Neuropsych evaluation

[Sarah Tee]

I have found a few older posts on this topic, which were helpful as always with the DINET archive.

Any recent experiences?

I may find a medication that works long before I get the neuropsych appointment, but I thought I might get it happening anyway.

(I figure it would be handy to have on file in case I need disability accommodations or to apply for govt help in the future.)

[Pistol]

@Sarah Tee I had two neuro-psych evaluations due to head injuries obtained from syncope and seizures. it is a three hour long exhausting test of all your brain processes such as cognitive function, attention span, memory, color awareness, language skills, number recognition, hand-eye coordination, ability to use your hands, drawing by memory etc ... and they also take a detailed history and psychological evaluation. In my case they thankfully ruled out any serious issues but diagnosed me with ADHD. 

The neuro-psychologist that I saw did not prescribe any medications and did not treat anything medically, although she was aware of dysautonomia. 

[Sarah Tee]

@Pistol, I’m so sorry you had those injuries.

Thank you for the detailed description. It does sound tiring.

[GasconAlex]

It depends what they are intended to cover. I've found the term rather flexible depending on what they are trying to do. When I was in long term rehab I did have quite a few sessions / evaluations and ended up with rather odd results. 

The results were consistent but not following the normal patterns that they were used to. (This was neuro rehab who mostly dealt with strokes and brain trauma. Those of us with more minor brain injury and damage from tumor removal were in a very tiny minority.)

The tests themselves ran the full range from basic mental function to things like the Wisconsin card sorting tests and took hours in total.  If they want to add a psych assessment as well that was separate in my case and mostly a waste of time as (for me) he didn't look at the case history and came up with utter rubbish (to quote my GP).

I've kept the results in my files but never have had to use them as I qualified for disability without any issues. Then again my government is fairly generous on medical and disability benefits.

[Sarah Tee]

@GasconAlex, that’s all very interesting.

I’m in Australia, and getting a basic govt pension/allowance isn’t too hard. Your doctors can write letters and fill in forms saying you need it because you can’t work. Quick asset check and it is okayed.

But if you want to apply beyond that to have funded help, like funding to pay someone to clean your house, or drive you to appointments, you have to apply to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which from what I’ve heard is torturous.