Questions about Neuro psychiatric Evaluation

humbleyourheart

New Member
We finally had a neuro psychiatric evaluation done yesterday. The testing lasted from about 8:15 to 3:00 which seems short compared to what I've read??? I have to wait 2-3 weeks for the results which is going to be so hard. They gave me no indication of their findings because one person does the testing, but another person compiles the scores and data. Is that the way it's normally done? I began to wonder if these tests are normally done without stopping the medications. They told me to have him keep taking the medications as normal. But if he is doing so much better on medications then will the test results be accurate? Without them he has a lot more anxiety. How would they see that if the medications are helping him with that? Does anyone know how they test for that sort of thing? They said he was very co-operative during testing, but did get to see a little bit of a breakdown during one of the breaks. I wondering if that will be included in their reports. I am just so anxious about the whole thing because I don't know what to expect as far as the results. I'm afraid they didn't get a clear picture of his behavior since he was on his medications.
 

klmno

Active Member
My son was 11 yo when he was tested and his lasted for about the same lenght of time as yours. Is this you younger or older child? The psychologist who did my son's said it usually takes longer for younger children and that some tests are determined after she sees how things are going- for instance, if she gave a general test and saw a concern in one area, she might add in a more specific test to check more in that area. She did her own scoring.

Was this a psychologist with a phd or neuropsychologist? The testing can reveal a lot. But, in my humble opinion, some disorders/diagnosis still need to be reviewed by other specialist, such as a neurologist or psychiatrist. Still, the testing is not a waste no matter what and does aid in diagnosis if it doesn't completely nail it down.

Contary to what seems logical to most parents, I think it is common to leave the child on medications during testing. I never understood that either.
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
difficult child's testing was done over several different days due to his severe ADHD for just a little each time. I think it is common for someone else to do the testing and the neuro-psychiatric. to do the interpreting. The nuero-psychiatric we went to actually does the testing and the interpreting. He remained on his medications. throughout the testing.

I know the waiting is hard. Hugs.
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
Our Daughter K who is just shy of 8 and on Abilify. She has BiPolar (BP), Anxiety and sensory processing disorder (SPD).
She is in the middle of testing right now.
Her evaluator is doing the testing as well. She has a PHD.
This is Private, though.
Our psychiatrist and our Nuero-psychiatric both feel strongly about kids not doing the testing in lengthy durations.
Our Neuro-psychiatric will Schedule around 2-3 hours sessions at a time, with about 14 hours worth of testing total.
Our doctor's basically feel the kids fall apart after a couple of hours and the testing is not accurate after a couple of hours.
It was also recommended to us to get our testing all done in the a.m. so her mind would be fresh.

Our psychiatrist wanted K on her medications, we would not change them or add any new medications during this time.

Our last evaluation about 3 years ago was about the same, but this Nuero-Psychologist is so much better as far as knowledge and testing. And she is just flat out cool and fun! She has already discovered so much about K.

I hope your results are on target and get to the bottom of your childs issues.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
For many kids, taking them off medications would cause so many problems that it would be impossible to actually get the testing done. Either because the medication would have so many withdrawal problems or have to be removed so slowly that it would be difficult, or because the child would be severely unable to focus/concentrate/respond in any way to the testing.

They did some of Wiz' testing with-o his medications (concerta and risperdal at the time) and ALL of the tests had to be repeated because either the ADHD was too bad and he was too hyper to sit for more than 4 or 5 minutes at a time (and that was a LONG time for him unmedicated!) or because he got so aggressive with the testers.

This is a large reason why the kids are left on their normal medications. The docs recognize that life can't stop just because testing is being done and they don't want the kids any more stressed than they already are.

They also don't have time to wait for 3-5 months for some medications to be tapered (most docs don't give you that long, but for some medications it is wise to allow that long).

Anyway, jsut how this was explained to us.
 

robinm1922

One day at a time
Hi,
My difficult child just had testing done three weeks ago (give or take a few days) she had only one session that lasted 4.5 hours. She is older and I think they drop a few of the tests the older they are. She will be 16 in a few months :surprise:
I go, hopefully, Friday for her results although he was able to give me some feedback right after the test was done. He needed to review all the test data to see how it reads as a whole. He did tell me he was able to rule out bipolar and did detect depression and anxiety (which she is being treated for) along with a verbal language processing disability, I won't know more about that until I go meet with him. He didn't have the results from the ADHD portion of the test done yet. All this was done while she is on her medications. I think it is too hard on their bodies to start and stop the medications like that.

difficult child's psychiatrist did not want to change her medication prior to the testing since she was stable on her current medications. She is in need of a medication change which is why this meeting Friday is so important. New medications and hopefully a school plan. She has basically failed this school year at least it is looking that way.

When I asked about the medications I was told the tests are able to go beyond the medications and pick out the issues. He told me to look at it this way, if you have a cold and take medication to make you feel better the cold is still there!
I hope you get the results soon, I am at the tail end of the "hurry up and wait" game, not a fun game at all!

Best of luck,
Robin
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
Thank you for posting this and asking, difficult child 2 is scheduled too and I was wondering but hadn't asked yet how long it will take!
 
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