ASD test?

[Dwoops]

So for a while now I’ve been itching to get a diagnosis (after talking to 3 different psychiatrists all saying they think I have ASD/would be aspergers). I’ve finally gone and done it. It’s less than 40 minutes after I finished and it honestly felt a bit lackluster. The first portion was a general questionair, and then some stuff about OCD, the second felt like an IQ test(block patterns, remembering/reordering numbers and letter from auditory memory, puzzle patterns, deciphering code, etc), and then the last part was about 500 T/F questions with a lot of them seemingly being pointless. There were so many that just didn’t apply to me because they were probably searching for other things like paranoia, depression or were drug/alcohol related. Plus a lot of the potentially telling ones I couldn’t answer or were written in a way that I should say yes, but technically it was no by the wording of the question(or vice versa). For example: Do you like machine magazines? I don’t know, I’ve never tried to read a magazine....
Or do you read all the article titles in a newspaper? I don’t know, I’ve never read a newspaper.... stuff like that.

Anyways I was wondering what other peoples’ experiences were like so I can compare it to mine. ASD didn’t seem to be a target at all, just a broad test. I’m kind of worried that this was a money grab and they didn’t actually do something for ASD. I’m probably going to stress until I get the results, and then maybe still. I have way too much data pointing towards ASD and I don’t know what to do if it comes back and they say I don’t.

 

[Judge]

I think you have to keep a proper perspective of such tests relative to the possibility of being positively diagnosed for ASD.

That a proper diagnostics process involves considerably more than tests alone. That it's actually a collective analysis of traits and behaviors, experiences in interacting with others, and yes- how you answer any number of such tests whether they directly address autism or other comorbid considerations like OCD or depression and so many other potential conditions that may parallel one's autism.

And yes, it's ultimately not a particularly objective process, even in the minds of medical professionals.

 

[Dwoops]

Oh and another thing. The IQish part of the test there were so many questions that were just recalling questions. Examples: what is the midpoint between the N and S pole (equator)? Who was Ghandi (too many words)? Who wrote hamlet(still don’t know, I kind of want to look it up now)? And many more. Some were does this or that saying make sense, most of which I could get some semblance of a meaning from critical thinking. The blocks were kind of fun until the last one when the square of blocks was rotated 45 degrees, then I had to rotate the screen to solve it lol. There were also auditory math problems that were story questions. After distilling the words to an equation (and having to ask for him to repeat the numbers) it was easy since I’ve always been good at math. Then there was a pattern recognition phase, seeing steps and finishing the pattern. A scales phase, basically square = 2 circles, so what does 2 squares =? Except more difficult with many scales. There was also an alignment section where I saw pieces and had to use exactly 3 to make a shape. Lastly there was the code deciphering part and one other that is too hard to explain.

 

[Dwoops]

I understand that there is more too it than just the test, but it still feels off. The person was watching and writing stuff down for what I call the IQish part, but at the same time it bothers me because it doesn’t seem like he was writing much. Plus the person conducting the test wasn’t the same as the person whom I originally talked to about stuff or that my mother talked to about childhood stuff.

 

[Judge]

I understand that there is more too it than just the test, but it still feels off. The person was watching and writing stuff down for what I call the IQish part, but at the same time it bothers me because it doesn’t seem like he was writing much. Plus the person conducting the test wasn’t the same as the person whom I originally talked to about stuff or that my mother talked to about childhood stuff.

That's why you can't put all your hopes and concerns into tests alone. They may paint part of the equation, but not all of it. And that ultimately it's a collective analysis where one portion may not be weighted any more than another. So there's no point in stewing over one aspect such as those tests.

 

[clg114]

I believe that it is important to be diagnosed by a psychiatrist or psychologist with experience with autism. Not all doctors have this experience and may mis-diagnose you.

 

[Nervous Rex]

I think you're right about the broad tests. It sounds like they're checking for everything and anything in general, and may not necessarily be specialists or experts in anything*. I never had any such tests for my ASD diagnosis - I just talked to a counselor over many one-hour sessions.

The 500 question test could be the MMPI, which is a triage tool, not a diagnostic tool. That is, it indicates the possibility of various mental conditions, and it's up to the doctor to follow up with a formal diagnosis.

*I reserve the right to be wrong.

 

[Dwoops]

Yeah the MMPI was one of many, and as for these guys being specialists, I’m not 100% certain but I also think/hope they know what they are doing. I was seeing a psychiatrist and he came to his own conclusion about ASD and said if I wanted to pursue diagnosis he could give a referral and then referred me to the place where I took the tests and stuff. I spent about an hour with my mother talking to one person, then the next appointment(today) was all the tests and stuff, about 4ish hours total.

 

[Nervous Rex]

...then the next appointment(today) was all the tests and stuff, about 4ish hours total.

Holy Cow*. That's not an IQ test, it's an endurance test. How exhausting was that?


*I feel like, if the Cow truly is holy, it should be capitalized.

 

[Dwoops]

Lol, it was fine, I’m used to taking 2 hr tests from college/finals. I took a small break 1/2 through and ate a protein bar. The first part was 2 tests that were about 200 questions, they were more relating to how I perceived myself and my perceptions, then a second part about OCD stuff, then the IQish test, then the MMPI and MCMI which were combined to be about 500 questions. Now that is has been a while I’m remembering more about it, but there was a lot of weird stuff in what I call the IQish part.

 

[Judge]

I took extensive tests along those lines for job counseling and aptitude through a major university. Though I never thought they were particularly conclusive about much of anything.

 

[Peter Morrison]

Due to the nature of ASD, it would be difficult to produce a written test that was definitive to assess all the degrees of autistic traits. We don't all behave the same way when presented with situations in life that might highlight autistic behavior. It isn't an exact science, but trained physicians or therapists can find the common threads that demonstrate autistic characteristics. I would also agree that the phrasing of the questions can be challenged as unclear, misleading, or confusing. The test-taker has to measure their own relationship to "yes, no, sometimes, maybe, rarely, never, often, and always". An assessment is best when it can qualify an answer with an example story or situation. You need a human to discuss and interpret its relevance to a score.

Written tests have their place with adults being assessed for autistic traits. The adult mind can handle 3-dimensional questions better than a child. We also need to have examples of certain behaviors to make the connection and answer as accurately as possible. Again, not an exact science. I would like a real clinical diagnosis for Asperger's, but I don't know what I would do with that information. I know I am Asperger's because I am living with Asperger's. I have taken RAADS-R: Total 200, Language 15, Social Relatedness 107, Sensory Motor 39, and Circumscribed Interests 39. My ARC Empathy Quotient is 9/80.

It's worth pursuing a thorough clinical diagnosis, and I also think this site is a good place to be. I have spent my life trying to make sense of my behaviors and attitudes, not understanding why I behaved weirdly in certain situations and why I didn't have the same interests as most of my peers. Understanding ASD is important because we don't see it in ourselves unless it is pointed out to us. Once we know it is there, we can deal with it on our own terms and face the residual challenges with our eyes wide open.

 

[Progster]

I didn't have any tests as part of my diagnostic assessment.