Preparing for an 8-10hr (total) assessment from a college

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Hello, I'm going to be getting diagnosed soon at a local college. I have some questions for those of you who have been through a program like this before, or can offer me general advice. I will be signing up for a program that basically makes me a guinea pig for 3-4 hour segments spanning a few days, up to 8-10 hours total. I don't really know what to expect, how to prepare, and how to ensure that my diagnosis is correct.

1) The correct assessment. I am 99% positive that I am on the autism spectrum, mainly because of my meltdowns and "blank outs" where my mind literally overloads. Looking through lists of signs for autism, I fit the mold 9 times out of 10 (through my entire life). I have looked through every other mental condition and have not found a single one that fits as well as the autism spectrum. I will be paying the last of my savings to get this diagnosis, so it's very important to me that this doesn't turn into one huge screwup. How can I make sure that I am properly diagnosed, and how can I make sure the students and psychologists testing me take autism as a serious option for me?

2) Disability or SSI. Related to #1, I quit my job a 1 1/2 years ago because I could no longer function in the environment; manager authority/abuse was crushing me and I was forced to cashier, which I found out I can not do because I meltdown from the stress. I have been continually looking for a job since then, but nobody is willing to take me due to my issues. I didn't finish highschool because of my "blank outs" (makes me feel incredibly stupid whenever I say that, but it's true). I cannot work more than 4-5 hour shifts or all of my energy is sapped, and I MUST take a 3-4 hour nap to recover. My family is pushing me towards applying for disability or SSI because "I obviously need it", and I'm beginning to believe them. Truthfully, I feel like crap that it's come to this and I'm not proud of it, but I think they're right.

As such, I will be using the diagnosis I get from this college to apply for some form of benefits. The college testing is just a "you have this" sort of testing, as far as I know. It's my understanding that when I apply to the government, I need some sort of proof that functioning out in the world severely screws me up. I'm not sure the college assessment would provide that type of proof. How can I make sure that I get what I need to apply for benefits?

3) Preparation. I've been told by other aspies to be sure I'm out of my comfort zone when getting tested, so that my guard is down and I'm not juggling all the masks I put on for the public. Is there any other advice you guys would like to offer? Would it be helpful if I write down all the issues I have in a notebook, and show it to the people who test me? I'm running out of money and this college assessment is the most official thing I can afford, once I pay for it, I won't be paying for another unless someone funds me , which isn't likely to happen.

4) What happens? I have a lot of anxiety about this. I get really upset when I have no idea what to expect from a situation. What happens during tests like this?

Thanks everyone.

You're not supposed to prepare for any kind of psychological exam. Just go in and do what they tell you. Medical professionals will not be fooled by any act you attempt to put on, so don't worry about that at all. Medical professionals are trained to identify subtleties in order to prevent people from pretending that they have this or that illness.

As for disability status--in America, you will need to submit an application. Almost always, your application will be refused. Appeal that decision and they will send you to their own extremely skeptical doctors (a good thing), who will do their own assessment on you. If those doctors consider you disabled, you will be deemed disabled.

Stop thinking so hard. You either are autistic or you are not. Go in and find out.

EDIT: Oh, and they'll ask you lots of questions, have you fill out forms, and have you do worksheets. They'll determine various quotients about your abilities to learn and comprehend, including your IQ. They'll observe and write stuff down about you.

If you are concerned about remembering any points make a list and bring it with you. Also a list for questions or things you want addressed.

Beyond that just be truthful and cooperate.

Hi, please realize of course that even with blank outs you can be, for example, a successful songwriter or a successful research scientist. True. Of course you can. For those of us on the Spectrum, entry-level jobs such as cashier, and I am currently working as a cashier, are among the hardest. And 'harder' jobs in every meaningful way are easier. And also school, including community college is less authoritarian and more reality oriented. (the thing with my example of songwriter is that anything artistic has a lot of luck factors is very much a long shot, at least on the short-term, and this us true for people on the spectrum and not)

So, you are a worthwhile person. And I wish there were more good jobs available, and they weren't so narrow about defining 'normal'

I wish ASAN was more set-up so they could provide you with some direct help, with jobs, with school, with getting disability.
Disclosure: I am a member of ASAN, but in Houston we aren't really active, at least not yet.
http://autisticadvocacy.org/

And the above poster is right. Getting SSI often requires an appeal, and sometimes you have to hire an attorney, who typically works on contingency.

You can write a list and take it in there.

In addition, if you have previous stuff, from school, or work, or maybe even a journal you've kept, you can also bring that in. Even if it's messy, in fact messy is kind of good. Do review it before you give it to them, or if it was me I'd feel too vulnerable giving them something I'm not sure what it is.

And they might "dig." They may think they're not doing their job unless they kind of play police detective and interrogator and ask you the same question several different times or disbelieve your answer. I personally think this is unnecessary. But, be that as it may, you may run into this. My advice, be ready to engage with this. Maybe even say, I think you've already asked me this, but okay, I see this is important, so I will answer it again. They aren't perfect, but they are trying. I guess that's the kind of approach I'd take.

PS I have had dealings with psychologists, but I have not pursued a formal diagnosis. I have also had some more limited dealings with university officialdom.

I was diagnosed with Aspergers just over a week ago. I first learned about Aspergers in mid-December 2012 and then spent the next 4 months reading everything I could about the “condition”. I became interested not only in Aspergers, but also other “conditions” (i.e. certain Personality Disorders) that could be “confused” with Aspergers. I spent many, many hours each week reading Wrong Planet (and other online forums) as well as more than a dozen books (about both Aspergers and Personality Disorders).

The similarities between Aspergers and Schizoid Personality Disorder (not to mention Nonverbal Learning Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder) are what drove my decision to seek a formal diagnosis. There seems to be a lot of overlap in terms of commonalities of symptoms. And the treatment options differ based upon the diagnosis. This is important.

How would I prepare for a diagnosis? Assume nothing. But document as much as you can from your life to help the diagnosis process including: any online test scores, therapy history, exhaustive list of anxieties, exhaustive list of ocd traits, exhaustive list of social interaction difficulties, exhaustive list of sensory difficulties, exhaustive list of motor difficulties, exhaustive list of work difficulties, exhaustive list of special interests, exhaustive list of stims, exhaustive list of rituals/routines. Document your human relations (from family, school, work).

Read Tony Attwood’s Book (“The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome”). If he discusses anything that resonates with you, document it. Read about Schizoid (or any other psychological condition). If you read anything that resonates with you, document it.

Also, go through your Baby Book. Document Motor capabilities (when did you first crawl, walk alone, run), Fine Motor capabilities (when could you feed myself with a spoon, write letters, tie shoes), Language capabilities (when could you first use single words, sentences), Social/Adaptive capabilities (when were you potty trained during day/night). Document your temperament, sleeping patterns, eating patterns when you were an infant and any problems with early child development. Document various milestones with each grade in school (e.g. performance, best subjects, salient comments from teachers/parents, key events).

Then, be yourself during the assessment. I will be honest, I was quite nervous during my assessment. And, the Psychologist noted that in my final report. Why was I nervous? I was wondering if it wasn’t Aspergers, then what?

The above is how I approached my diagnosis. Logical. Honest. Detailed. Thorough. Accurate. Complete. IMO – It’s the way a high functioning Aspie approach a diagnosis.

Good luck.

Good grief!

Is that how long an evaluation leading to diagnosis usually takes?!?!

My diagnosis took 6 hours (divided into 3 sessions). Though, I spent countless hours researching, learning and documenting -- as this activity became (and continues to be) my “special interest”.

Thank you for the advice everyone, I really appreciate all the insight.

It can vary depending of the psychiatrist/clinical psychologist administering the testing and also the complexity of the patient's presently problems. The reason it can be lengthy process is that neuropsych testing is designed to test for a wide variety of things, not just presence of autism traits. By the end of it the administering psychologist should be able to make a reasonably definitive diagnosis of whatever it is the combination of your specific problems is called according to the current DSM.

My assessment took seven hours split between three sittings. The first was a 90 minute structured verbal interview with clinical psychologist. The second and third segments were a wide variety of pen/paper and verbal tests. Intelligence test, executive functioning tests, visual, facial recognition and emotional content etc. etc.


Advice to thread starter is to drop all your walls that you put up in order to ease the process of interaction with other people in day to day life. Respond to questions honestly as possible. Do your best on the cognitive tests. Know that some of them are intended to be very difficult. The purpose of that is to pinpoint both your strengths and weaknesses. This is different than a school test. Your grades, good or bad, or somewhere in between, are used by pdoc to get a clearer picture of the way your brain works and how they can best help you with your problems in future.

Also! Bring along a bottle of water. There's a lot of talking so you'll want something to drink.

My diagnostic testing included a battery of tests:

- Cognition/Information Processing
--- Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV)
- Attention/Executive Functions
--- Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA+Plus)
--- Brown ADD Scales
--- Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST-R)
--- Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRiEF-A)
- Memory
--- Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-IV)
- Adaptive Behavior
--- Vineland-II Adaptive Behavior Scales
--- Advanced Clinical Solutions (ACS)
--- Adult Asperger Assessment (AAA)
--- Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2)
- Social/Emotional
--- Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III)
--- Multidimensional Anxiety Questionnaire (MAQ)
--- Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS)
--- Rorschach Psychodiagnostic Test

Are all tests required? Maybe not. But, the similarities between Aspergers and other "conditions" are staggering. I would suggest you carefully “shop around” when selecting a Psychologist for an assessment, by asking questions. The questions I asked included:

1. What neuropsychological exams/tools/instruments do you use in conducting this evaluation?

2. Will your testing help identify whether i have Aspergers or whether it's simply anxiety, social anxiety, extreme introversion, extreme shyness, lack of confidence, social phobia, low self-esteem, schizoid, obsessive compulsive personality disorder, ... causing these symptoms?

3. How much experience do you testing for Aspergers? How many adults have you diagnosed as being on the spectrum?

4. Is your evaluation based upon DSM-IV or DSM-V?

Great advice Rocket, thank you.

I am still apprehensive about signing up for this testing. I haven't taken the leap yet, it just seems like the best thing I can do. I have the option of going to a mental health nurse practitioner that specializes in autism spectrum disorders, for a cheaper price. I actually posted my options on another Asperger forum, and they all said that if I were seeking any form of government assistance, that the college program will be the most reliable and most accepted by the government as being legitimate.

My biggest fear is that I blow $500 and get misdiagnosed. I want to prevent that, but ultimately there's nothing I can really do. I've heavily considered going to the autism specialist, but I'm worried that if I did, my diagnosis wouldn't be accepted by the government. Also, if I went to her, I would only be able to pay for a couple independent councilors or therapists afterward if her assessment isn't accepted.