Testing not AT ALL what I expected!

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Testing is complete and...well, it was weird, and not what I thought it would be. See what you think...

To begin with, I was 45 min late for my appointment. I was already freaked out, and woke up about every hour during the night, so I was stressed from lack of sleep. Left the house for what should have been an about 2 hours drive to Houston (plus an extra hour to compensate for traffic delays). Absurdly heavy traffic because of a convention in the area of the testing facility turned the trip into 3 hours 45 minutes of hell. Then I got lost when I got in the area, starting crying and screaming at cars to get them to move. I had to call the office three times to find the damn place. By the time I arrived, I was a complete basket case. I'm sure the doctor thought I had lost my mind when she came up to me in the waiting room, and I had my arms and legs crossed, and was staring at the floor rocking like a maniac and hitting my right foot on the floor. I didn't even see her walk up!

Now about the testing -- I was expecting some written work, some computer work, an I.Q. test, maybe some puzzles or pattern recognition, or some Rorschach tests. I got almost none of that --

1) I filled out page after page -- 10 different tests total -- of stuff very similar to the screening tests we all took online. Lists and lists of traits with a "agree" or "disagree"-type answers. (My mother was with me, and she had to fill out similar stuff). There was one where it had various traits, and I had to answer whether I had these traits just as a child, or as an adult, both or neither.

2) I had to read a bunch of short little stories that feature dialogue, and had to determine in each story whether any of the speakers said anything rude, inappropriate or insensitive.

3) She showed me a photo of a crowded scene of what looked to be a rodeo, and asked me to describe what was in the photo.

4) She asked me to demonstrate specifically how I brush my teeth.

5) She showed me a series of cards with line drawings on them, and describe what's going on. The pictures combine to form a complete story. She then had me STAND UP IN FRONT OF HER -- horror of horrors! -- and tell her the story as if she hadn't heard it before. That was the HARDEST thing to do of all of it. I did it, but teared up afterwards.

6) She paged through a kid's book about frogs on flying lilypads, and asked me to describe what I saw in the book.

7) She had a bunch of little toys -- toy car, ball, birthday candles, etc. -- and I had to choose a few a make up a story about them.

She interviewed me a little more about things like -- describe how I feel inside when I'm happy, afraid and angry, what kind of things do I enjoy, whether I had been bullied as a child, whether I had ever wanted to get married and/or have children, what goals I have...and that was it. The whole thing lasted about 4 hours. I asked her associate (a psychiatrist named Sal) about the WAIS test that so many people here seemed to have taken. He said that Dr. Loveland didn't feel it was necessary because she could already tell I was intelligent. They both felt that the above-mentioned tests were all they needed to diagnose me. I should have the final results in a couple of weeks.

So, does this sound legit? Or does she not know what she is doing after all?

Does she have experience diagnosing people with AS? Does she understand what AS is? If so, she knows what she is doing.

Mine was a very thorough battery of tests-similar aptitude tests, IQ, etc.

But I dont recall standing up and delivering stories, nor do I recall handling toys (handling colored blocks to make patterns-yes- but not toys to make a story).

And the testing guy didnt observe me brush my teeth either.

Dont know what to make of all that.

Ive never been through the testing but it does sound ligit.there is probably a lot of subtext she was able to see even if the tests may have seemed insignificant.the only one that puzzles me is the brushing of the teeth.

Everything but the tooth brushing makes sense. Can't figure out that one.

I can tell you that items three through seven and the interview about relationships, goals, etc. were the ADOS test, which is one of the best tests currently available for autism. I've heard of the paper test you took involving odd or insensitive statements, it's used to test your social perception and understanding. I'd say your test was legitimate. The ADOS can seem odd if you don't know what you're taking.

The tooth-brushing was also part of the ADOS, a pantomiming exercise designed to test your ability to think abstractly and use imagination.

Definitely. It's all she does. She's an Autism Spectrum Disorder specialist, for children and adults. I got her name from the reference section in Dr. Valerie Gaus' book Living Well on the Spectrum. She was the closest specialist to where I live. Everybody else was in NYC, LA, Chicago, etc.



Thanks. I feel better now. I guess I was just hoping for some sort of IQ test. I know the number doesn't really mean anything, but I was just interested in what the test showed. I've taken online tests (tested in thee upper 120s), but don't know how accurate that is, if there is such a thing as accuracy in an IQ test. I guess all there is now is to wait on my results.

My test was the exact same, and it was horrible. The tooth brushing part I did too, but I also had to use gestures and imaginary taps/toothbrush/toothpaste *shudder*

I had to do a battery of tests when getting tested for ADD. Why did I dragged into this? Some sorry excuse for a human being who was my teacher complained to my parents that I wasn't paying attention in her class, and sweet-talked them into having me tested for ADD. My parents ate it up with a spoon, since they always sided with adults and never with me.

* * * TWO WEEKS LATER * * *
The psychologist testing me creeped me out the minute I saw her. She talked to me like I was her age, despite the fact that I was 13 and she looked like a college intern of some sorts: using informal greetings, shaking my hand (which in my social circle was mostly done by older men), and touching me on the arm a lot. (Mind you, it was in May, and I was wearing a short-sleeve T-shirt). These are the tests she had me do.

1) Rorschach test
I thought it was kind of a fun test. But I fell for a trap: I thought it was a test for creativity. I ended up giving answers that the inkblots looked like video game characters, some of which included violence/fighting and body parts. When in reality, correct answers must include references to plants, animals, people's positive interactions, and famous works of art. (And whatever you do, DO NOT talk about the whitespace; it means you're schizophrenic, apparently.) Fortunately, the Rorschach test was defeated a few years ago, and its inkblots and their answers are now available on the internet. But I had access to neither when I took it.

2) Picture sequencing test
This one looked too good to be true; it was easy as hell. I had to arrange four pictures into a comic book-like order, and tell a story about them. And it was too good to be true. I told dry facts about what happened to the kids in the pictures. When I should have filled the story with "feelings words", like I'm writing a theatre play. I didn't know I was supposed to, so another fail!

3) Missing elements test
This one not only looked easy, but also stupid beyond stupid. I was given a set of pictures where something was missing, like an arm on a person or a wheel on a car. I passed it with flying colors. Unless, of course, there was a catch somewhere. Which I'm sure there was, only I didn't figure it out.

4) Family drawing test
I failed this one before I even drew the first line. I was told to draw my family "doing something on a regular day". I freaked out! First of all, my relationship with my family at the time was really bad. Second, I knew that if I didn't draw them correctly, they'd look butt-ugly, which would give the "wrong" result. I was pleasantly surprised that she exempted me from this test when she saw me looking panicked; I was expecting her to keep pushing me and pushing me.

5) Hypothetical situations test
This one had a catch, and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I was a asked what to do if the neighbors have a fire. So I said "call 911". Correct answer, right? Wrong! That piece of sh** asked me what else I can do? My reaction was "WTF? This is a job for trained firemen." But to humor her, I told her "go inside, and try to put it out myself". She ended up diagnosing me with immature emotional development. I tried to be nice, and this is what I got as a thanks!

6) Presentation of results
She gave the results to me and my parents as the same time, with all of us sitting in the office. My mother was crying, my father was sitting with his head between his hands and elbows resting on knees, and I had to watch them both like a ghost, because the adults in the room were completely tuning me out. I ended up with depression for two weeks, where I sometimes cried the whole day non-stop. Unlike now, when I have tobacco, alcohol, and pornography, all I had for consolation back then were video games.

7) Some advice she gave me
After the diagnosis, she advised me to start keeping a diary. That's right, a diary where you write about your feelings! To a 13-year-old guy! Supposedly, pouring out my feelings onto paper was supposed to help me feel better about myself. Ironically, that's exactly what I'm doing on Wrong Planet, 18 years later.

I've done most of those at one time or another since i'm tested regularly to see where i'm at, how much if any progress i've made. don't recall ever doing the teeth brushing thing though.

I had the brushing teeth mime, too.

Not sure what that's about.

I had the brushing teeth mime, too.

Not sure what that's about.

I think it's to see if you're able to explain something without any actual "props" to help you?

Strange, I only got the questioners and the interview, but I did do the WAIS and some other tests like it(I don't remember wich ones off the top of my head.) I wonder why that is. I remember the report said that I was given some test for Aspergers and portions of a test for autism, but I don't remember doing any of the things you described.

My diagnostic testing including the Rorschach. According to my diagnosis report, the Rorschach yielded information on "coping skills, emotional experience, emotional control, self-image and interpersonal relations".

I was surprised what the Psychologist could interpret from this seemingly simple test. It pretty much says that I a) lack coping capabilities; b) worry too much; c) relate to others in an immature manner; d) am extremely detailed oriented; e) have self-esteem issues; f) don’t deal well with unstructured situations; g) am self-critical. Which is pretty much spot on.

Hoping to get tested soon though I hope it won't be like this
It sounds weird