Evaluations At Vocational Rehab

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Has anyone gotten any sort of psychological evaluation provided by Vocational Rehabilitation? What was it like?

a battery of tests relating to IQ short term long term memory recall processing tests just a series of all kinds of test I didn't care for the person doing the tests or their doctor as their reports were flawed

I'm getting ready to do this myself. I'll try to remember to post mine when I get it done.

Did you lose your job?

I took a full day of tests. It was with the VA though.

This is what I remember:
-they showed me flashcards and had me memorize and repeat strings of numbers
-they played audio of word strings and had me repeat what was said
-I answered psych questions on the computer. (Like, "Would you rather read a book or visit friends?")
-I was given pictures and told to recreate them on the other side of the paper (drawing from memory)
-I think I did some IQ type questions too.

It was not useful.

Did they give you a diagnosis?

I can't recall if I ever took any tests with them, but I was using their services up till last spring when I broke from the program. They seemed overbearing to me and pushed all sorts of things, like going to my ex not so great therapist. In the end I had a meltdown and nearly flunked out of college because of it so I withdrew from the program. They're still bugging me and trying to get me to come back. Apparently if I was still in the program they'd continue to check on me even after graduation and that really doesn't settle well with me. That was just my regional people, you might have a better experience at your location.

I don't believe Voc Rehab has the ability to give out a diagnosis.

I was already diagnosed before that with an ASD.

An autism specialist suggested I take this test.

Now I remember, yeah they definitely can't give out a diagnosis. When I was working with them we talked about me becoming official with Student Disability Resources, which is separate from Voc Rehab, and SDR needed current paperwork on me. My diagnosis from age 17 was not enough apparently, they wanted me to get reevaluated. So I had to set up an appointment with a private eval firm in my town, which was when I was basically told I'd have to put my meltdown on hold for a whole month before they could see me to get reevaluated so I could get protection from SDR. That's when I lost faith in the system. So the answer is no about getting a diagnosis, most likely.

I'm currently on SSDI. I'm doing this as part of the Ticket-to-Work program.

I had one 19 years ago when I was diagnosed with ADHD. They sent me to a psychologist for an evaluation specifically to rule out ADHD. I remember the lady at VR saying that she wanted to send me to this particular psychologist's office because they were supposed to be really good at diagnosing ADHD.

I don't remember all the tests but it was mostly IQ testing and things that tested memory and concentration. Some of it was easy, and some of it was stressful.

The test I remember most, was they called out a series of numbers, and I had to add each number to the last number and tell them the sum. It was so frustrating it made me cry. I scored in the 6th percentile on that test.

It wasn't a pleasant experience, I thought the people at the place acted really unfriendly and weird during the tests, and even worse when I went back to get the results. I just remember them staring at me in this really cold analytical sort of way. I was really unhappy about it afterward.

I think it would just depend on what kind of place they send you to. VR may be different in other states, but here they don't do anything in house. They send you to a private practice that is affiliated with them.

VR is sending me for another evaluation soon, to rule out autism. The counselor told me what office they use and I questioned him about whether they can diagnose adults with autism accurately. He seemed to think so.

In my experience VR really pushes for you to be on some kind of medication. They told me I at least have to be willing to consider medication, for them to open a case and send me for an evaluation. I don't want to take anything, so I'm not sure how this is going to play out.

I went back to VR to fill out paperwork, and the counselor I spoke to before had completely changed his attitude, from jovial and helpful to really pissy and rude. First thing when we sat down, he said his supervisor had reviewed my case history with him and they didn't want to "waste the money" opening another case for me, unless I would agree to take medication. So, no evaluation. I'm relieved because I had a horrible feeling of foreboding about going through with this. I don't trust anything run by the government.

They wanted my IQ tested too, and gave me original Raven's Progressive matrices. I scored low average on both.

I go to the eval tomorrow morning. It looks like it will last about 4 hours.

I hope it goes well for you.

CockneyRebel,

Thanks.

The exam was quite involved. Spelling, reading, and mathematics were tested (all the way up to dividing a trinomial by a binomial). Then there was a test of more specific skills. I'll get the result by the end of this month.