My 67 year old husband was determined to be "borderline" for cognitive impairment based on a SLUMS exam given by his neurologist this past spring. His follow up exam was today and the neurologist recommended he have the 4 hour diagnostic exam as soon as they can get him in in order to exclude other possible reasons for his cognitive impairment such as Aspbergers, ADHD, etc. She implies that this test would answer all our questions and give us a more definitive diagnosis. Does anyone else have experience with this test and is it truly accurate for diagnostic purposes? The neuro did NOT give him any further in-office cognitive exams at today's visit.
I was always curious as to what it was like. Please post if your LO has it. It's my understanding that it provides a good idea of where the deficits are and what type of damage there is at the time of testing.
These tests are not like that. It's kind of like we are pretending that you are a helium balloon; we want to see just how far you float up until you hit YOUR ceiling. And the only way we can tell that is if you get SOME answers wrong; EVERY SINGLE PERSON who has ever taken this test gets SOME answers wrong. It's built in to the design of the test, so try not to worry if you don't know the answer!
This type of neuropsych exam is routinely used to diagnose attentional difficulties, ASD and dementias. The pattern of neuro-cognitive deficits in each of these disorders, as well as the way in which the client does the tasks, is informative in trained hands.
I say go for it.
Is this his way of being able to say latter on "no, it's not an accurate representation of my skills because I wasn't trying"?
I think that you should share what your husband is telling you with the referring doctor.
Research is so important. New things are discovered all the time but it takes tremendous effort and an enormous amount of money. I feel donations to a foundation instead of flowers at a funeral is very meaningful.
I would rather know something early on if something is wrong. Early detection helps us to emotionally prepare.
When I was pregnant with my daughter my numbers were high in the category for Down’s.
Waiting for test results is truly a nerve wracking experience. I had an amniocentesis and the baby did not have any abnormalities.
Therapy helped me during the process because I was asked if I wanted to choose abortion.
I utilized therapy to cope and process everything that would be involved in raising a child with special needs. Therapy can help us prepare for the unknown.
My friend that has a child with Down’s helped me a lot. So don’t hesitate to speak to a therapist if you need to.
Here is a good description.