Three questions - help - long

[BunnyBee]

thanks, everyone. I've sent notes to our psychologist and psychiatrist to start the conversation about neuropsych testing

but if I don't want/need the principal to understand the test implications...I just want them to give it to me so that I can share it with my experts...shouldn't that be a given?

No, they can't show you a test. They likely don't have a copy. Those are collected, counted, and returned. Big scandals over cheating means those are locked down tightly. You might be able to order one online or a similar test or a sample test. We homeschool, and I order standardized tests to comply with state regs. The booklet must be returned within 2 weeks, and there are several tests not allowed to be distributed to private persons in my state because those tests are used by public schools.

I would NOT order one myself, and I definitely wouldn't try to administer it to DC myself if I were in the process of further specialized testing. You don't want to throw off the results. The neuropsych will be familiar with the test given by the school system and will give another test so as not to invalidate the results. The psych should be able to give you specifics on how he or she tested working memory as she explains the results to you if you are unable to find examples online. Which again, please don't try to test DS at home with them.

[niccig]

Unfortunately, you cannot get a copy of the test, but it really is not important. A neuropsych evaluation will use different tests, will uncover any processing disorders, and will provide a diagnosis. When you first meet with the psychologist, you can mention the behaviors that are giving you concern and also the oddly low scores on the standardized testing. Having that test isn't necessary for evaluative purposes, though. I promise you're not being hampered in getting help for your DS by not having a copy of that test.


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains mobile app

You can't get a copy of the test as access is restricted to professionals who know how to administer the test. If I parent in my district wants a copy of test protocols, there's a procedure they go go through to get it. Not that it's going to give them much information as the protocol is often just the answers, not the question or test stimulus (stimulus may be pictures), and as they're not familiar with the test or qualified to administer it, they won't understand what the question was actually testing. And one question wrong doesn't mean anything, it's multiple questions that assessing similar task for me to see strengths and weaknesses. Multiple tests should be given before a diagnosis is made - and tests are all very different in how they're constructed and what actually testing - e.g. some memory tasks rely heavily on the person paying attention, if a child has ADHD they can bomb those tasks as weren't focused for duration of the given stimulus. I also question if this test is actually testing "memory" as there's several aspects to memory and each need to be teased out separately. A neuropsych can give several tests to tease out what you're seeing. The repeated questions and answers could be that he's obsessing on that topic for some reason and not that he can't process the answer given.

[hillview]

My neuropsych will show me a couple of example questions so I can get an understanding of how he did or sometimes show me his actual test if there is something significant (like he answered a bunch of math questions, skipped 3 and then answered even harder ones but his score could only count up to where he started to skip but he clearly knew more math than the test results indicated).

[Cam&Clay]

Scoring high on all levels EXCEPT memory is a classic sign of ADHD. DS1, who was already on meds for anxiety, came up with results like this recently. Both our school psychologist and his psychiatrist said it was ADHD. While impulsive, he was handling things really well at school and has only recently added an ADHD med.

[Indianamom2]

I agree that this sounds indicative of ADHD. Working memory is notoriously low even with very bright kids. Dd is like this.

[gatorsmom]

Scoring high on all levels EXCEPT memory is a classic sign of ADHD. DS1, who was already on meds for anxiety, came up with results like this recently. Both our school psychologist and his psychiatrist said it was ADHD. While impulsive, he was handling things really well at school and has only recently added an ADHD med.

I agree that this sounds indicative of ADHD. Working memory is notoriously low even with very bright kids. Dd is like this.

to both of these. I have long thought that your DS sounded very similar to my ds3. Mine has a problem with his memory too, anxiety, OCD, SPD, issues with sleep, etc. We had him privately evaluated at a neuropsych department at our hospital and he was off the charts positive for ADHD. He now takes Concerta and changes into a completely different kid. His change is astonishing and wonderful. The Concerta, though, increases his anxiety and OCD so we are meeting weekly with a Behavioral Psychologist and doing cognitive therapy with him. His psychiatrist also prescribed him Prozac to help with the anxiety and OCD. After years and years of walking on eggshells with him and trying to figure him out the neuropsych eval helped us understand his strengths and weaknesses. I highly recommend it.

[egoldber]

The Concerta, though, increases his anxiety and OCD

Concerta has the same effect on my kids. We switched them to Metadate CD (a different long acting form of methylphenidate) and it has helped tremendously. But my older DD also take Prozac because her anxiety is quite severe in general.