For those that been diagnosed by a doctor what are some of the things you remember during the tests?

[Jena]

Hey so I been diagnosed by a doctor in 4th grade but for some real bizarre reason I am having a hard time remembering those tests. There is only one test I remember and it was these blocks that I had to organize in the pattern shown but everything else I forgot what went on in the test.

So does anyone rememebr what type of tests/procedure you had to go through before you found out what you had? I am just curious cause I really forgot what my tests were like. . Yet I can remember what stuffed animal I had when I was like 5.

 

[Bolletje]

I was diagnosed as an adult, so the tests were quite different. I had tests with word association, spatial awareness, facial expressions, social scenarios. Not sure what else was specifically tailored at autism as I was assessed for a few different things at the time. A major part of my diagnose was my autobiography though.

 

[WittyAspie]

My diagnosis didn’t involve any tests. My wife told the psychologist and psychiatrist that she thought I had AS and why. They both agreed and here I am.

 

[Peter Morrison]

I was tested when I was in the 6th grade, I believe. I was not a good student, so I was tested to see what might be wrong. I was told I was dyslexic, but I have never seen any dyslexic behavior in me. I just think I was an anxious person with ADD. I have always had the patterns, actions, and feelings of someone with Aspergers, a recently understood influence in my life. I remember some of the tests given to me. I found them all to be fascinating:

Answering questions with clues from a drawing, i.e., time of day, person who works there, etc.

Speed reading with Q&A after

Identifying the final figure from origami-style paper fold lines

Holding a pencil and making as many dots as I can on a page without lifting my wrist

Repeating a series of numbers given verbally back to the tester backwards (this one was the most enjoyable game)

I never knew what the results of these tests meant. I was unsure of having done well, exceptionally well, or really lousy. Learning disabilities were not well understood years ago. I remember being given no advice of how to manage ADD because ADD was not my diagnosis.

 

[SusanLR]

I was given those red and white blocks to form patterns too, even though I was in my fifties.
Also things like drawing connect the dots to form a certain pattern.
Cards with pictures on them of things I was supposed to identify quickly as possible.
Memory of word groups to repeat which got larger and larger until I couldn't remember them.
A large psych-personality test of multiple choice answers.
So many I can't begin to remember them all either.

A lot of it was one on one interviews. Verbal questions about my life history.
Some seemed to pertain to ASD, others didn't.
Things like did I excel in math? No. I was terrible at maths.
Did I count things in the room, read liscense plates of cars.
These may apply to a lot of Aspies, but, not all. And I told her that.
I explained I was more fascinated by colours, patterns, designs.
She dumped a can of ink pens on the table then ask if that bothered me. Yes.
There were questions about socialising and sensory issues.
The one that really got her attention was regarding eating and how I didn't like my foods to
mix on the plate and how I eat one thing before going on to the next.
When I mentioned, as a child, I would not eat out of anything but my picnic plates that had seperate
compartments for the foods and my special spoon, along with my special chair with a place for a wash cloth to hang on the side when eating...it was like, oooh, tell me about that plate!
It was all quite lengthy.

 

[WittyAspie]

I was given those red and white blocks to form patterns too, even though I was in my fifties.
Also things like drawing connect the dots to form a certain pattern.
Cards with pictures on them of things I was supposed to identify quickly as possible.
Memory of word groups to repeat which got larger and larger until I couldn't remember them.
A large psych-personality test of multiple choice answers.
So many I can't begin to remember them all either.

A lot of it was one on one interviews. Verbal questions about my life history.
Some seemed to pertain to ASD, others didn't.
Things like did I excel in math? No. I was terrible at maths.
Did I count things in the room, read liscense plates of cars.
These may apply to a lot of Aspies, but, not all. And I told her that.
I explained I was more fascinated by colours, patterns, designs.
She dumped a can of ink pens on the table then ask if that bothered me. Yes.
There were questions about socialising and sensory issues.
The one that really got her attention was regarding eating and how I didn't like my foods to
mix on the plate and how I eat one thing before going on to the next.
When I mentioned, as a child, I would not eat out of anything but my picnic plates that had seperate
compartments for the foods and my special spoon, along with my special chair with a place for a wash cloth to hang on the side when eating...it was like, oooh, tell me about that plate!
It was all quite lengthy.

Lengthy sounds ideal. It’s what I would have preferred and would still prefer if/when I seek mental health treatment again. Asking as many questions as possible ensures the diagnosis is as accurate as possible.

 

[Progster]

No tests, just an interview with a bunch of questions for me and for my mum about my current life and childhood. Though I think he was testing my reactions to certain things. I think he was following a set procedure, a DISCO interview for adults. I also gave him a kind of autobiography with a lot of issues and behaviour which I thought relevant to Asperger's, and my mum also told him that she thought I had Asperger's.

 

[NShoreEndo]

I, too, was diagnosed as an adult; it was a two day testing event for me, a total of about ten hours. Started with a general interview about my life history, schooling, memories of youth, family history, etc. Did the full intelligence test (vocabulary, math in my head, pattern recognition, etc.). There was a social pragmatic test. I think what pushed my diagnosis was how much I focused on getting some of the pattern recognition questions correct. They got progressively more difficult, and I spent about 20 minutes on the final question (I got it right). Oh, and my social anxieties didn’t help matters.

 

[tducey]

I got my diagnosis in 1988. Don't remember much about that. I do know that in 1990 I stayed in a children's hospital for 3 weeks and had a series of tests then (Cat scan for 1).

 

[Progster]

I think what pushed my diagnosis was how much I focused on getting some of the pattern recognition questions correct. They got progressively more difficult, and I spent about 20 minutes on the final question (I got it right).

That's what I do, and if the tests are timed, I don't finish it and don't score highly, even though the ones I did answer might be correct. That's why I don't like timed tests.

 

[Mr Allen]

I had an MRI scan, and the useless ruddy Hospital "lost" the results, so I ended up having to have another one!