Assessment process - is this normal?

[purplepoofy]

Hi folks, I had my assessment for autism and ADHD a few days ago and generally had an awful experience.

I've taken several tests and measures on embrace autism website, so was anticipating more of that from the doctor.

Instead, for two hours I was tested on intelligence, cognition and memory, stuff like arranging blocks in a certain pattern, reading a string of numbers out loud, recreating a drawing from memory, naming all the words that start with a certain letter while being timed, giving synonyms to words and doing a "trivia" test of answering questions like "at how many degrees does water boil?". I was so confused and overwhelmed, I didn't even know what to say. I cried in the car for an hour afterwards out of sheer overwhelm.

For those who went through the assessment process, was yours similar? Is this a standard practice?

There was no clinical interview or asking me about where I struggle, just these tests that were all scored and timed.

Appreciate your input!

 

[VictorR]

Hello and welcome!

Sorry to hear your experience was overwhelming.

Each assessor does things differently. Some assess for AS only (e.g. enough information to make a determination), whereas others may do a more comprehensive battery of tests to identify specific strengths and weaknesses in addition to looking at other potential concerns. Some may also look at/for other issues like depression and anxiety.

And even with AS, there are a wide variety of tests available, and some assessors may use their own as well.

Some of the ones you've described sound like the ones more commonly given to children and youth - for adult diagnosis they're not commonly done.

 

[purplepoofy]

Hello and welcome!

Sorry to hear your experience was overwhelming.

Each assessor does things differently. Some assess for AS only (e.g. enough information to make a determination), whereas others may do a more comprehensive battery of tests to identify specific strengths and weaknesses in addition to looking at other potential concerns. Some may also look at/for other issues like depression and anxiety.

And even with AS, there are a wide variety of tests available, and some assessors may use their own as well.

Some of the ones you've described sound like the ones more commonly given to children and youth - for adult diagnosis they're not commonly done.

Thank you for your input - this is helpful to hear.

 

[Progster]

I just had an interview, but it's quite common, normal I would say, for other tests to be used - IQ test, ADOS or other tests of cognitive ability. They may also do tests to rule out other possible diagnoses.

 

[autism-and-autotune]

Hi folks, I had my assessment for autism and ADHD a few days ago and generally had an awful experience.

I've taken several tests and measures on embrace autism website, so was anticipating more of that from the doctor.

Instead, for two hours I was tested on intelligence, cognition and memory, stuff like arranging blocks in a certain pattern, reading a string of numbers out loud, recreating a drawing from memory, naming all the words that start with a certain letter while being timed, giving synonyms to words and doing a "trivia" test of answering questions like "at how many degrees does water boil?". I was so confused and overwhelmed, I didn't even know what to say. I cried in the car for an hour afterwards out of sheer overwhelm.

For those who went through the assessment process, was yours similar? Is this a standard practice?

There was no clinical interview or asking me about where I struggle, just these tests that were all scored and timed.

Appreciate your input!

I'm sorry to hear of your awful experience; it sounds like you were given the infantalizing examination. I don't even know the purpose of this kind of exam, other than to wear us down and make us feel frankly stupid. Those questions have nothing to do with our autism or why we think the way we do. Your description sounds like it has more to do with cognitive function overall rather than...the disorder we all have. I'd feel ashamed if I were the folks who gave you the exam; it's not right.

A real examination (or evaluation) in my mind will be completely different and more validating. I cannot speak for others but in my own consultation (which last four hours) I was able to provide ample notes and observations. Answering questions on these observations was difficult at times but I pointed out that there's no way I happen to have NVLD as well as an intense interest, social awkwardness, and sensory issues and this isn't autism.

 

[Forest Cat]

I did that too but that was just a small part of it, they should also talk more with you about what you struggle with and such. I think. Maybe it's done differently depending on where in the world we are.

 

[wraith]

They have to test you one way or the other, different doctors can go about it any way they choose. I think they are aware of the "autism epidemic" and they try to filter out people who are not on spectrum. Most likey they were observing you, just as much as they were awaiting the results of your tests.

I guess you were expecting another "aspie" quiz, à la the ones you get online that make everyone think they're autistic.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Hi folks, I had my assessment for autism and ADHD a few days ago and generally had an awful experience.

I've taken several tests and measures on embrace autism website, so was anticipating more of that from the doctor.

Instead, for two hours I was tested on intelligence, cognition and memory, stuff like arranging blocks in a certain pattern, reading a string of numbers out loud, recreating a drawing from memory, naming all the words that start with a certain letter while being timed, giving synonyms to words and doing a "trivia" test of answering questions like "at how many degrees does water boil?". I was so confused and overwhelmed, I didn't even know what to say. I cried in the car for an hour afterwards out of sheer overwhelm.

For those who went through the assessment process, was yours similar? Is this a standard practice?

There was no clinical interview or asking me about where I struggle, just these tests that were all scored and timed.

Appreciate your input!

I had all of that, plus the interview, where the psychologist put me through additional testing. I was there no less than 3 hours. The testing part was interesting, two people in the room, one leading, the other timing and observing body language.

The psychologist was simultaneously interviewing my wife while I was in the testing lab.

I had also come with a 6-page, itemized list of all my perceived signs and symptoms, experiences, etc., my "You might be autistic if" list. I handed it to her and let her review it. I had to come back about a month later for another interview and then to discuss the findings.

In your case, did you have to make a follow-up appointment? If so, your psychologist may do the interview at that time.

 

[VAW]

Hi folks, I had my assessment for autism and ADHD a few days ago and generally had an awful experience.

I've taken several tests and measures on embrace autism website, so was anticipating more of that from the doctor.

Instead, for two hours I was tested on intelligence, cognition and memory, stuff like arranging blocks in a certain pattern, reading a string of numbers out loud, recreating a drawing from memory, naming all the words that start with a certain letter while being timed, giving synonyms to words and doing a "trivia" test of answering questions like "at how many degrees does water boil?". I was so confused and overwhelmed, I didn't even know what to say. I cried in the car for an hour afterwards out of sheer overwhelm.

For those who went through the assessment process, was yours similar? Is this a standard practice?

There was no clinical interview or asking me about where I struggle, just these tests that were all scored and timed.

Appreciate your input!

It was pretty much the same for my son, but he did have an interview at the end, they even called me in to ask me questions. It was a few hours long and it certainly did stress my son out.

 

[Magna]

It sounds more similar to an ADHD assessment from my experience. I've had both an autism assessment (diagnosed) and an ADHD assessment (diagnosed). The ADHD assessment had IQ type testing, blocks, shapes, memory, etc, in addition to timed computer testing with hundreds of questions in succession.

 

[tazz]

Sounds a bit more like the test they give to children than adults. I only had an interview, but that lasted three hours. One thing I learnt from the final report is that while I was answering basic questions about my medical history for example, the psychiatrist was more focused on things like my body language, variation in vocal tone, use of hand gestures and loads of other stuff. So it wasn't so much about the questions themselves, but more about 'how' I was answering them.

Sorry you had a poor experience.

 

[MildredHubble]

Sounds like you went through an educational psychology test. I don't think this can be considered a conclusive way to test for ASD. It seems to be that some questions should have been asked about how you interact with people, how you like to socialise and relate to others, special interests etc.

What you described sounds very much like the educational psychology test I got to determine if I was dyslexic. I had no idea what to expect and it was all pretty stressful.

The only parts of the test that had anything at all to do with social interaction etc were being shown a series of pictures, like a comic strip that were out of sequence and you had to put them in the right order. Like say in one picture there's a picture of a dog looking guilty, then one of a man putting food down beside himself and then one showing him getting up to answer the phone, then one showing an empty seat with food on it, one with a dog sniffing at it, then one with the dog eating the food. You have to assemble it into a narrative, the correct one.

Thing is, you only need to understand cause and effect to get it right. It's pretty dumb, you don't need to really think abstractly at all about them, but I suspect this sort of thing is to establish "concept of mind" abilities in the test subject. This is something a lot of people here talk about having learned with some difficulty. Masking, pattern recognition skills can easily make it look like you have always had the ability they are testing.

I suspect as far as the test you were subjected to, it's a little out of date. It may be fine for testing for dyslexia for example, where you can use arbitrary symbols instead of letters to see if they are processed in the same way. Fundamentally a test like this tests you IQ to determine if you have normal intelligence but fail to be able to process things in line with that intelligence.

In other words, are you struggling due to low IQ or is there something else going on.

The issue here is that they don't seem to have asked you other pertinent questions whose answers may indicate if you are on the spectrum or not. Autism  is a spectrum as it manifests in diverse ways. I've read lots of posts here from people of all ages and backgrounds who have learned to develop methods to mask or fill in the blanks throughout their lives. Some people love to be around others, while some prefer more solitude. Both sets of people are Autistic.

As others have said, it appears to me that you have been given a test more suited to kids of school age, rather than one suited to an adult who may have very sophisticated masking skills.

My test revealed I was dyslexic, but I (as the educational psychologist noted) I had found lots of strategies and behaviours that made it appear by looking at my academic work, that I could write at a very high level. But it took me a lot longer to do it, with many unseen challenges along the way. I often had to rewrite things ad nauseam, used similar sounding words by mistake like "Their" or "There", despite, absolutely, without doubt, knowing the appropriate word to use.

It's kinda like a duck floating on the water. It looks ponderous and serene, barely disturbing that water around it. But look under the water and you see it's actually furiously kicking it's feet.

What they should be doing is looking beneath "the water". I don't see, unless I'm very mistaken, how this test does that.

 

[Judge]

I don't see any uniform standards when it comes to an assessment process. That some medical professionals abide by one protocol or another, and others "freelance" their own opinions.

In world where if you don't get the decision you need, you look to another and eventually get it anyways.

That ultimately the most critical determinant of whether one is on the spectrum of not starts with yourself.

Normal? You may find it to your advantage to erase that particular word from your psyche.

 

[Dom529]

Mine was a series of questions on various topics (took about 3 hours over various Zoom sessions)