3-4 hour assessment

Post Reply New Topic

is this round about the normal amount of time a adult DISCO assessment should take?

Last edited by franknfurter on 14 Jul 2014, 2:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It sounds a little short for psych testing. Mine (not the D.I.S.C.O) was about 6-7 hours (United States)

Jeesh. How did anyone survive through hours of inquisition like that? This is one of my fears about pursuing my evaluation -- being trapped into a situation like this that's going to be hours long is actually one of the things that will trigger deep anxiety in me, and I can see myself even having a meltdown just because I'm being subjected to something so intensive for long hours at a time. Seems to me like the very thing someone on the spectrum would barely be able to tolerate.

Do you do it all in one day though or is it spread out a bit over several?

I hope it goes well for you.

Mine was about four hours long (in the US), but it was spread over a few months.. One session was like 1hr 15m, the others were variations of that. But it was not all in one day. You should call ahead to the place you are planning on going and ask exactly how they go about testing (one day, or spread out) because I have heard of both.

I've only ever had complete neurophych evaluations done, but that could be because I have learning difficulties and generalized anxiety disorder as well as AS. I've had four done and they have taken about 7 to 9 hours each time. I would go in for about 5 to 6 hours of testing on one day and come back for about 2 to 3 additional hours the following morning.

interesting, did having learning difficulties and an anxiety disorder affect the diagnosis process for you, or were they all diagnosed at the same time? I also have learning problems and an anxiety disorder, I have yet to be tested for Aspergers though

It did, to an almost unbelievable extent. So many of my problems with autism were attributed to anxiety, ADHD, and a misdiagnosed behavioral disorder. Nobody even thought to look for Aspergers or autism. My first three neuropsych evals were very thorough and extensive, but practically the only test that was not given to me were tests for autism. I looked through them recently after I learned some about the tests in psych class, and I was amazed at the sheer number of tests I received (the list was over a page long) and that not one of them was to diagnose autism.

I had been diagnosed with ADHD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder before my first evaluation when I was 7. The evaluation confirmed the diagnoses and also diagnosed me with a slow reading speed.(So slow that the evaluator couldn't believe the results and so he gave me another version of the test the next day!) My second evaluation, if I remember correctly, dropped the diagnosis of a slow reading speed. The third time I was diagnosed with a slow processing speed and the eval also listed some other academic difficulties. The fourth time I was finally tested for Aspergers. They were just not looking for it at all until the last time, (although they weren't originally looking for learning difficulties either.) You could almost say that all the other stuff got in the way.

4 times to get to the diagnosis, ha that is quite a process, I thought that might be the case that the other diagnosis can get in the way, I have suffered from an anxiety disorder since I was 7 so I feel most things I feel might be Aspergers will be put down as the anxiety.

must have bee interesting though to see how they diagnose people, I don't know about you but I have always had an interest in psychology and the brain.

my main learning problem is a big deficit in written work compared to my verbal skills and sequencing, there isn't really a name for it unfortunately, it would be easier to get help if I had just been dyslexic, everyone tends to ignore things that are not labelled clearly.

I have also heard that learning problems can actually mimic some Aspergers traits, I think specifically non verbal learning disorder seems to be very similar.

did you find you noticed your learning problems before you were diagnosed?

im not sure which one i took, but it was pretty extensive. i think it was 2-3hrs each day for 3 days..
thats been a few years ago.
in the general psych evauls, i always found that block game thing fun. when i was 17, i couldnt figure out the last one in enough time, and i put a forever image of it in my brain. within a few days i had it solved lol. then the very last time i had that in a evaul i finished and looked up and asked "now what? wheres the rest? i want more.." .. i tried searching for iphone apps like that the past few years, but i cant find any