I’m hoping it might help with you and your child! And btw my daughter is thriving now. The less pressure I put on her, the better she performs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No data is data. The evaluator does their best to give a provisional diagnosis based on observation of behavior and your and teacher's reports (BASC, BRIEF, etc.) Then you provide interventions and try again next year.

Here is where it is important for parents to actually understand what kind of service they are getting. Diagnosis of autism and ADHD are generally going to be *clinical* and based on observing the child and getting information from the parents and teachers. There is no test, like a blood test. For autism you do have the ADOS but that is basically a standardized type of observation that most good assessors should be able to get kids to do because it feels like play.

The full battery of IQ tests called a “neuropsych” is often not needed and overkill - and neglects the clinical assessment you actually do need for the kid. Unless you have a specific reason to think your child has cognitive issues (like an ID or a medical treatment that can have cognitive impacts or some types of epilepsy) it’s not crucial. And often doesn’t work for younger kids or kids with refusal (as OP found). The vast majority of kids with issues stemming from autism or adhd just don’t need every vector of their IQ tested. It certainly sheds zero light on the causes of emotional regulation issues.

If there is something specific that challenges your kid - fine motor, reading, etc - then get that specific thing tested. Hopefully with a shorter testing period and a good clinician your kid can get through it. If you want to know about autism or ADHD or anxiety go to a clinician who uses a clinical approach to diagnose.

This may be true in theory but it's very difficult to get accommodations or special education eligibility.

No. We qualified for an IEP with no neuropsych. Just the school testing.

Agree. The vast majority of students with IEPs have not had any outside testing, let alone neuropsych evals. For kids who have mild difficulties who are on the borderline of qualifying or not, a private eval can push the decision towards qualifying. Sometimes.

IME sometimes school staff resent families that do private testing. They were extremely adversarial with us which felt so bizarre. It definitely didn't push our kid towards qualifying for an IEP, which we kind of expected. However, it did help get the 504 and has been really helpful for us as parents to know what kind of supports our kid needs.