Neurospsych & the ODD child

rachelfran

New Member
I would like to get a round of neuropsychologist tests for my son but when we went to see the psychologist he refused to play every game the psychologist suggested... His concern- and mine as well - is that we won't get an accurate reading if my child doesn't go along with the testing process... Even when he does go along with it - his initial impulse - when asked any question is "I don't know". As I understand it - this is typical ODD and not indicative of whether the child knows the answer or not.

How do testers deal with this?

Thanks!
Rachel
 

AllStressedOut

New Member
Ours just continued to encourage my son to do it. My son whined the entire time and would say "I don't know" or "It's too hard" and so on. The neuropsychologist just kept encouraging him and didn't let him off the hook.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
"I don't know" was also what my son said. He has high functioning autism and often still answers that way. He isn't being contrary, it's just hard for him to describe how he feels. He prefers short answers as they are more the way he thinks. Neuropsychs look at the behavior and defiance as well as the testing, and are diligent in trying to find weaknesses and strengths. At any rate, ODD rarely stands alone and it's good to at least try. Our neuropsychologist really engaged my son and rather than a one hour meeting, he tested him for twelve hours in two hour increments. His report was very thorough and very good. My son has been better since his right diagnosis and the subsequent help he received for it.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
My difficult child 1 also falls back on the "I don't know" response when he's in shut-down mode. Either afraid or unable to articulate his feelings for whatever reason... Usually, though, if the questioner persists or tries another tact, difficult child 1 will warm up a bit more we're able to get some better and more thoughtful responses.
 
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